Democratic Republic of Germany

Description

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) is a unitary parliamentary republic with socialist ideals founded in 1945 after the surrender of Nazi Germany ending World War II. Initially 'East Germany' was an SSR to the greater USSR as part of an agreement, but slowly the DDR became its own nation even though West Berlin was still kept under tight grip by the Soviet Union. Make no mistake that the nation is allied to the rest of socialism, but largely the rest of the nation remains outside the jurisdiction of the USSR. The economy is planned and state-owned, prices of housing, basic goods and services were heavily subsidized and set by central government planners rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the DDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the Soviets, it was the most successful economy in the Eastern Bloc until its unofficial independence. Today, people may freely cross into 'Die Osten' including into East Berlin, as the wall has merely become sort of a symbolic status to the world instead of a practical one.