View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Lake Forest College Publications Lake Forest College Lake Forest College Publications Senior Theses Student Publications 4-18-2016 De-Nazification and Reeducation: The akM ing of Socialism in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany 1945-1949 Elizabeth L. Lakeman Follow this and additional works at: http://publications.lakeforest.edu/seniortheses Part of the European History Commons, and the Political History Commons Recommended Citation Lakeman, Elizabeth L., "De-Nazification and Reeducation: The akM ing of Socialism in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany 1945-1949" (2016). Senior Theses. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Publications at Lake Forest College Publications. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Lake Forest College Publications. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. De-Nazification and Reeducation: The akM ing of Socialism in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany 1945-1949 Abstract In this thesis I have studied the processes of de-Nazification and reeducation carried out by the Soviet Military Administration in Eastern Germany from 1945 to 1949 to create a socialist country. It begins with a background on the political developments across Germany after World War II. Attention is paid to the creation of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. The thesis moves into a discussion of the de-Nazification process as the purging of National Socialists from society. While punitive measures were utilized at first, I highlight the transition that takes place to more rehabilitative measures in 1947.