National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)
Encyclopedia : N : NA : NAT : National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)
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The National Democratic Party (German: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, or NDPD) was an East German political party that acted as an organisation for former members of the NSDAP and the Wehrmacht. It should not be confused with today's extreme-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).
It was recognised by the Soviet military administration, the SMAD, on 16 August 1948 and later sent 52 delegates to the East German parliament, the Volkskammer, as part of the National Front. None of these ever voted against the government on any issue, similarily to other block parties which were effectually puppets of the ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Nonetheless, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became an independent agent in politics, participating the only free Volkskammer election ever held (March 18, 1990). NDPD was not included to the electoral cartel of the other liberal-to-be parties in East Germany and entered the race alone. The results were debacle, though: with 44,292 votes (0.38%) they received less votes than they had nominally party members. After these results, they soon merged with the West German Free Democrats. Udo Leuschner Geschichte der FDP http://www.udo-leuschner.de/liberalismus/fdp26.htm
Its programme demanded, among other things, the promotion of the middle class and an end to discrimination against former members of the Nazi Party. Obviously, the party was established by the communist authorities with the aim of claiming support among these ranks of society. The NDPD was organised on democratic centralist grounds and had 110,000 members in the late 1980s.
The party was supposed to represent 'liberalism, just as Liberal Democratic Party of Germany, but NDPD was had an even more pro-SED stance and was reluctant to criticise the government even when the changes began to emerge in 1989.
In 27 March 1990 the NDPD became part of the Bund Freier Demokraten, a short-lived organization that eventually merged in the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP).
Chairmen of the NDPD
| Lothar Bolz | 1948-1972 |
| Heinrich Homann | 1972-1989 |
| Günter Hartmann | 1989-1990 |
| Wolfgang Glaeser | 1990 |
| Wolfgang Rauls | 1990 |
Reference
See also
- East Germany#Politics
- National Front (East Germany)
External link
- [Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands from chronik der wende]
- [FDP takes 'Block flutes' over (In German)]
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