Soviet Military Administration in Germany

In 1946 an education reform established separation of church and state in elementary schools, and heavy industries were nationalized under the guise of confiscation of the property of Nazi war criminals.

In April 1946 the KPD and SPD merged under Soviet pressure into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands – SED).

In the October 1946 elections, the SED won in the East German states, but lost in Greater Berlin to the local SPD, which had not merged with the KPD there.

However, the only options voters had were to approve or reject "unity lists" of pre-picked candidates from the various parties, largely made up of communists.

[citation needed] In November 1948, the German Economic Commission (Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission – DWK) assumed administrative authority in East Germany under Soviet supervision.