National Front (East Germany)

National Front Nationale Front der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
Chairman	Erich Correns (1950-81) Lothar Kolditz (1981-90)
Founded	30 March 1950
Dissolved	20 February 1990
Headquarters	East Berlin, German Democratic Republic
Ideology	Communism Marxism-Leninism
Politics of East Germany Elections

The National Front of the German Democratic Republic (German: Nationale Front der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an alliance of political parties (Blockpartei) and mass organisations in East Germany, controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, which stood in elections to the East German parliament, the Volkskammer ("People's Chamber").

Constituent parties

East Germany
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of East Germany
Constitution 1949 1968
Leadership Socialist Unity Party General Secretary State Council Head of State Council of Ministers Head of Government
Legislature President Chamber of States
Elections Referendums Constitutional Assembly 1949 General elections 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 Referendums 1951 1954 1968
Political parties Christian Democratic Union Democratic Farmers' Party Liberal Democratic Party National Democratic Party
Administrative divisions East Berlin (independent) Cottbus Dresden Erfurt Frankfurt Gera Halle Karl-Marx-Stadt Leipzig Magdeburg Neubrandenburg Potsdam Rostock Schwerin Suhl
Other countries Atlas

Party	Emblem	Flag	Foundation	Dissolution	Seats in the Volkskammer (1986)
Socialist Unity Party SED			21 April 1946	16 December 1989	127
Christian Democratic Union CDU			26 June 1945	October 1990	52
Liberal Democratic Party LDPD			5 July 1945[1]	11 August 1990	52
Democratic Farmers' Party DBD			17 June 1948	15 September 1990	52
National Democratic Party NDPD			5 May 1948[2][3]	27 March 1990	52

Constituent mass organizations with representatives in the People's Chamber

Organization	Emblem	Flag	Foundation	Dissolution	Seats in the Volkskammer (1986)
Free German Trade Union Federation FDGB			1946	1990	68
Free German Youth FDJ			1936	exists today	37
Democratic Women's League of Germany DFD			1947	1990	32
Cultural Association of the DDR KB			1945	1990	21
Peasants Mutual Aid Association VdgB			1945	1990	14

Other organizations associated with the National Front

Organization	Emblem	Foundation	Dissolution
Society for German–Soviet Friendship		1949	1992
People's Solidarity		1945	exists today
Sport and Technology Association		1952	1990
German Gymnastics and Sports Federation		1957	1990
Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation		1948	1990
Writers' Association of the GDR		1945	1990
Association of Gardeners, Settlers, and Animal Breeders		1952	1990
Union of Journalists		1945	1990
Chamber of Engineering		1946	1990
Peace Council of the GDR		1949	1990
Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime		1947	banned in East Germany in 1953
Committee of Antifascist Resistance Fighters		1953	1991
League of Lusatian Sorbs		1912 founded before the creation of the GDR	exists today

History

Pavilion of the National Front in Leipzig, 1953

The Nationale Front election poster from 1950

The National Front was the successor to the Demokratischer Block which had been founded in the Soviet occupation zone. The Front itself was founded on March 30, 1950. It operated through the issuing of a generally consistent proportion of seats (divided between the Front's parties and SED-controlled mass organisations) submitted in the form of a single list of candidates during each election to the People's Chamber. Seats were awarded on the basis of a set quota rather than vote totals.^[4] As voters only had the option of approving or rejecting the list in far-from-secret conditions, it "won" with virtually unanimous levels of support.^[5]

Although nominally a broad-based coalition of parties, in practice the SED was the only one with any real power. By ensuring that Communists dominated the lists, the SED essentially predetermined the composition of the People's Chamber.

In 1950-1951, the public rejection of the validity of the list by some German politicians resulted in some of them being imprisoned for "rejecting the electoral law of the German Democratic Republic" (as in the case of LDPD leader Günter Stempel). Although the SED had already become a full-fledged Stalinist "party of the new type" by the formation of the GDR, the other parties did not completely bend to the SED's will for a time. By the mid-1950s, however, the more courageous members of the constituent parties had been pushed out, and the parties had all been transformed into loyal partners of the SED. By this time, the SED itself had purged its few independent-minded members as well. The Front now took on a character similar to other groupings in the Eastern Bloc. For the next three decades, the minor parties in the Front had to accept the SED's "leading role" as a condition of their continued existence.

On December 1, 1989, the Front was effectively rendered impotent when the Volkskammer deleted the provision of the Constitution of East Germany that gave the SED a monopoly of power. Four days later, the Christian Democratic Union and Liberal Democratic Party, having thrown out their pro-Communist leaderships, withdrew from the Front. On December 16 the SED, having transformed itself into a democratic socialist party, reformed itself into the Party of Democratic Socialism. On February 20, 1990, an amendment to the constitution removed mention of the Front.^[6]

Chairmen of the National Front

• Prof. Erich Correns (1950–1981)
• Prof. Lothar Kolditz (1981–1989)

Electoral history

See also

• Politics of East Germany
• List of Volkskammer members (9th election period)
• United Front (China) for a currently running system similar to the National Front of the DDR
• Vietnamese Fatherland Front
• Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland in North Korea

References

External links

• http://www.paper.olaf-freier.de/blockpt.htm