Socialist Unity Party of Germany
독일 사회주의통일당
The party formed in April 1946 when the Communist Party of Germany and the eastern branch of the Social Democratic Party merged in the Soviet occupation zone under pressure from the Soviet military administration; the Marxist–Leninist ruling party of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1989.
In depth
Founded on 21 April 1946 with Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl as co-chairmen, it was portrayed by official East German and Soviet histories as a voluntary merger, although the Soviet occupation authorities put great pressure on the eastern SPD. The party was organised on democratic centralism, from the Party Congress through the Central Committee to the Politburo, with decisions taken in practice by the Politburo and the Secretariat. Walter Ulbricht led it from the early 1950s until 1971 and Erich Honecker until 1989.
On 18 October 1989 Honecker was replaced by Egon Krenz, but the opening of the Berlin Wall destroyed the party politically. On 1 December the Volkskammer struck the clause on the SED’s leading role from the constitution, and on 3 December the entire Central Committee and Politburo resigned. At a special congress on 16 December the party abandoned Marxism–Leninism and added “Party of Democratic Socialism” (PDS) to its name.