View source for Erich Honecker

==Leadership of East Germany==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R0518-182, Erich Honecker.jpg|thumb|upright|Honecker in 1976]]
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's [[command economy]] with, firstly the "[[New Economic System]]", then the [[Economic System of Socialism]], as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task under his [[Economic System of Socialism|New System of Economic Socialism]] to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which [[living standards]] (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Erich Honecker on the 'Unity of Economic and Social Policy' (June 15–19, 1971)| publisher=German History in Documents and Images (GHDI)| url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=930| access-date=29 August 2013| archive-date=4 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051707/http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=930| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Allison|first=Mark| title=More from Less: Ideological Gambling with the Unity of Economic and Social Policy in Honecker's GDR|journal=Central European History| publisher=Central European History Journal (45)|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FCCC%2FCCC45_01%2FS0008938911001002a.pdf&code=7d2420e61d96601179829c68c457666d|year=2012|volume=45|pages=102–127|doi=10.1017/S0008938911001002|s2cid=155068486|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him.<ref name="Winkler"/> Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under [[Leonid Brezhnev]].<ref name="Winkler"/> With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".<ref name="Winkler"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Klenke|first=Olaf|title=Betriebliche Konflikte in der DDR 1970/71 und der Machtwechsel von Ulbricht auf Honecker|language=de|year=2004}}</ref>

After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the [[National Defense Council of East Germany|National Defence Council]] in 1971,<ref>{{cite news|title=Overview 1971|url=http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Index/id/1403656|publisher=chronik-der-mauer.de|archive-date=20 October 2013|access-date=29 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020195940/http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Index/id/1403656|url-status=live}}</ref> Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Staar|first=Richard F.| title=Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe| publisher=Hoover Press|year=1984|page=105}}</ref> With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary [[Günter Mittag]] and Minister of State Security [[Erich Mielke]], made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wehler|first=Hans-Ulrich|title=Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte, Bd. 5: Bundesrepublik und DDR 1949–1950|language=de|year=2008|page=218}}</ref> Honecker's closest colleague was [[Joachim Herrmann (politician, born 1928)|Joachim Herrmann]], the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper ''[[Neues Deutschland]]'', as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin ''[[Aktuelle Kamera]]'', were determined.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morley|first=Nathan| title= The Man who Built the Berlin Wall. The Rise and Fall of Erich Honecker| publisher=Pen and Sword|year=2023|page=122}}</ref> 

Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the [[Eastern bloc]] countries – though still far behind [[West Germany]]. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/erich1.htm|last=Honecker|first=Erich|title=The GDR: A State of Peace and Socialism|year=1984|work=Calvin College German Propaganda Archive|access-date=21 March 2006|archive-date=16 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816151817/http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/erich1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art. While 1973 brought the [[World Festival of Youth and Students]] to [[East Berlin]], soon dissident artists such as [[Wolf Biermann]] were expelled and the [[Stasi|Ministry for State Security]] raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the [[Inner German border]] and the "[[Schießbefehl|order to fire]]" policy along it.<ref name="Schießbefehl">{{cite news|title=Protokoll der 45. Sitzung des Nationalen Verteidigungsrates der DDR (3 May 1974)|url=https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Common/Document/field/file/id/46359|publisher=chronik-der-mauer.de|language=de|archive-date=7 April 2022|access-date=28 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407203749/https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Common/Document/field/file/id/46359|url-status=live}}</ref> During his time in the office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Index/id/593792|work=chronik-der-mauer.de|title=Todesopfer an der Berliner Mauer|language=de|access-date=13 December 2009|archive-date=6 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006190147/http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Index/id/593792|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-P0805-314, Helsinki, KSZE-Konferenz, Schlussakte.jpg|thumb|left|Honecker at the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|CSCE]] summit in Helsinki, 1975]]
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The [[Basic Treaty, 1972|Basic Treaty between East and West Germany]] in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.

East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Helsinki Final Act signed by 35 participating States| publisher=Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe| url=https://www.osce.org/mc/58376| access-date=28 August 2013| archive-date=25 May 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525132245/https://www.osce.org/mc/58376| url-status=live}}</ref> These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker's greatest successes in foreign politics.

Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's [[Humboldt University]] in 1976, Tokyo's [[Nihon University]] in 1981 and the [[London School of Economics]] in 1984 and the [[Olympic Order]] from the [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]] in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to [[Erich Honecker's 1987 visit to West Germany|visit West Germany]], where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence.  During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders.<ref name="Spiegel 2012"/> This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/07/world/honecker-s-west-german-visit-divided-meaning.html?pagewanted=all Honecker's West German Visit: Divided Meaning], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 7 September 1987</ref> but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-07-mn-4189-story.html|title=Honecker begins historic visit to Bonn today|date=7 September 1987|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|archive-date=3 December 2024|access-date=14 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203064232/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-07-mn-4189-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Germany: 1815–1990|last=Carr|first=William|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|year=1991|edition=4th|location=London, United Kingdom|pages=392}}</ref>