Economy

• Collectivisation and land reforms (aims):

  • Increase the quality of agricultural goods
  • Follow the model of Stalin's collectivisation in the USSR
  • More productive agriculture
• Collectivisation and land reform:

  • Many farmers abandoned their farms - 13% of all farm land deserted
  • In 1958, a third of East German farms were collectivised
  • In the 50s and 60s, many farmers fled to West Germany. This led to food rationing being introduced in 1961
  • By 1962, 85% of farms were collectivised
  • In the 60s, consequences of not collectivising became more extreme - farmers weren't able to use state machinery, land was confiscated and farmers were arrested
• Collectivisation and land reforms - success?

  • In a political sense, the Communist GDR government achieved its ideological aims
  • In the short term, it was a disaster. Many farmers fled to the West and food production declined
  • In the long term, collectivised farms did become more efficient. But the benefits of this only began to be felt in the 70s
• The First Five Year Plan (1951)

  Aims:

  • To gear the GDR towards heavy industry
  • Had ambitious aims, especially for heavy industry

  Evaluation:

  • Goods produced were often of poor quality and weren't profitable
  • The state declared that between 1950 and 1959, industrial productivity levels rose by 100% - this stat doesn't consider profitability or quality
• The First Five Year Plan (1951) - National and heavy industry:

  • The SED nationalised industries, making it easier to implement economic policies
  • Despite the lack of natural resources, the SED leaders set an ambitious aim to build up heavy industry
  • The emphasis of heavy industry was achieved at the expense of consumer goods. A more realistic alternative would have been to modernise the economy by investing in modern technologies and lighter industry
• The First Five Year Plan - productivity:

  • To improve productivity levels, the gov introduced production targets. Also, the SED controlled discipline and social activities for workers
  • Despite the workers' legal rights and the promise of better working conditions, the quotas for productivity put pressure on the workforce
• The Second Five Year Plan (1956)

  Aims:

  • Produce more consumer goods and improve living standards
  • Combine the production of capital and consumer goods

  What it did:

  • Put some stress on technological process
  • Backed the development of nuclear energy
  • Consumer goods were being produced and living standards improved
• The Second Five Year Plan (1956) - evaluation:

  • Between 1956 and 1958, the economy grew by 12%
  • Workers benefitted from low food prices
  • The number of workers leaving for the West stabilised
  • Living standards improved, but rationing continued until 1958
  • Although the economy was growing, it wasn't matching the scale of growth in the west
  • Abandoned in 1958