The Rise and Fall of Walter Ulbricht — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Today we ll talk about one of the most influential politicians, maybe even THE most influential
2. 0:04politician of the German Democratic Republic: Walter Ulbricht.
3. 0:18Hi and welcome to another east Germany investigated video.
4. 0:20The German Democratic Republic, the GDR, existed only 41 years, which means that the number
5. 0:26of high-level politicians is limited. It s not hard to spend an hour talking about
6. 0:31Walter Ulbricht, but to keep it interesting, in this video I will focus on the most important
7. 0:36periods in his life.
8. 0:37Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht was born on June 30th 1893 in Leipzig. His parents as well
9. 0:44as his grandparents were workers and craftsmen. Befitting his social status, in 1907 Walter
10. 0:50Ulbricht starts an apprenticeship as carpenter. During this time, he became involved in socialist
11. 0:56and labor movements, which would shape his political beliefs and activism.
12. 1:01At the age of 20 he becomes a member of the socialist party SPD. He gives lectures to
13. 1:06young people about the youth movement and works on his self-development by reading and
14. 1:11participating in courses. During the first world war Ulbricht needs
15. 1:15to fight as infantryman for the Imperial German Army in Macedonia and Serbia and his political
16. 1:22activities come to a temporary standstill.
17. 1:25In 1920 Ulbricht becomes a member of the communist party of Germany, the KPD, where he actively
18. 1:31creates, prints and distribute s party leaflets and leads a training course of young party
19. 1:37members. In that same year he also marries his first wife, Martha Schmellinski. His illegal
20. 1:42party activities make him a wanted man. Because of a warrant issued against him, he cannot
21. 1:48stay with his wife and newborn daughter.
22. 1:51In the 1920s Ulbricht slowly but surely gets higher positions in the KPD. He also spends
23. 1:57several years in Moscow, working for the Communist international, the Comintern, a Soviet organization
24. 2:03to promote world communism. Ulbricht doesn t have any identifiable weaknesses
25. 2:08like smoking or drinking. He doesn t have any friends and is an introvert.
26. 2:12He is known for his stubbornness.
27. 2:15In 1930 he is elected to the Reichstag for the 2nd time.
28. 2:18His biggest opponent: the national socialist Joseph Goebbels.
29. 2:22A year later, Ulbricht also plays a role in the murder of the two police captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck.
30. 2:29More details about this in the video about Erich Mielke.
31. 2:32As the National Socialist Party, the NSDAP, comes to power in Germany in 1933, Ulbricht,
32. 2:39like many other communists, flees to the Soviet Union to escape persecution.
33. 2:44He spends the main part of the Third Reich period from 1933 till 1945 in Moscow, Paris
34. 2:50and Prague working for the KPD. He often removes people out of his way by just reporting their mistakes.
35. 2:57Mainly because of this tactic, in 1937 he manages to become the head of the
36. 3:03secretariat of the central committee of the KPD. A position at the top from which he in
37. 3:09Paris - directly reports to the KPD chairman Wilhelm Pieck at the executive committee of
38. 3:15the Comintern in Moscow.
39. 3:16But the same games Ulbricht uses against others to get in that position are used against him, so he doesn't stay in the position for even
40. 3:24a year and he is ordered back to Moscow where he stays until the end of the war.
41. 3:29In March 1943 he receives a decoration for his activities at the Stalingrad frontline,
42. 3:35where he spread propaganda to the German soldiers by means of dropped leaflets and speeches
43. 3:40through loudspeakers trying to convince the soldiers to defect, with only limited success, by the way.
44. 3:46In May 1945 Ulbricht returns to Germany as leader of the Gruppe Ulbricht , the first
45. 3:52group of 10 German KPD members to return from Moscow to Germany.
46. 3:57Almost immediately Ulbricht begins working on a re-start of the KPD, but that does not
47. 4:02turn out to be an easy job. The KPD-members are now divided into three camps with different
48. 4:06ideas: the ones that stayed in Germany over the past 12 years, the ones that had emigrated
49. 4:11to the west and the ones that spent their time in Moscow.
50. 4:16Based on the results of elections in Austria where communists suffered an electoral defeat,
51. 4:21Stalin orders to speed up the unification of communists and social democrats, because
52. 4:25otherwise he would lose his influence on Germany. Ulbricht gets the job done and in April 1946
53. 4:32the SED, Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland, the socialist unity party of Germany is founded.
54. 4:38Although it officially should look like a merger of the communist KPD and the socialist
55. 4:42SPD, the SED party would in reality be run by the communists. The social democrats would
56. 4:48either give up, would be deprived of their power or would be excluded from the party
57. 4:53and even thrown in jail. Building a socialist system in the whole of
58. 4:57Germany is Ulbricht s aim in life. But in May 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany,
59. 5:04West Germany, was founded and as agreed in advance with Stalin, that would mean the foundation
60. 5:09of the German Democratic Republic.
61. 5:11Ulbricht is appointed General Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED, the most powerful man of the GDR.
62. 5:18With his growing self-importance, Ulbricht regularly makes individual decisions, not informing the politburo,
63. 5:25the highest decision-making body of the GDR. He often forces his politburo colleagues to
64. 5:31take decisions without giving them any time to prepare and he doesn't show any respect
65. 5:35and treats them rudely. With this behavior, why could Ulbricht stay
66. 5:39in his position? An important reason is that at that time, there was no one with a killer
67. 5:44instinct that would want to take him down, although some would have had an opportunity
68. 5:48to do so. Another reason is of course the support Ulbricht got from Moscow. In the previous
69. 5:53decades he has proved himself a good and loyal communist. Also, none of his rivals has that
70. 5:59many contacts in Russia as Ulbricht does.
71. 6:03Ulbricht is a poor speaker. His high voice and Saxon dialect restrict his rhetoric.
72. 6:12During his speeches he mostly looks at his text, not at the audience, and he makes a lot of mistakes.
73. 6:18Ulbricht doesn't have any friends; he is socially awkward and with his Lenin-like beard he looks strange.
74. 6:25At birthday parties while everyone is dancing and having fun, Ulbricht is sitting in the corner doing his personnel planning.
75. 6:32He is always on duty.
76. 6:33Ulbricht makes long days. While others have symptoms of fatigue, Ulbricht stays wide awake.
77. 6:39He is interested in every topic, from architecture to art, economics to labor unions, and sports
78. 6:45to agriculture. Ulbricht is a good listener and asks questions, which gives him the advantage
79. 6:50of always being better informed than his fellow comrades.
80. 6:53And he wants to know every detail. If necessary, he reads piles of documents during the night
81. 6:58in order to be well prepared for the next day.
82. 7:02During most meetings, it would simply go like this: The one who brought up the agenda item
83. 7:06would report, then Ulbricht would express his opinion and give instructions how to proceed.
84. 7:12In 1952 it becomes clear that a re-unification with West Germany will not be happening according
85. 7:18to Stalin s conditions, so Stalin decides that the GDR should create an army and change
86. 7:23the border to West Germany into a as Stalin says dangerous one. Stalin also says that
87. 7:29the GDR must move towards socialism, but the word socialism should not be mentioned.
88. 7:34Ulbricht however, decides that new slogan for the upcoming second SED party conference
89. 7:40is: Vorw rts f r Frieden, Einheit, Demokratie und Sozialismus. Ahead with peace, unity,
90. 7:47democracy and socialism. During the conference, Ulbricht holds a long
91. 7:51speech in which he states that Socialism will be established according to schedule . He
92. 7:56gets a long applause and standing ovations.
93. 8:00On March 5th 1953 Stalin dies, Ulbricht s great example. There were a lot of similarities
94. 8:06between both men: They were weak on rhetoric, but bold and in situations of crisis even
95. 8:11cold-blooded. They trusted no one. Political opponents were eliminated whenever possible.
96. 8:18They both lived simply and didn t need any luxury. They both had organizational talent,
97. 8:23assertiveness and the absolute will to power. To Ulbricht, but also to the other SED-leaders,
98. 8:28Stalin s death is a deep shock.
99. 8:31But this is not the only setback Ulbricht has to deal with that year. The Uprising in
100. 8:35June will almost cost him his job. On the 30th of June, Ulbricht will turn 60
101. 8:40and preparations for his birthday are in full swing. There will be books and even a movie
102. 8:44about Ulbricht s life. But the East Germans are not in a party mood. Over the last period,
103. 8:49a lot of measures restricting peoples freedom have been implemented. Mostly farmers are
104. 8:54affected, related to the foundation of agricultural production cooperatives. But also, the possibilities
105. 8:59to travel to the west and freedom of churches are restricted. And wat affects most people
106. 9:04are the so-called work quotas: people have to work longer for the same money which at
107. 9:09the end means lower wages and on top prices go up.
108. 9:13The Soviets are deeply worried and order Ulbricht and Grotewohl, the minister president, to
109. 9:18prepare for a change of course before it s too late. Especially Lavrentiy
110. 9:23Beria, First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and head of the Ministry of Internal
111. 9:28Affairs of the Soviet Union is a resolute opponent of Ulbricht, saying he is a man that
112. 9:33doesn t understand anything and doesn t love his people .
113. 9:36Ulbricht is clearly in trouble and possibly about to be discharged. Suddenly, many members
114. 9:42of the Politburo dare to speak up and express their opinion about Ulbricht, complaining
115. 9:46about his dictatorship. But they forget or don t realize that Ulbricht is resentful.
116. 9:52If someone criticizes him, he will remember it and wait for the moment to pay back.
117. 9:57A so-called New Course, Neuer Kurs , is announced in the press on June 12th, that contains a
118. 10:04number of measures, such as travel facilitations to the west, a bit more freedom to the churches
119. 10:09and for the farmers the forced collectivization is for the time being put on hold. However,
120. 10:14nothing positive is mentioned about the work quotas. Which will turn out to be one of Ulbricht
121. 10:18s biggest mistakes.
122. 10:20It comes to a big strike in Berlin on June 16th. The people want to see Ulbricht, but
123. 10:25he states that his politburo meeting is more important and that it raining, so the people
124. 10:29will leave soon anyway. But that doesn t happen. People start shouting: Spitzbart, Bauch und
125. 10:35Brille sind nicht des Volkes wille! , Goatee, belly and glasses are not the will of the
126. 10:40people. The people want Ulbricht to step down. Finally, under pressure, the Politburo decides
127. 10:46to reduce the work quotas, but people have completely lost confidence in the GDR government
128. 10:51and want free elections, so the day after they plan an even bigger strike.
129. 10:56In the evening, Ulbricht invites SED party officials from the Berlin region and explains
130. 11:01more details of the New Course, completely ignoring what had happened that day. This
131. 11:06is one of Ulbricht s weaknesses: he simply ignores critical things that he doesn t like.
132. 11:12On the morning of June 17th, when crowds of people are already gathering on the streets,
133. 11:17Ulbricht and the other Politburo members are picked up and brought to Karlshorst - the
134. 11:22office of the Soviet Control Commission - passing lots of groups of furious people along the
135. 11:26way. As of that moment the Soviets make the decisions.
136. 11:30and bring the Uprising to a bloody end. More about this in the German Uprising video on
137. 11:35this channel.
138. 11:36Ulbricht again survives because his opponents do not have sufficient determination to overthrow
139. 11:42him. And in particular: in Moscow, Beria is declared an enemy to the Party, dismissed
140. 11:48and excluded from the Party and sentenced to death. Ulbricht s biggest enemy of the
141. 11:52last months is suddenly gone. In the period after the Uprising, Ulbricht
142. 11:57takes revenge on the Politburo members that have been too critical:
143. 12:01Especially Rudolf Herrnstadt, who also is chief editor of the newspaper Neues Deutschland
144. 12:07and Wilhelm Zaisser also Minister of State Security. Accusations against them go even
145. 12:12that fare that they would be imperialistic agents wanting to introduce capitalism in
146. 12:17the GDR. Both are expelled from the party. Ulbricht s resentment shows when he even sends
147. 12:23Herrnstadt to work for the German Central Archive in Merseburg, an area with high air
148. 12:28pollution because of the heavy chemical industry, while he knows that Herrnstadt had suffered
149. 12:33from Tuberculosis that left him with only 50% of his lung capacity.
150. 12:38Also, Anton Ackermann and Elli Schmidt need to leave the party.
151. 12:43As part of the so-called New Course, Neuer Kurs , Consumer prices are lowered and wages
152. 12:48are increased. Also, the Soviets make some economic concessions, such as waiving the
153. 12:53remaining 2.5 billion dollar of war reparations. However, in the GDR not even a year later,
154. 12:59there was almost nothing left of the new course.
155. 13:02Also, in 1953 Ulbricht marries his second wife, Lotte K hn, who had been his partner
156. 13:07since mid-1930s (already). Lotte K hn is fluent in Russian which from time to time is very
157. 13:13useful to Ulbricht who doesn t speak the language so well.
158. 13:17In February 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev holds his secret speech in which he knocks
159. 13:23Stalin from his p destal, mainly related to the purges in the 1930s where at least 700,000
160. 13:29people had lost their lives. The speech was a shock to the many Stalin admirers. Ulbricht,
161. 13:35who had still honored Stalin in each and every of his own speeches, doesn t show any emotion
162. 13:40and states Stalin was not a classic . Ulbricht is forced to admit that reforms are
163. 13:46necessary also in the GDR and rehabilitates 73 SED-members, a part of which had earlier
164. 13:52been deprived of their power by Ulbricht himself, such as Anton Ackermann and Elli Schmidt.
165. 13:58Stalin relics are removed quietly: Stalinstadt becomes Eisenh ttenstadt, the Stalin-Allee
166. 14:03in Berlin becomes Karl-Marx-Allee and the Stalin statue in the middle of that street
167. 14:08is removed during the night.
168. 14:10Within the central committee more and more members lose the political battle against
169. 14:14Ulbricht. In the autumn of 1957, Minister of State Security, Ernst Wollweber,
170. 14:20Minister of Culture, Johannes Becher, and the Secretary of Culture and Education, Paul
171. 14:24Wandel resign.
172. 14:25Now, Ulbricht has only two enemies left in his central committee: Karl Schirdewan, secretary
173. 14:31for Cadre affairs, and Gerhart Ziller, Secretary for economic policy.
174. 14:36Ulbricht increases the pressure on Schirdewan, who much too late starts looking for allies
175. 14:41to collectively bring Ulbricht down. Gerhart Ziller then makes a huge mistake. During a
176. 14:46lunch where he has drunk too much, he shouts that he and Schirdewan will tell Ulbricht
177. 14:51the truth. He d better prepare himself. Via a Stasi employee, Ulbricht is informed and
178. 14:57he indeed prepares the meeting well. Schirdewan is forgotten to be invited by Ulbricht, but
179. 15:02he appears in the meeting anyway and Ziller is accused of expressing criticism against
180. 15:07the SED leaders. The meeting will resume the next morning, but during the night of December
181. 15:1214 1957, Gerhart Ziller commits suicide. When Ziller s widowed wife asks Ulbricht Why?
182. 15:19, Ulbricht says: We didn t tell him to do this.
183. 15:22Schirdewan has no chance to win the battle. In February 1958 he and Fred Oelssner, deputy
184. 15:28chairman of the council of ministers, are excluded from the central committee. Schirdewan
185. 15:33is degraded to Leader of the State Archive.
186. 15:36Ulbricht rewards Erich Honecker for his loyalty: He takes over the responsibilities from Schirdewan.
187. 15:42Now having eliminated all his enemies in the party, Ulbricht, will be the absolute ruler
188. 15:46till his replacement in 1971. If Ulbricht s opponents would have had a bit more courage,
189. 15:52they could have overthrown him and made use of the helping hand of Khrushchev.
190. 15:55As mentioned, Ulbricht was a man without a private life. However, sports are his big
191. 16:01passion and he had a daughter. In 1946 he and his then still future wife Lotte K hn
192. 16:06adopt an orphan girl, Beate, from the Sowjet Union. According to Beate s statements the
193. 16:11relationship with her father was normal, like in a normal family. He played with his daughter,
194. 16:16read bedtime-stories. Almost as if we were talking about another person. Beate Ulbricht
195. 16:21was found dead under mysterious circumstances in 1991.
196. 16:25The open border around West Berlin is a big thorn in his side and in March 1961, Ulbricht
197. 16:31brings it up in a meeting of all Warsaw Pact states. None of the participants, including
198. 16:36Khrushchev, approve Ulbricht s idea to close the Berlin border or even to use barbed wire,
199. 16:42not wanting to risk a war with the United States. Ulbricht however, when back in Berlin,
200. 16:47orders Erich Honecker to start preparing the closure of the border.
201. 16:51Three months later, in a press conference, Ulbricht is asked if he plans to close the
202. 16:55border at the Brandenburg gate. He most probably makes a slip of the tongue by answering that
203. 17:00"Nobody has the intention of building a wall", although no one asked him about a wall, but
204. 17:08which is exactly what happens in the night of august 13th 1961. A few days earlier Ulbricht,
205. 17:14had gotten final approval from the Eastern block states, stating that fleeing GDR citizens
206. 17:19weaken the GDR economy and a weak GDR economy will also affect their economy.
207. 17:25And indeed, the closure of the last loophole, leads to a positive impulse to the East German
208. 17:29economy in the next years. Life standard reaches the highest level of all communist states
209. 17:34in the world. But in the same time, dozens of people lose their life trying to escape
210. 17:39from the GDR.
211. 17:41In 1963 Ulbricht turns 70 and unlike 10 years ago, it is widely celebrated. The Soviets
212. 17:47grant him 2 medals: The Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.
213. 17:53In October 1964 Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev is replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, a man that
214. 17:59is less open to reforms. As of the first meeting with Brezhnev it is clear to Ulbricht that
215. 18:04from now on it will be less easy to ask the Soviets for a favor.
216. 18:09Mid-1960s the GDR still isn t recognized as an independent state. Ulbricht works hard
217. 18:14to have this changed. After years of preparations, in 1969 Iraq is the first non-communist country
218. 18:21that starts diplomatic relations with the GDR. Soon Cambodia, Sudan, Syria, Egypt and
219. 18:27Algeria follow. But also West Germany is still in Ulbricht
220. 18:31s focus since the 1950s, having a unified Germany in mind, a socialist Germany of course.
221. 18:37He even includes this in the new GDR constitution in 1968.
222. 18:41Ulbricht hopes to succeed in the unification, together with the West German socialist party,
223. 18:47the SPD. The Soviets however, make clear that if contacts are made to West Germany, it has
224. 18:52to be done by the Soviets and not by Ulbricht. But as usual, Ulbricht doesn t do what he
225. 18:57is told. Finally, in 1970 inner German negotiations
226. 19:01start, resulting in a contract 2 years later.
227. 19:04At the end of the 1960s Walter Ulbricht has become a sort of living monument of world
228. 19:09communism. His people do their best to present him the version of reality that he expects
229. 19:14to see, just to please him. This means that in case Ulbricht would visit a certain place
230. 19:19in the country, people would work day and night to get everything prepared down to the
231. 19:23finest details. Ulbricht s character has developed to a point
232. 19:28that many describe as unbearable , mainly because of his bossiness and ego problems:
233. 19:33Ulbricht sees himself at the level of Lenin and Stalin. He even lectures the Soviets,
234. 19:38including Soviet leader Brezhnev, about the successes of the GDR economy and the GDR being
235. 19:43exemplary in socialism. This would prove to be a serious mistake.
236. 19:48Also, Ulbricht s health is deteriorating. He regularly is hospitalized and needs time
237. 19:53to recover.
238. 19:54Despite Ulbricht s reform attempts, in the beginning of the 1970s, the general supply
239. 19:58situation of the GDR is still insufficient and the country has gotten into a financial
240. 20:03crisis. People are mainly dissatisfied about the housing conditions, but also the availability
241. 20:09of kindergarten and daycare places, the road conditions and the functioning of the government
242. 20:14bodies. Ulbricht does not change his course.
243. 20:18In the course of 1970, two meetings with West Germany take place, after which the Soviet
244. 20:23Union orders the GDR to stop, not having confidence in the western terms and conditions. Ulbricht
245. 20:29however, does not follow Brezhnev s requirements and even openly communicates in the media
246. 20:34that he hopes that a third round of talks will lead to the start of a diplomatic relationship
247. 20:39between the two German states. Erich Honecker makes use of the distance between
248. 20:44both leaders. Ulbricht has been Honecker s mentor and has brought him where he is now,
249. 20:49but he has to withstand more and more attacks from Ulbricht. Time has come for Ulbricht
250. 20:53to make room for a new leader. But that is not an easy job. In an extra politburo meeting
251. 20:59on July 1st 1970, the day after Ulbricht s 77th birthday, Honecker is removed from his
252. 21:05post. But not for long, because when Brezhnev hears
253. 21:08about this, he immediately sends his East German ambassador to Ulbricht with a clear
254. 21:13message to have Honecker re-installed, which happens a few days later in the next politburo
255. 21:18meeting.
256. 21:19The combination of his bad health and the lack of support from his politburo members
257. 21:24has driven Ulbricht into isolation. In January 1971, Erich Honecker sends a letter
258. 21:29to the Soviet Communist Party, demanding Ulbricht s resignation, in order to avoid that Ulbricht
259. 21:35will cause irrecoverable damage to the party. The letter is signed by is 13 out of the 21
260. 21:41politburo members. Three months later Honecker is given the green
261. 21:44light from Moscow and drives to Ulbricht s country estate at the D llnsee. He is well
262. 21:49prepared and even has arranged for all telephone lines to Ulbricht being cut and asks his personal
263. 21:55security staff to bring automatic weapons. But things don t get out of hand. After a
264. 22:0090 minutes heavy argument Ulbricht gives up and signs his letter of resignation.
265. 22:04At the next politburo meeting on April 27th, 1971, Ulbricht announces his resignation.
266. 22:05As requested by the Soviets, Ulbricht becomes Honorary president of the SED and remains
267. 22:10chairman of the State Council. Erich Honecker now is the first secretary of the SED.
268. 22:17During the first months after he stepped down, Ulbricht s health quickly deteriorates. He
269. 22:22has several circulatory collapses and heart attacks. But when doctors want to stop him
270. 22:26from going back to work, Ulbricht thinks this is all pre-arranged in order to remove him
271. 22:30from politics. The loss of his power and isolation makes him even more frustrated.
272. 22:37Honecker continues to finish what he started: making sure that Ulbricht loses his complete
273. 22:42power. On the next party congress Honecker openly criticizes Ulbricht s bossiness, in
274. 22:47September 1971 he even shares Ulbricht s medical file amongst the members of the central committee,
275. 22:53trying to convince everyone that Ulbricht has only got weeks to live.
276. 22:58Ulbricht sends several letters to Brezhnev, sharing his long lists of complaints and asking
277. 23:02the Soviet leader to intervene, which doesn t happen.
278. 23:06Due to his medical condition, his activities decrease in number.
279. 23:09Ulbricht s last public performance is on June 30th 1973, his 80th birthday. He asks Honecker,
280. 23:16who is the speaker, if he can remain seated. One month later, on the 1st of August 1973,
281. 23:22Ulbricht dies due to heart failure.
282. 23:24Contrary to the assumption that Ulbricht s funeral would be a silent one, it becomes
283. 23:29a state funeral, based on Soviet orders. The number of people participating in Ulbricht
284. 23:34s farewell in the morning is higher than expected. The state act is visited by delegations from
285. 23:39the Warsaw Pact states. Brezhnev sends his number 2, the 2nd Secretary Nikolay Podgorny.
286. 23:45Honecker holds a commemorative speech. After the state act, the coffin is transported on
287. 23:50a military vehicle to the Baumschulenweg Crematorium. Six weeks later the urn I s buried at the
288. 23:56Memorial of the Socialists, die Gedenkst tte der Sozialisten, in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde,
289. 24:02next to Otto Grothewohl and Wilhelm Pieck.
290. 24:05Walter Ulbricht is inextricably linked with the history of communism in Germany. His legacy
291. 24:10was the German Democratic Republic.
292. 24:13And that brings us to the end of today s investigation. Feel free to check out the other videos on
293. 24:17this channel and to subscribe. Thank you for watching and see you on the
294. 24:20next one!