Socialist Unity Party

The Socialist Unity Party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei, or SED) was a political party in East Germany from 1946 to 1989. Formed from the merger of the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, it aimed to establish and maintain a socialist state aligned with the Soviet Union. The SED held a monopoly on power, controlling government and society. It promoted state ownership of industry and central planning. The party faced growing opposition, culminating in the peaceful protests leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, after which the SED transformed into the Party of Democratic Socialism and later merged into Die Linke.