Marxism-Leninism in the German Democratic Republic : the Socialist Unity Party (SED)

in the late 1960s Walter Ulbricht launched socialism with a German face. This study concentrates on the evolution of the SED but is always mindful of the international context. Without the Soviet connection the SED would not have become the Staatspartei-the state party-in the GDR, and the GDR would not have received international recognition and entry to the UN. This has made the SED, of necessity, mindful of Soviet wishes and developments. Since the GDR has evolved her own economic system and recorded many successes, considerable attention has been paid to the economic policy of the party. Nowadays the party fails or succeeds according to the fate of its economic policy. Culture, education and religious affairs, unfortunately, have not been accorded the space they merit. They are mentioned in passing but the dictates of space have not permitted party thinking to be examined in depth. The aims of this book are modest. It does not claim to be definitive or all-embracing. Since the author has never been permitted to sit under the table at Politburo meetings, many of the judgements must remain speculative. Regrettably Geschichte der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1978 Front Matter....Pages i-xx The German Road to Socialism....Pages 1-46 A Party of a New Type....Pages 47-81 The Factious Fifties....Pages 82-117 Socialism with a German Face....Pages 118-179 The Honecker Era....Pages 180-228 Back Matter....Pages 229-267