VolkskammerThe Volkskammer (ˈfɔlkskamɐ, People's Chamber) was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house was the Chamber of States, or Länderkammer, but in 1952 the states of East Germany were dissolved, and the Chamber was abolished in 1958. Constitutionally, the Volkskammer was the highest organ of state power in the GDR, and both constitutions vested it with great lawmaking powers.
Vladimir Lenin'Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin', was a Russian lawyer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia, and later the Soviet Union, became a one-party socialist state governed by the Communist Party over the course of the Russian Civil War. Ideologically a Marxist, his development of the ideology is known as Leninism.
DétenteDétente; detɑ̃t) is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The diplomacy term originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduce tensions. The term is often used to refer to a period of general easing of geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. Détente began in 1969 as a core element of the foreign policy of United States President Richard Nixon.
East GermanyEast Germany (Ostdeutschland), officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik, ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʁepuˈbliːk, DDR), was a country in Central Europe that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state, and it described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state".
Helmut KohlHelmut Josef Michael Kohl (ˈhɛlmuːt ˈkoːl; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU). Furthermore, Kohl's 16 years and 30-day tenure is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany.
Deutsche MarkThe Deutsche Mark (ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈmaʁk; English: German mark), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (ˈdeːˌmaʁk), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was typically called the "Deutschmark" (ˈdɔɪtʃmɑrk). One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 pfennigs. It was first issued under Allied occupation in 1948 to replace the Reichsmark and served as the Federal Republic of Germany's official currency from its founding the following year.
Olaf ScholzOlaf Scholz (ˈoːlaf ˈʃɔlts; born ) is a German politician who has been serving as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor in the fourth Merkel cabinet and as Federal Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018, deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019, and Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2007 to 2009. Scholz began his career as a lawyer specialising in labour and employment law.
CominformThe Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (Информационное бюро коммунистических и рабочих партий), commonly known as Cominform (Коминформ), was a co-ordination body of Marxist-Leninist communist parties in Europe during the early Cold War that was formed in part as a replacement of the Communist International. The Cominform was dissolved during de-Stalinization in 1956. The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties was unofficially founded at a conference of Marxist–Leninist communist parties from across Europe in Szklarska Poręba, Poland in September 1947.
Soviet occupation zone of GermanyThe Soviet occupation zone (Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ) or Ostzone, "East Zone"; Советская оккупационная зона Германии, Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii, "Soviet occupation zone of Germany") was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 1 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly referred to in English as East Germany, was established in the Soviet occupation zone.
Helsinki AccordsThe Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, between 30 July and 1 August 1975, following two years of negotiations known as the Helsinki Process. All then-existing European countries (except Andorra and pro-Chinese Albania) as well as the United States and Canada, altogether 35 participating states, signed the Final Act in an attempt to improve the détente between the East and the West.
