Abstract: The study focuses on the issue of the land reform in the Eastern part of Germany, which was occupied by the Soviet army after 1945. The land reform was a key part of future collectivization in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Many causes of the future failure of the collectivization can be found in the events after 1945. After 1045, the areas of East Germany became an area with a number of test runs of the socialist economic experiment. Agriculture was one of the main areas in which the KPD interest group tried to enforce its ideas about collective ownership and thereby gain a dominant position by creating a type of “inclusive” society that excluded big landowners who were the targets of the first stage of the “socialist revolution” in rural areas – the land reform.
Authors: Radek Soběhart
Keywords: collectivization; land reform; communism; property-rights; new institutional economics; German Democratic Republic
Volume: 10
Issue: 1