Telegram Congratulating the Establishment of the German Democratic Republic (October 16, 1949) To President Wilhelm Pieck and Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl of the German Democratic Republic: On behalf of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China and of all the Chinese people, I extend our warmest congratulations on the establishment of the German Democratic Republic, as well as our hearty felicitations to Mr. Wilhelm Pieck and Mr. Otto Grotewohl upon their election as President and Prime Minister, respectively, of the German Democratic Republic.

The founding of the German Democratic Republic marks a fundamental turning point in German history. The broad masses of the people have replaced the monopolistic capitalists and large landowners as the masters of Germany. Germany, once the cradle of two world wars and the epicenter of militarism and fascism, has now, with the establishment of the German Democratic Republic, joined the ranks of the people’s democratic states. This represents the decisive defeat of the criminal policy pursued since the Second World War by the imperialist camp headed by the reactionary U.S. government—namely, the partition of Germany and the attempt to restore it as a reactionary state and a base for war—and constitutes a great victory for the world peace and democracy camp led by the Soviet Union.

As the people’s Germany and the people’s China stand together at the forefront of the great struggle against imperialism, we feel particularly gratified at this moment when democratic Germany is proclaimed. We sincerely wish that, under the leadership of the people’s democratic forces, Germany will achieve reunification and grow ever stronger, and that the friendship between the peoples of China and Germany will continue to flourish.

Mao Zedong October 16, 1949, in Beijing Printed from the People’s Daily, October 17, 1949.