ft East Germany for West Germany between 1949 and 1953.
Open rebellion against the SED regime, however, did not coalesce until June 1953. The failure of the government to rescind an increase in the expected levels of production—in line with Soviet policy since the death of Josef Stalin in March 1953—spurred mass strikes in Berlin. Demonstrations in the capital on 16 June 1953 spread to the rest of the country the following day, until the Soviet Army sent tanks to quell the disturbances. Ironically, the uprising strengthened Ulbricht's position, as the Soviets were now clearly committed to supporting his regime.
Ulbricht nonetheless instituted limited reforms aimed at placating East Germans. The SED dropped its Five-Year Plan and adopted a more balanced Seven-Year model, collectivization was temporarily abandoned, and the centralized economy shifted its focus to providing more housing and basic consumer goods. Without fundamental reforms, however, the East German economy continued to lag far behind that of West Germany. Ulbricht's solution to this slow growth was to increase the tempo of socialization in the late 1950s, resuming collectivization and pressing business owners into cooperatives. The regime also stepped up its communist indoctrination efforts. East German youths were pressed to join the police and armed forces (East Germany had become part of the Warsaw Treaty Organization in 1955) to demonstrate their commitment to socialism. In the meantime, the flow of refugees moving through Berlin from East to West accelerated.
The solution to this problem, proposed by Ulbricht and approved by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, was to close the border in Berlin as well. On the night of 12–13 August 1961, East German police units began constructing the Berlin Wall. Labeled an antifascist bulwark by the SED regime, the wall's construction was seen in the West as an admission of defeat. It served its purpose, however. Not only did it stop the drain of talent and manpower, but it also allowed the East German government room to experiment with reforms.
On the very night that the Berlin Wall went up, Ulbricht initiated a program of de-Stalinization, changing the names of streets, squares, buildings, and factories. By 1963, the regime was comfortable enough to announce the New Economic System (NES). Aimed at improving productivity and making management more responsible, the NES was a limited market-oriented system that brought a short-term surge in growth. In the long run, however, the SED was unwilling to surrender enough control over the economy to make the system work. The NES was abandoned in 1970.
Curiously, in 1968 the SED had promulgated a new constitution that not only cemented the party's leading role in politics but also declared East Germany a socialist state, bringing the construction phase to a close. East Germany, however, could hardly be considered successful. The economy was stagnant, and East Germans continued to seek refuge in the West whenever they could. Pressure from the West, in the form of the Hallstein Doctrine, left the state isolated beyond the Soviet bloc.
Ulbricht, aging and increasingly out of touch, was quietly pushed aside in favor of Erich Honecker, formerly head of the communist youth organizations, in 1971. In Cold War terms, West German politics had shifted decisively as well, as the SPD came to power in 1969. As part of an initiative known as Ostpolitik, Willy Brandt, the new chancellor of West Germany, favored opening relations with East Germany. Honecker spoke of "no taboos," indicating a willingness to open East German society and culture, if not East German politics and the Berlin Wall.
The increased flexibility on both sides paid handsome dividends. Brandt opened his initiative with a visit to East Germany in May 1970 to discuss intra-German relations. Progress was limited, however, as Ulbricht insisted on linking other issues to the question of West Berlin's status. Under Honecker, representatives of West Germany and East Germany managed to work out new agreements on transit and tourism (