Ulbricht remains in power

Walter Ulbricht becomes First Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED

Stalin’s death on 5 March 1953 appeared to herald the imminent end of Walter Ulbricht’s career as the strong man of the DDR. He had already been summoned to Moscow to explain the dissatisfaction that was widespread amongst the East German population; an uprising of 17 June 1953 served only to underscore his poor management of the situation. Ulbricht was also accused of establishing a personality cult. He seemed to be a typical Stalinist in a period when this form of rule was fast going out of fashion.

The great survivor Ulbricht managed to pull his head out of the noose once again. Denouncing his opponents in the SED, he accused them of Stalinism. Although the degree of gaslighting involved in this attack was breath-taking, Ulbricht knew that his East German rivals had little support in Moscow, and that the Soviets feared that removing the familiar man would be interpreted as a sign of their own weakness. Ulbricht was able to portray himself as the sole guarantor of stability in the DDR. Having retained the support of the Soviets, his re-election at the head of the Central Committee of the SED was now a formality and took place at the SED conference that began on 24 July 1953. Indeed, he even received a new title: no longer “General Secretary”, he was now the “First Secretary” of the Central Committee of the SED. The subsequent advent of de-Stalinisation raised East German hopes for greater freedoms, but Ulbricht was able to side-line such dreamers as “factionalists”. In 1958 and at the age of 65 – when most people retire – Ulbricht secured his position as the unchallenged leader of East Germany.