GDR
Cold War Germany
GDR is the abbreviation for German Democratic Republic, the official name of East Germany—the Soviet-aligned state that existed from 1949 to 1990.
The GDR was separated from West Germany by the Berlin Wall until reunification.
Historical and political discussions still reference the GDR when examining Cold War Europe or life under communist rule.
Cold War partition
- checkpointInspection station on route
- Checkpoint CharlieEast-West Berlin transit point
- border guardOfficer at national boundaries
- death stripFortified area between barriers
no man's land · barbed wire · watchtower · escape · defection · demarcation · crossing point · visa
East German secret police
- informantOne who provides intelligence
- secret policeClandestine state security apparatus
- fileStored collection of data
- interrogationFormal, probing examination
wiretapping · observation · denunciation · operative · surveillance · recruitment · monitoring · infiltration
Philosophy rejecting clothing
- apartment blockBuilding containing multiple residences
- consumer goodsProducts bought by individuals
- shortageDeficient supply of necessities
Communist-controlled German capital
- LeipzigMajor Saxon metropolis
- DresdenSaxon capital city
- PotsdamBrandenburg state capital
- MagdeburgGerman state capital
Oder-Neisse line · Saxony · Thuringia · Brandenburg · Weimar
Communist party's governing body
- central committeeExecutive governing body
- party congressFormal political gathering
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- ideologyStructured belief framework
collectivization · central planning · five-year plan · nationalization · one-party state · censorship · youth organization · party membership
Descend under gravity
- peaceful revolutionNonviolent political transformation
- November 1989Month the Wall opened
- transitionChange from one state
- democratizationTransition toward popular rule
Berlin Wall
Cold War partition
- checkpointInspection station on route
- Checkpoint CharlieEast-West Berlin transit point
- border guardOfficer at national boundaries
death strip · no man's land · barbed wire · watchtower · escape · defection · demarcation · crossing point · visa · travel restriction
Stasi
East German secret police
- informantOne who provides intelligence
- secret policeClandestine state security apparatus
- fileStored collection of data
interrogation · wiretapping · observation · denunciation · operative · surveillance · recruitment · monitoring · infiltration · dossier
nudism
Philosophy rejecting clothing
- apartment blockBuilding containing multiple residences
- consumer goodsProducts bought by individuals
- shortageDeficient supply of necessities
East Berlin
Communist-controlled German capital
Magdeburg · Oder-Neisse line · Saxony · Thuringia · Brandenburg · Weimar
Politburo
Communist party's governing body
- central committeeExecutive governing body
- party congressFormal political gathering
- propagandaBiased information for influence
ideology · collectivization · central planning · five-year plan · nationalization · one-party state · censorship · youth organization · party membership · agitprop
fall
Descend under gravity
- peaceful revolutionNonviolent political transformation
- November 1989Month the Wall opened
- transitionChange from one state
democratization · integration · dissolution · collapse · absorption
- German HistoryNazi, Prussia, Saxony, Reichstag, Napoleonic Wars
- German PoliticsBundesrat, CSU, Nazi Party, Greens, federal republic
- Berlin historyBerlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, East Berlin, West Berlin
- Cold War EscapeBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, Checkpoint Charlie, escape attempts, defection
- Cold War GermanyBerlin Wall, East Germany, West Germany, German reunification, divided Germany
- Communist StatesUSSR, Soviet Union, East Germany, DDR, China