ABSTRACT

The essential characteristic of the GDR’s political and economic systems was the monopoly of power which the SED enjoyed within them. The party, and its leadership in particular, claimed to be the revolutionary advance guard which would transform society for the good of all. As representatives of the working class, they would counter reactionary threats from other strata of society within the ‘Klassenkampf’ (‘class struggle’). According to Marxist theory, the working class’s numerical superiority legitimised the party’s claim to supreme power, and the apparently scientific nature of Marxist-Leninist teachings, as laid down in works such as Das Kapital, supported an official creed that the SED was infallible in its policies. The party leadership was entrusted with the task of interpreting prevailing conditions according to MarxistLeninist teaching and developing corresponding policy to achieve the ultimate goal of socialism. This theory was reflected in the refrain of an SED song, ‘Die Partei hat immer recht’ (‘The party is always right’). Faith in the primacy of SED dogma was so strong among many party activists in the 1940s and 1950s in particular that many of those who were unjustly punished for alleged infractions of the party line remained loyal to the system and worked for the ultimate goal.