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STALIN's UNWANTED CHILD Stalin's Unwanted Child the Soviet Union, the German Question and the Founding of the GDR

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STALIN's UNWANTED CHILD Stalin's Unwanted Child the Soviet Union, the German Question and the Founding of the GDR STALIN'S UNWANTED CHILD Stalin's Unwanted Child The Soviet Union, the German Question and the Founding of the GDR Wilfried Loth Professor ofModern History University ofEssen Germany Translated by Robert F. Hogg First published in Great Britain 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills. Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-26402-5 ISBN 978-1-349-26400-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26400-1 First published in the United States of America 1998 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York. N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-21028-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Loth, Wilfried. (Stalins ungeliebtes Kind. English] Stalin's unwanted child : the Soviet Union, the German question, and the founding of the GDR I Wilfried Loth ; translated Roben F. Hogg. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-21028- 1 I. Germany (East}-Foreign relations-Soviet Union. 2. Soviet Union-Foreign relations-Germany (East) · 3. Germany (East)- - Politics and government. 4. Military government-Germany (East) 5. Military occupation. I. Title. DD286.5.L6713 1997 327.431047~c21 97-38375 CIP © Rowohlt Verlag GmbH 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1998 978-0-333-71657-1 Originally published in hardcover as Stalins ungeliebtes Kind Rowohlt Verlag GmbH 1994 Paperback edition Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1996 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Coun Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has assened his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I 07 06 05 04 03 02 OJ ()() 99 98 Contents List of Abbreviations vii Introduction ix 1 A Programme for Germany 1 Complex Necessities Uncertain Sizing-Up 4 Unity as the Goal 7 From Military Regime to Multiparty State 12 Democratic Socialism 15 Initial Successes 19 2 First Setbacks 22 Everyday Stalinism 23 Pushing the SED Through 26 Tendencies toward Separation 34 Forks in the Reparations Road 43 3 From Paris to London 48 Pluralistic Practice 48 The Second Try 54 The Moscow Meeting of the Foreign Ministers' Council 58 Fast Failure 62 4 The Cominform Line 72 Fighting Spirit and Unity 72 A New Course? 77 Berlin as a Means of Pressure 84 The Turning Point in the Blockade 92 5 Zigzag to the Eastern State 95 Ulbricht and Tulpanov 95 Ulbricht Seizes Power 100 Stalin Stopped 106 All-German Twilight 110 Decision in September 118 v vi Contents 6 Between Two Goals 121 Silent Coup 122 "Germans at a Single Table!" 127 Stalin's Notes 132 Socialism in Place of Unity 140 7 Ulbricht's Revolution 147 The Crisis of Socialism 147 Beria's Revision 151 The "New Course" of the SED 156 Ulbricht Saves Himself 160 Retreat by Increments 166 Conclusion: How the GDR Came to Be 171 Epilogue to the English Edition 178 Chronology 186 Notes 190 Bibliography 220 Name Index 229 Subject Index 232 List of Abbreviations BA Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Federal Archive at Koblenz) BAP Bundesarchiv Potsdam (Federal Archive at Potsdam) BRD Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany) CAB Cabinet Papers CDU Christlich-Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union) CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union csu Christlich-Soziale Union (Christian Social Union) CWIHP Cold War International History Project DBD Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands (Democratic Peasants' Party of Germany) DDR Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic) DPD Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (Democratic Party of Germany) DWK Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission (German Economic Commission) EAC European Advisory Commission EDC European Defence Community FDGB Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (Free German Fed- eration of Unions) FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) FO Foreign Office FRG Federal Republic of Germany FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States HI COG High Commission for Germany KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany) LDPD Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (Liberal Demo- cratic Party of Germany) MfS Ministerium fiir Staatssicherheit (Ministry for State Security) MGB Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti (Ministry of State Security) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NDPD National-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany) vii viii List of Abbreviations NKGB Narodnii Kommissariat Gosudarstvennoi Bezopastnosti (People's Commissariat for State Security) NKVD Narodnii Kommissariat Vnutrennikh Del (People's Commis- sariat of Internal Affairs) NL NachlaB (Personal Papers) NS National Socialist PRO Public Record Office SAG Sowjetische Aktiengesellschaft (Soviet Joint-Stock Corporation) SBZ Sowjetische Besatzungszone (Soviet Occupation Zone) SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) sec Soviet Control Commission SMA Soviet Military Administration soz Soviet Occupation Zone SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Demo- cratic Party of Germany) UN United Nations UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration USA United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ZK Zentralkomitee (Central Committee) ZPA Zentrales Parteiarchiv (Central Party Archive) Introduction The origins of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) are, by and large, regarded as well understood. The conventional version has it that the victorious Soviet Union utilized the presence of its troops on German soil at the end of the Second World War to export the Soviet societal model. The Soviet victors, and the German Communists aiding them, initially hid their true goals behind an "anti-fascist" fa~ade but worked secretly to establish a Communist monopoly on power. Having achieved this, they then proclaimed the first "workers' and peasants' state" in German history. In this view, it remains uncertain as to whether the Soviet model was intended for all of Germany or whether Stalin, realistically assessing the overall situation, quickly set his sights on the separate organization of the Soviet Occupation Zone. Although opinions differ on that point, they all agree that the conflict between the systems of East and West was ultimately responsible for the division of Germany. The historical literature in the GDR proclaimed a similar message but with a different evaluation: anti-fascist democratic transformation and the realization of the historical mission of the working class were, according to this literature, two sides of the very same coin. Conse- quently, the revolutionary vanguard of the German working class, sup- ported by their Soviet "friends", brought together under its leadership a broad alliance of all anti-fascist and democratic forces. Together, these forces strove for a democratic republic and paved the way for socialism. The representatives of the German monopolistic bourgeoisie opposed these goals. Because these forces enjoyed the support of American imperialists in western Germany, the victory of the working class remained, for the time being, a limited one. Admittedly, a few awk\\ard facts always stood in the way of this straightforward view of the division of Germany as a consequence of the conflict between the East and West Blocs. Did Stalin not offer reunification on "bourgeois" terms in 1952, with the condition that the united Germany pledge itself to neutrality in the conflict between East and West? Were there also not reports that Moscow repeatedly consid- ered such a solution and in the spring of 1953 even began to put it into effect? These reports fit so poorly with the general impression of Soviet policy that many in the West declared that the Soviet offer could not be taken seriously. Nevertheless, it proved difficult to verify this ix X Introduction claim. Corresponding demonstrations were indeed always very well received; but a closer inspection always gave rise to doubts. Disputes over the goals of Soviet policy on Germany provoked the comment that scholars would have something more specific to say only if, on some distant day, Eastern archives were to be made available for research, a development which hardly anyone could imagine. In the meantime, that has indeed come about: since the collapse of the GDR, the party archive of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) has been open to researchers, witnesses to Stalin's German policy have begun to speak out thanks to Glasnost, and, though hindered by many prac- tical difficulties, the archives of the former Soviet Union are little by little becoming accessible. On the basis of this material, it is both possible and necessary to rewrite the history of the GDR's origins. In this book, the new sources will be comprehensively analysed for the first time. The most important of these are notes made by Wilhelm Pieck. As chairman of the
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