✅ What Ulbricht did
He backed the invasion, showed that the GDR stood with Moscow and worked to keep reform out of East Germany.
Stabilisation and Control: The GDR, 1962-87 » The GDR, the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section A, Investigation A5, Key topic 2
- How Soviet troops and the Warsaw Pact backed the GDR
- What the GDR did in 1968 when the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia
- How Honecker replaced Ulbricht in 1971 with Soviet backing
- Why the GDR depended on Soviet oil
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Unlock This CourseSoviet troops and the Warsaw Pact
The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was part of the Eastern bloc, the group of Communist states in Eastern Europe led by the Soviet Union. Soviet troops had stayed in East Germany since 1945, and they never left. They were a reminder that Moscow stood behind the SED, the ruling party. In 1953 Soviet tanks helped to end a workers' rising in East Germany.
In 1955 the GDR became a member of the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc allies. The East German army, the National People's Army, was built up in 1956 and fitted into the Pact under Soviet command. The Pact gave the GDR protection against the West. It also kept the GDR tied closely to Moscow.
Key terms:
- Eastern bloc: the Communist states of Eastern Europe, led by the Soviet Union.
- Warsaw Pact: the military alliance of the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc allies, set up in 1955.
- Prague Spring: the reforms of 1968 in Czechoslovakia that gave people more freedom.
1968: the invasion of Czechoslovakia
In 1968 the Czechoslovak leader, Alexander Dubcek, began reforms to give people more freedom. This period is called the Prague Spring. Ulbricht, the East German leader, was alarmed. He feared that the same ideas would spread to the GDR and weaken the SED's hold on power.
On the night of 20-21 August 1968 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia and ended the reforms. Ulbricht strongly supported the invasion. The East German army gave back-up, but its divisions were kept at the border and did not lead the invasion. Moscow did not want German soldiers marching into Czechoslovakia only 30 years after Nazi Germany had occupied it.
❌ What he did not do
He did not send East German divisions into Czechoslovakia. They stayed at the border.
1971: Ulbricht replaced by Honecker
By 1970 Ulbricht was in his late seventies. Moscow found him hard to work with. He followed his own course on the economy and on policy towards West Germany, and Soviet leaders wanted a loyal partner. Erich Honecker, a leading member of the SED, led a group of Politburo members who wrote to the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, asking for help in removing Ulbricht. Brezhnev backed them.
On 3 May 1971 Ulbricht gave up his post as leader of the SED, and Honecker took over. Ulbricht stayed as head of state until he died in 1973 but had little power. Honecker led the GDR until 1989. The change showed how far the SED looked to Moscow.
Dependence on Soviet oil
The GDR had little oil of its own. It relied on Soviet oil, which arrived through a pipeline, to run its industry, heating and transport. This made it dependent on Moscow. In 1981 the Soviet Union decided to reduce oil supplies to its allies. Honecker objected strongly, but oil shipments to the GDR were cut. When one country supplies the fuel, it holds a lot of power over the other.
Common mistakes
Do not say East German troops led the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. They gave back-up, but their divisions stayed at the border. Do not say Honecker simply took over by himself: it was done with Soviet backing. And do not say the GDR obeyed Moscow in everything. It often argued, as Honecker did over oil in 1981.
Exam-style question
Extract C (a practice extract written for this lesson, in the style of a modern history book)
The GDR was never really its own master. Soviet troops stood on its soil, its army marched to Moscow's orders, its leader was replaced when Moscow wished, and Soviet oil kept its factories running. Whatever East Germans did at home, the state survived only because the Soviet Union allowed it.
Source A: From a letter from thirteen members of the East German Politburo, including Erich Honecker, to the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, 21 January 1971 (translated).
... we regard it as our internationalist obligation to inform the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU of the situation that has developed here and to request help in finding a solution to this complicated problem. ... We await your answer and assistance.
Source B: From a record of a Soviet Politburo meeting, 29 October 1981, in which Konstantin Rusakov reports on his visit to the GDR (translated).
My conversation with Comrade Honecker, though, was different. He immediately said that [East Germany] could not accept such a reduction in the supply of oil, that this would cause serious damage to the[ir] national economy..., and that we shouldn't proceed with it. He even declared that they simply cannot put up with it ...
Study Extract C. Extract C suggests that the GDR survived only because the Soviet Union allowed it. How far do you agree with this interpretation? Use Extract C, Sources A and B and your own knowledge to explain your answer. [16 marks]
Model answer
Extract C argues that the GDR survived only because the Soviet Union allowed it, and there is strong evidence for this. Source A shows the East German leadership asking Moscow for 'help' to remove their own leader, and in May 1971 Ulbricht was replaced by Honecker with Brezhnev's backing. Extract C says the army 'marched to Moscow's orders', which fits 1968: Ulbricht backed the invasion of Czechoslovakia, yet East German divisions were kept at the border. Soviet troops stayed in the GDR and had helped end the 1953 rising, and the GDR depended on Soviet oil.
However, the extract goes too far. Source B, a Soviet record, shows Honecker refusing to accept the oil cuts of 1981, saying that his country 'cannot put up with it'. The Soviet side admits the question was left unresolved, so the GDR was not simply obedient. Source A also shows East German leaders taking the initiative, because Honecker led the move against Ulbricht. Extract C also ignores what East Germany did for itself. The Wall, built in August 1961, ended mass emigration. The Stasi, with about 91,000 officers and about 170,000 informers by 1989, controlled the population. The state controlled the young through the Free German Youth and pressured the Church. Honecker's welfare policies, such as cheap rents, aimed to win support at home. The economy, though, ran into debt and shortages in the 1980s, which made Soviet support more important.
Overall I agree to some extent. Soviet troops, the Warsaw Pact, Moscow's backing for leaders and Soviet oil all made the GDR depend on the Soviet Union, and without Moscow it would have been much weaker. But judged by who ran daily life, the extract overstates the case. The SED and the Stasi controlled East Germans themselves, and Honecker argued back to Moscow. Soviet support was necessary for the GDR's survival, but it was not the only reason.
What lifts it to the top level: it uses the extract and both sources for and against, adds precise own knowledge on the Wall, the Stasi and welfare policy, and reaches a judgement against a clear criterion (who ran daily life in the GDR).
Exam tip
When the extract uses words like 'never' or 'only', look for evidence that challenges the extreme claim, and say how far the claim holds.