Ulbricht, Walter (väl`tər

l`brĭkht), 1893–1973, Communist leader in the German Democratic Republic. A founder of the German Communist party, he fled Germany in 1933 and went to Moscow, where he was a member of the politburo of the exiled German Communist party. Ulbricht entered Germany with the Russian troops in 1945. In 1949 he became deputy premier of the German Democratic Republic and in 1950 was named secretary-general of the Socialist Unity party, successor to the Communist party. Leader of East Germany from that time, he became chairman of the council of state in 1960. A hard-line Communist who was opposed to normalizing relations with West Germany, Ulbricht was responsible for the building (1961) of the Berlin Wall. He strongly supported close ties with the USSR and sent troops to join the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In 1971 he was replaced as secretary-general by Erich Honecker.

Bibliography

See biography by C. Stern (tr. 1965).

Ulbricht, Walter

(born June 30, 1893, Leipzig, Ger.—died Aug. 1, 1973, East Berlin, E.Ger.) German communist leader and head of East Germany (1960–73). He joined the German Communist Party after World War I and was elected to its central committee in 1923. He led the party in Berlin (1929–33), then fled abroad after the Nazi takeover. As an agent for the Comintern, he persecuted Trotskyites and other deviationists. In 1945 he returned to the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany, helped form the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in East Germany, and served as its general secretary (1950–71). He served as deputy premier of East Germany (1949–60) and as chairman of its council of state (1960–73). A constant foe of West Germany, he built the Berlin Wall in 1961. He exercised rigid control over East Germany while developing its industrial strength. He was forced to retire as first secretary of the SED in 1971 when the Soviet Union opened new relations with West Germany, but he retained his position as head of state until his death.