EAST GERMANY Definition & Meaning

East Germany

noun

a former country in central Europe: created in 1949 from the Soviet zone of occupied Germany established in 1945: reunited with West Germany in 1990. 41,827 sq. mi. (108,333 sq. km). : East Berlin.

East Germany

noun

a former republic in N central Europe: established in 1949 and declared a sovereign state by the Soviet Union in 1954; Communist regime replaced by a multiparty democracy in 1989; reunited with West Germany in 1990 Official nameGerman Democratic RepublicAbbreviationDDRAbbreviationGDR See also Germany

East Germany

Former nation in north-central Europe , officially known as the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1990, when East and West Germany were reunited. Its capital and largest city was East Berlin .

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Notes

The Berlin Wall (see also Berlin Wall ) was erected in 1961 to keep East Germans from defecting to the West.

Former Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact nation, established as a republic in 1949; formed out of land in the zone of Germany occupied by the Soviet Union after World War II .

Although high for a communist nation, the East German living standard lagged far behind that of western Europe. Popular protests for democracy forced the communist government to open the Berlin Wall in 1989 and allow its citizens to migrate to West Germany. Unable to resist the tide of reform sweeping across communist states, the East German government agreed in 1990 to the reunification of Germany under the leadership of West Germany.

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

East German adjective noun

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Compare Meanings

How does East Germany compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

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Look at an election results map of Germany, and you could almost have travelled back in time to the Cold War, when an iron curtain divided communist East Germany from the west.

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Tens of thousands left to work in eastern bloc countries like Poland, East Germany and Hungary.

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Her party is currently riding high in the opinion polls ahead of federal elections on 23 February, especially in states like Saxony-Anhalt in the former East Germany.

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He said it sometimes felt like he was working in "North Korea or East Germany", unable to "have an open conversation" with colleagues.

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Details of the killing remained unknown for decades after the Stasi secret police shredded files relating to the case before communist East Germany reunified with the West in 1991.

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