East German revolt

Rebellion by the workers against the communist policies of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) 16–19 June 1953. It was sparked by food shortages in spring 1953 and a subsequent 10% increase in the work norms, the amount of production required from each worker. A strike that broke out on 16 June spread to most of East Germany's industries, and quickly spiralled into demands for democracy. The USSR, which had previously ordered the East German government to compromise with the workers, sent in the Red Army to restore order. The revolt led to repressive measures and the continued presence of Red Army forces in East Germany until the collapse of the communist regime in 1989.

From its inauguration in 1949 the poverty of East Germany contrasted markedly with the prosperity of West Germany, and curbs on personal liberties added to a discontent that found expression in the thousands of refugees who poured into West Berlin from the eastern sector, and then on to the Federal Republic of Germany.

During 1952 and 1953 the vice premier Walter Ulbricht, who as first secretary of the Socialist Unity Party held the real power in the East German government, pressed firmly ahead with his policy of making East Germany into a fully communist economy. All remaining privately-owned businesses and services were nationalized. There was large scale opposition to this, but it is likely this could have been controlled through the usual methods of suppression employed in the Eastern bloc. However, the weakness of the East German system was further demonstrated by the food shortages that grew during the spring of 1953. Ulbricht asked the USSR to send food supplies to solve the shortage, but was told by the Soviets to change his economic policies to solve the problem. Ulbricht chose to ignore this advice and pressed on regardless. The amount of production required from each worker, known as the work norm, was raised by 10%. Ulbricht hoped to make the East Germans work their way out of the crisis.

In early June 1953 the USSR ordered Ulbricht to back down in the face of mounting opposition. Ulbricht himself did not support the subsequent policy of compromise with the East German people's demands, but feared that the Soviets would remove him from power. However, he chose only to admit that he had made mistakes and promised to improve living standards. The main issue for East Germany's workers, the increased work norms, would stay. Ulbricht had badly misjudged the strength of feeling in the country. On 16 June the workers building East Berlin's new Stalinalle, designed to show off the wealth and prestige of the communist nation, went on strike. Soon strikes had broken out in most of East Germany's industries. The workers were now in open revolt against communist policies that they had been promised would lead to a workers' paradise. The strikes turned into political demands for democracy, and East Germany was spinning out of control.

Control over the situation was taken out of the hands of the East German government by the Soviets, who moved in to bolster up the communist regime. In East Berlin Soviet tanks intervened to restore order. Elsewhere the forces of the Red Army extinguished the revolt by 19 June. The revolt was followed by repression, and though the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed a sovereign state in 1954 (recognized at first only by the communist powers), large Soviet forces continued to be stationed in the country until 1989.