Walter Ulbricht

Walter Ulbricht (June 30, 1893 – August 1, 1973) was a German communist politician. As First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971, he held the most influential role in the early existence of East Germany (the German Democratic Republic).

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Ulbricht was born in Leipzig as the son of a tailor. Both his parents worked actively for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD). He attended secondary school (Volksschule), and learned the trade of a joiner. Later, he served in World War I from 1915 to 1918 on the Polish, Serbian and Western Fronts.

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In 1918, Ulbricht joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany. A founding member of the Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, KPD) in 1919, Ulbricht attended the International Lenin School of the Komintern in Moscow in 1924/1925. The electors subsequently voted him into the regional parliament of Saxony (S?chsischer Landtag) in 1926. He became an Member of the German parliament (the Reichstag) from 1928 to 1933. After the Nazi Party formed a government in 1933, Ulbricht lived in exile in Paris and Prague from 1933 to 1938, then in Moscow from 1938 to 1945.

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A leader of the East German communist Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) from 1949 to 1971, he also served as Staatsratsvorsitzender (Chairman of the Council of State: head of state) of East Germany from 1960, when President Wilhelm Pieck died, until his own death in 1973. Erich Honecker effectively ousted Ulbricht from power when he had to hand over the leadership of the SED in 1971, although he remained the nominal head of state. He died at the D?llnsee near East Berlin on August 1, 1973.

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June 30: June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining, and the last day of June....

1893: 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar)....

August 1: August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining....

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