East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, was created in the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany a few months after the western zones became the Federal Republic of Germany. It was a one-party socialist state dominated by the Socialist Unity Party and closely tied to the Soviet Union. The secret police, the Stasi, kept extensive surveillance over its citizens. As many East Germans fled to the West, the government built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop emigration. In 1989 mass protests and the opening of the borders led to the fall of the Wall in November, and the state was united with West Germany under the West German constitution at the end of 1990.
Before and after
- 18 June 1949Birth of Lech Kaczyński
- 18 August 1949Founding of French Civil Aviation University
- 23 September 1949Birth of Bruce Springsteen
- 25 September 1949Birth of Pedro Almodóvar
- from 7 October 1949 to 3 October 1990East Germany
- 8 October 1949Birth of Sigourney Weaver
- 21 October 1949Birth of Benjamin Netanyahu
- 1 December 1949Birth of Pablo Escobar
- from 6 December 1949 to 1 January 1958La Violencia
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 1945Discovery of Nag Hammadi library
- from 23 May 1949 to 3 October 1990West Germany
- from 15 December 1954 to 10 October 2010Netherlands Antilles
- from 26 October 1955 to 30 April 1975South Vietnam
- from 2 September 1991 to 1 January 2023Republic of Artsakh
- from 2003 to 2006Serbia and Montenegro
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.