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Socialistic Einheitspartei Germany forms in East Germany

The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.

The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. Formed in 1946 through a forced merger of the East German branches of the Communist Party of Germany and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the SED built and ruled East Germany as a one-party Marxist–Leninist state.

The SED was structured according to democratic centralism, with authority flowing from the Party Congress through the Central Committee to the Politburo. Though the Party Congress formally held supreme authority, the Politburo and the Secretariat carried out decision-making between congresses.

Historical Significance

The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.

Events Before

  1. German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels

    German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels

  2. Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President

    Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President

  3. Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocau

    Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day [1]

  4. WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three

    WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three years of Japanese military occupation

  5. Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josep

    Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, declaring that liberated nations are to establish democratic governments through free elections

Events After

  1. Mahatma Gandhi begins a march for peace in East Bengal

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign…

  2. Benelux agrees to work on related issues

    Benelux agrees to work on related issues

  3. Britain nationalizes its coal industry

    The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 59) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United…

  4. French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

    French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

  5. Earl Mountbatten of Burma is appointed the last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence

    The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan.

More from the 1940s

D-Day: The Normandy Landings

Allied forces launch the largest amphibious invasion in history on the beaches of Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

wars conflicts

World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pled

World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pledging to make no separate peace deals

Mahatma Gandhi begins a march for peace in East Bengal

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign…

birth

Omar al-Bashir is born

Omar al-Bashir is born

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on April 21, 1946?
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. Formed in 1946 through a forced merger of the East German branches of the Communist Party of Germany and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the SED built and ruled East Germany as a one-party Marxist–Leninist state. The SED was structured according to democratic centralism, with authority flowing from the Party Congress through the Central Committee to the Politburo.
Why is Socialistic Einheitspartei Germany forms in East Germany significant?
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.

Explore More

April 21 in HistoryYear 1946