Egon Krenz - Leader of The German Democratic Republic

Leader of The German Democratic Republic

Following popular protests against the GDR's Communist regime, the SED Politburo voted to remove Honecker on 18 October 1989, and Krenz was elected as the new General Secretary of the SED Central Committee. Krenz had been approached several months earlier about ousting Honecker, but was reluctant to move against a man he called "my foster father and political teacher." He was willing to wait until the seriously ill Honecker died, but by October was convinced that the situation was too grave to wait for what he'd called "a biological solution."

Despite many protests, Krenz was elected by the People's Chamber to Honecker's other posts as Chairman of the Council of State (a post equivalent to that of president) and Chairman of the National Defence Council. For the second time (the first was on the law on abortion) in the parliament's forty-year history, the vote was not unanimous; 26 deputies voted against and 26 abstained.

In his first address as leader, Krenz promised democratic reforms. However, he ended up lapsing into the wooden language typical of Communist speeches. He claimed that he'd always wanted to open up the regime, but few East Germans believed him. For instance, they still remembered that after the Tiananmen Square massacre, he'd gone to China to thank Deng Xiaoping on behalf of East Berlin. Indeed, almost as soon as he took power, thousands of East Germans took to the streets to demand his resignation.

Also on the same day he took office, Krenz received a top secret report from planning chief Gerhard Schürer that showed the depths of East Germany's economic crisis. It showed that East Germany didn't have enough money to make payments on the massive foreign loans that propped up the economy, and it was now DM123 billion in debt. Although Krenz had been the number-two man in the regime, Honecker had kept the true state of the economy a secret from him. Krenz was forced to send Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski to beg West Germany for a short-term loan to make interest payments. However, West Germany was unwilling to even consider negotiations until the SED abandoned power and allowed free elections—something that Krenz was unwilling to concede.

On 7 November, Krenz approved the resignation of Prime Minister Willi Stoph and his entire cabinet along with two-thirds of the Politburo. However, the Central Committee unanimously re-elected Krenz to the position of General Secretary. In a speech, Krenz attempted a reckoning with history, which also criticized his political mentor Honecker. Yet, by this stage, events were rapidly spiralling out of his control.

Despite promises of reform, public opposition to the regime continued to grow. In an attempt to stem the tide, Krenz authorized the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia, which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. The newly formed Politburo agreed to adopt new regulations for trips to the West by way of a Council of Ministers resolution.