German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR; more commonly known in English as East Germany) was a self-declared socialist state (but commonly referred to in the West as a communist state) that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin. The German Democratic Republic existed from 7 October 1949 until 3 October 1990, when its re-established states acceded to the adjacent Federal Republic of Germany, thus producing the current form of Germany. During its existence, the GDR was a member of the Eastern Bloc of eastern European nations that were aligned with the Soviet Union (USSR).

In 1955, the USSR declared that the GDR was fully sovereign. However, Soviet occupation troops remained in East German territory, based on the four-power Potsdam Agreement, while American, British, Canadian, and French forces remained in the Federal Republic of Germany in the West. Berlin, completely surrounded by East German territory, was similarly divided with British, French and U.S. garrisons in West Berlin and Soviet forces in East Berlin. Berlin in particular became the focal point of Cold War tensions. East Germany was a member of the Warsaw Pact and a close ally of the USSR.