Liberal Democratic Party of Germany

Liberal Democratic Party of Germany
Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands
Chairman Waldemar Koch (1945)
Wilhelm Külz (1945-1948)
Arthur Lieutenant (1948-1949)
Karl Hamann, Hermann Kastner (1949-1952)
Hans Loch (1952-1960)
Max Suhrbier (1960-1967)
Manfred Gerlach (1967-1979)
Unknown (1979-1989)
Rainer Ortleb (1989-1990)
Founded July 1945
Dissolved 11 August 1990
Merged into Free Democratic Party
Headquarters East Berlin, East Germany
Membership  (1987) 106,000[1]
Ideology 1945-1952, 1989-1990:
Liberalism, Social liberalism, Conservative liberalism
1952-1989:
Liberalism, Socialism (non-Marxist)
Political position 1945-1952: Center rightmajority,
Right-wingminority,
Centrismminority
1952-1989:
Left-wing
1989-1990:
Center rightmajority,
Right-wingminority
National affiliation National Front
International affiliation None
(Co-operation with other official liberal parties within the Soviet dominated part of the world; see below)
Colours Black, red, yellow (National colours)
Party flag

The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (German: Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands, LDPD) was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied bloc parties of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the National Front, it had 52 representatives in the People's Chamber.

Foundation

The history of the party dates back to June 1946, when a group led by Waldemar Koch took the initiative in refounding the German Democratic Party. At first there were some speculation of forming a united liberal party with the Christian Democrats, but the idea was abandoned soon and on 5 July 1946, the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany was officially founded.

It was first of all aimed at uniting Weimar Republic-era members of the German Democratic Party, German People's Party and German National People's Party. Unlike the East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Liberal Democratic Party was firmly for private ownership and opposed to nationalization of important private enterprises. Among the new anti-fascist parties, Liberal Democratic Party was the most anti-communist at the time.

After internal fighting and under pressure from Soviet authorities, Koch was replaced with the more pliable Wilhelm Külz in November 1945.

In the last free election, of 1946, the Liberal Democrats finished third, behind the SED and the CDU. At the end of 1948, during the culmination of their opposition to the SED seizure of power, the LDP had more than 200,000 members, 23% of whom were younger than 25.

Unification attempts

Wilhelm Külz (left) in December 1947 with Wilhelm Pieck (SED) and Otto Nuschke (CDU) at the "People's Congress"

In July 1946 the LDP and the liberal parties in the Western Zones founded a joint Coordination committee with the aim of forming an All-Germany liberal party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, DPD). The founding of the Democratic Party of Germany began with a conference in Rothenburg ob der Tauber on 17 March 1947. Wilhelm Külz and Theodor Heuss (representing Western liberals) acted as co-chairman. Such undertakings failed quickly, owing to Külz's participation in the SED-sponsored German People's Congress for Unity and Just Peace. Although the LDP's Vorstand or leadership criticized that participation, it refused to take any further steps demanded by the West German liberals.

The failure of unification became imminent when on the session of the united leadership of DPD that took part on 18 January 1948 and which Külz refused to attend, Theodor Heuss argued that Liberal Democrats' unwillingness to take any measures against Külz proved their commitment to 'the Russian conception of German unity'. Upon in, Arthur Lieutenant, the spokesman of LDPD on the matter, declared that under those circumstances and concerning reproaches laid against East German liberals, any co-operation had been made impossible. This was in fact the end of DPD.

A Blockpartei

Party convention in 1987, with singer Dagmar Frederic and professor Zippel of Charité

After 1949 it shared the same fate as the other legal East German parties. As a bloc party (Blockpartei) of the National Front it jettisoned its original ideology, acting as a "helpmeet" to the Communist Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Another bloc party, the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD), appealed to almost the same social groups.

LDPD member Johannes Dieckmann was the chairman of the Volkskammer from 1949 to 1969, and as such was ex officio vice president of the GDR from 1949 to 1960.

Manfred Gerlach was the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1967 to his resignation in 1990. The central newspaper of LDPD used to be the daily Der Morgen.

Originally it used the name Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal-Demokratische Partei (LDP)), but in October 1951 it was ordered to add the "D" for "Germany" (Deutschland) into its name in order to serve the all-German propaganda of that time of the SED.

Gerlach had initially been a loyal partner of the SED, but began moving toward a more independent line in the 1980s. At an extraordinary party congress held 9–10 February 1990 in Dresden it returned to genuine liberal policies and dropped "of Germany" from its name. On 12 February 1990 it joined the Association of Free Democrats which finally merged into the Free Democratic Party (FDP) on 11 August 1990.

Foreign contacts

The LDPD had contacts with other (nominally) liberal parties in the Communist bloc: Polish Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne, SD), the Czechoslovak Socialist Party (Československá strana socialistická, CSS),[2] the Democratic Party of Vietnam and the Korean Democratic Party (Chõson Sahoeminjudang, CS).[3] The Liberal Democratic Party of GDR also had some contacts with the West German FDP; in 1960s and 1970s, the relations were cool, but contacts intensified in 1980s.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dirk Jurich, Staatssozialismus und gesellschaftliche Differenzierung: eine empirische Studie, p.31. LIT Verlag Münster, 2006, ISBN 3825898938
  2. ↑ which represented liberalism, despite its name
  3. ↑ Peter Joachim Lapp Die "befreundeten Parteien" der SED, 1988, p. 104
  4. ↑ Peter Joachim Lapp Die "befreundeten Parteien" der SED, 1988, pp. 108-109.
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