Soviet occupation zone
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The Soviet Occupation Zone (German: Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ) or Ostzone Russian: Советская зона Германии, Sovetskaya zona Germanii, "Soviet Zone of Germany") was the area of eastern Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on, at the end of World War II. It became East Germany. It should be noted that significant areas of what would become the Soviet zone of Germany were not handed over to the Soviets until a few months after the end of hostilities, having first been occupied by American forces. The Americans withdrew from the line of contact in July of 1945 to the previously agreed upon occupation zone bounderies.
The SBZ was one of the four occupation zones Germany was divided into after World War II. According to the Potsdam Agreement, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (German initials: SMAD) received occupation orders for the eastern portion of the country. Very soon, the SMAD allowed four political parties to develop, though they were all required to work together under an "All-Party Committee" (the "Nationale Front"). Though this campaign seemed civic-minded, it was to prepare a dictatorship: the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Communist Party of Germany were merged into the Socialist Unity Party (which became the governing party of East Germany). Finally, the SED created other parties, to weaken the Christian Democratic Union and Liberal Democratic Party of Germany.
Originally, Stalin wanted to Sovietize all of Germany, but when the West resisted this idea, he tried to work for a united Germany which would be non-aligned, but when the West again said no he decided to build a new country out of the Soviet occupation zone.
In 1945, the Soviet occupation zone consisted mainly of the central parts of Prussia. After Prussa was dissolved by the allied powers in 1945, the area was divided between the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen. On October 8, 1949, the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic, usually known simply as East Germany. In 1952, the states were dissolved, and changed to 14 districts (except for East Berlin).
