East Germany

East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʀaːtɪʃə ʀepuˈbliːk], DDR), is a socialist state located in Central Europe formed in 1949 in the aftermath of World War II. It was established in the Soviet occupied territories of Germany and the eastern portion of Berlin was made the country's official capital while the Federal Republic (West Germany) was established in the Allied occupied zone. East Germany was established as satellite state of the Sino-Soviet Union and transferred leadership from the Soviet central government to German communist authorities in 1948 until the country became an official self-governing state On October 7th, 1949, though Soviet forces remained in the country from 1949 until 1991 following their withdraw in accordance with a series of reformations to the Eastern bloc.

The economy of East Germany was in accordance with communist economic policies and was state owned. The prices of goods and services were originally set by government officials of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, rather than the rising and falling o supply and demand. In 1989 however, a series of free-market economic reforms were done and the government lessened its control over the state economy and moved more towards a mixed economy which stabilized economic conditions. As a result, East Germany has the strongest economy of the entire Eastern bloc, but still falls behind the economy of West Germany regardless. On August 13th in 1961, construction began on the Berlin Wall which separated the east and west halves of the city and prevented East Germans, particularly young people, from fleeing the country and it still remains to this day much to the dismay of the international community.

In 1989, social and political upheaval rocked the country during the crisis in the Eastern bloc which resulted in a series of economic and political reforms. Before all of them could be fully implemented, Sino-Soviet Premier Jiang Zemin ordered Soviet, Russian troops to occupy the country during the infamous massacre of the region. In 1991, Jiang Zemin was removed and the Warsaw Reformation Act was passed by Mikhail Gorbachev which had Soviet troops withdraw from the Eastern bloc and guaranteed greater autonomy and rights towards all Eastern bloc citizens. As a result, East Germany began to grow and flourish throughout the last decade of the 20th century and the Sino-Soviet Union and the communist bloc was eventually stabilized.

Today, East Germany has one of the largest economies in all of Eastern Europe and the largest in the Warsaw Pact. It has the 12th largest economy in the world and is the sixth in purchasing power when measuring the state's economy on its own. It possess a strong national defense force and frequently trades with its western neighbor and other European Union member nations. Today, East Germany is a vital member state of the Warsaw Pact and helps maintain communist control over eastern and central Europe. Many reforms have been done to modernize the country, but East Germany continues to suffer from corruption, rights erosion, and suppression of free speech and human rights.