East Germany

East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic or GDR (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik ([ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʀaːtɪʃə ʀepuˈbliːk]) or DDR), was a state within the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War period. The state existed 1949 to 1990 and was created from the region of Germany which was occupied by the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it; as a result, West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR. The GDR was a one party state, ruled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and governed largely on the Stalinist model, with carefully staged elections that were not open and free. In 1961, the government built the Berlin Wall, fortifying the country's western border.

While East Germany's planned economy was the most successful economy in the Easter Bloc, it was still far behind West Germany's. East Germany ceased to exist with the reunification of Germany 1990.

East Germany in Joe Steele
East Germany was established by Leon Trotsky's Soviet Union after World War II. The USSR treated East Germany as a source for materials needed to rebuild the Motherland, in much the same way it used North Japan.