Page "East Germany" Paragraph 13

The ruling Communist party, known as the " Socialist Unity Party " ( SED ), was formed in April 1946 from the merger between the German Communist Party ( KPD ) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD ) by mandate of Joseph Stalin.

The two former parties were notorious rivals when they were active before the Nazis consolidated all power and criminalised their agitation.

The unification of the two parties was symbolic of the new friendship of German socialists in defeating their common enemy, however, Communists who made a majority had virtually total control over policy.

As Walter Ulbricht noted, everything was made to look democratic while in reality Communists retained control in the background.

They were totally loyal to Stalin, and realized their regime would collapse if it lost the backing of the Soviet army — as indeed happened in 1989.

Historians debate whether the decision to form a separate country was initiated by Stalin or by the SED.