Part 16/16:
By the 1970s, East Germany had established itself as a technically advanced industrial economy within the Soviet bloc, excelling over other Eastern European nations. Its structure was built on importing raw materials and energy, refining them into manufactured goods—especially plastics and electronics—and achieving notable technological advances.
However, these successes masked deep systemic weaknesses: dependence on external resources, an inability to produce more complex manufactured goods independently, and oppressive political controls that stifled innovation and fueled migration. The economic model, while initially effective, proved unsustainable in the long term, foreshadowing future turmoil that would eventually culminate in the country's collapse and reunification in 1990.