National Front of the German Democratic Republic

The National Front of the German Democratic Republic (German: Nationale Front der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was officially an alliance of parties and mass organisations (1950-1990). In fact, only one party held power in the GDR, namely the communist SED. The National Front was an instrument to exercise control over the other parties and organisations. The precursor of the National Front was the Democratic Bloc (since 1945).

The main task of the National Front was to draw up a common electoral list ("Einheitsliste") in elections to the East German parliament, the Volkskammer ("People's Chamber"). This "unity list" was the only list that citizens could vote for. Other parties or lists were prohibited. The National Front system was intended to give to the outside world the impression that there was a democracy with a multi-party system in the GDR.

After the Second World War, the Allies initially allowed four parties: the Communists, the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. In the Soviet Occupation Zone, the Communist Party forced the Social Democrats to merge (1946). Thus the communist-dominated Socialist Unity Party (SED) was formed.

The other two parties, the Christian Democrats and Liberals, were initially independent. The SED, with the help of the Soviet occupation authorities, intimidated these parties and forced them to get on course. Finally, the occupying authorities allowed two new parties to be founded: the Peasants' Party and the National Democratic Party (1948). Both parties were founded under the secret leadership of the Communist Party. Their task was to poach voters from the Christian Democrats and Liberals. The National Democrats were also supposed to be a collecting ground for former National Socialists. The parties that were not the SED were called Blockpartei.

Finally, there were so-called mass organisations in the Soviet occupation zone and then in the GDR. Some of them were represented on the electoral list, such as the trade union and the women's organisation. Nearly all of these MPs were members of the SED. Therefore, although the SED faction in parliament did not have an absolute majority, most MPs were nevertheless SED members.[1]

All parties and mass organisations in the National Front had to officially accept the SED's leading role as a condition of their existence. Only in the last weeks prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989), some politicians of non-SED parties started to moderately criticize SED dominance. The Front disbanded in February 1990, a month before the first free elections in the GDR.