{{Short description|German politician (1914–1999)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Army General | name = Willi Stoph | image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R0430-0305A, Willi Stoph (cropped)(c).jpg | caption = Stoph in 1976 | office = Chairman of the<br />Council of Ministers | 2blankname = {{nowrap|First Deputy}} | 2namedata = {{ubl|Werner Krolikowski|Alfred Neumann|Günther Kleiber}} | term_start = 29 October 1976 | term_end = 13 November 1989 | predecessor = Horst Sindermann | successor = Hans Modrow | 2blankname1 = {{nowrap|First Deputy}} | 2namedata1 = {{ubl|Alfred Neumann|Horst Sindermann}} | term_label1 = In office{{efn|Acting until 21 September 1964.}} | term_start1 = 1 November 1960 | term_end1 = 3 October 1973 | predecessor1 = Otto Grotewohl | successor1 = Horst Sindermann | office2 = Chairman of the State Council | term_start2 = 3 October 1973 | term_end2 = 29 October 1976 | predecessor2 = Friedrich Ebert Jr. {{small|(acting)}} | successor2 = Erich Honecker | office3 = Secretary for Economic Policy of the<br />Central Committee Secretariat | 1blankname3 = First Secretary | 1namedata3 = {{ubl|Walter Ulbricht}} | term_start3 = 25 July 1950 | term_end3 = 26 July 1953 | predecessor3 = Walter Ulbricht | successor3 = Gerhart Ziller {{small|(Economy)}} {{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Grotewohl<br />Council of Ministers |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes | office4 = First Deputy Chairman of the<br />Council of Ministers | 1blankname4 = Chairman | 1namedata4 = {{ubl|Otto Grotewohl}} | term_start4 = 4 July 1962 | term_end4 = 24 September 1964 | predecessor4 = Walter Ulbricht {{small|(1960)}} | successor4 = Alfred Neumann {{small|(1968)}} | office5 = Minister of National Defence | 1blankname5 = Chairman of the<br />Council of Ministers | 1namedata5 = {{ubl|Otto Grotewohl}} | term_start5 = 1 March 1956 | term_end5 = 14 July 1960 | predecessor5 = ''Position established'' | successor5 = Heinz Hoffmann | office6 = Minister of the Interior | 1blankname6 = Minister-President | 1namedata6 = {{ubl|Otto Grotewohl}} | term_start6 = 6 May 1952 | term_end6 = 1 July 1955 | predecessor6 = Karl Steinhoff | successor6 = Karl Maron{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}} {{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Volkskammer |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes | office7 = Member of the Volkskammer <br /> for Dresden-Nord, Dresden-Ost<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gvoon.de/art/dokumente/1986/volkskammer-ddr-9-wahlperiode-1986-1990/pdf/volkskammer-ddr-9-wahlperiode-1986-1990-seite_029.pdf |title=''Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1986-1990'', Seite 29 |last=Schmidt |first=Arthur |date= |website=gvoon.de |publisher= |access-date=2023-07-23 |quote=}}</ref> | term_start7 = 22 February 1950 | term_end7 = 16 November 1989 | predecessor7 = Wilhelm Pieck | successor7 = Horst Buder{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}} | birth_name = Wilhelm Stoph | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|7|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Schöneberg, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire {{small|(now Germany)}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1999|4|13|1914|7|9|df=y}} | death_place = Berlin, Germany | party = SED {{small|(1946–1989)}} | other_party = KPD {{small|(1928–1946)}} | occupation = {{hlist|Politician|Engineer|Bricklayer}} | awards = Order of Karl Marx | module2 = {{collapsible list | title = Central institution membership | bullets = on | 1953–1989: Full member,<br />Politburo of the Central Committee | 1950–1989: Full member,<br />Central Committee }} ---- {{collapsible list | title = Other offices held | bullets = on | 1964–1973; 1976–1989: Deputy Chairman,<br />State Council | 1963–1989: Member, State Council | 1960–1989: Member,<br />National Defence Council | 1954–1963: Deputy Chairman,<br />Council of Ministers | 1948–1950: Head, Economic Policy Department of the Central Committee }} }}
'''Wilhelm Stoph''' (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. He also served as chairman of the State Council from 1973 to 1976.
==Early life== Stoph was born in Berlin in 1914;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-willi-stoph-1088591.html|title=Obituary: Willi Stoph|date=21 April 1999|website=The Independent}}</ref> his father died the following year in World War I. In 1928, Stoph joined the Young Communist League of Germany (''Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands''; KJVD) and in 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany. He was active in the party's intelligence service, the ''Antimilitärischer Apparat'', before being conscripted into the Wehrmacht from 1935 to 1937, and served during World War II from 1940 to 1945.
He was assigned to the 293rd Infantry Division's artillery regiment,<ref>{{Cite book |author=Rogers |first=Steven |title=Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History |publisher=ABC Clio |year=2014 |isbn=9781598849806 |editor-last=Zabecki, David T. |volume=3 |pages=1244–1245 |chapter=Stoph, Willi (1914–1999)}}</ref> and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and rose to the rank of ''Unteroffizier''. As the war ended, according to historian Harris Lentz, "Stoph worked with the Communist-dominated Socialist Unity party and served on the party's executive committee from 1947."<ref>{{cite book|author=Harris M. Lentz|title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA305|date= 2014|publisher=Routledge|page=305|isbn=9781134264902}}</ref>
==Career== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-44786-0002, Empfang von NVA-Offizieren durch Wilhelm Pieck.jpg|thumb|left|Stoph (far right) in NVA colonel-general uniform, 1957]]
Following the establishment of the GDR in 1949, Stoph became a member of the Socialist Unity Party's Central Committee and member of the Volkskammer in 1950. He was named to the Politbüro in 1953. He served as Interior Minister from 9 May 1952 to 1 July 1955, and as East Germany's first Defense Minister from 18 January 1956 to 14 July 1960.<ref name=rulers>{{cite web|title=East German ministries|url=http://rulers.org/egergovt.html|publisher=Rulers|access-date=28 April 2013}}</ref><ref name=saxon1999/> As defense minister, he was awarded the rank of ''Armeegeneral''.
thumb|left|Stoph delivering New Year's Eve address to the East German people, 1974
After having served as first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers (first Deputy Prime Minister) from 1960 to 1964, he was named Chairman of the Council of Ministers (''Ministerrat''), or Prime Minister, in 1964 after the death of Otto Grotewohl. However, he had been serving as acting chairman of the council since October 1960 due to Grotewohl's poor health. He was initially thought to be the heir apparent to longtime party leader Walter Ulbricht, but his ascendancy was checked by Erich Honecker.<ref name=saxon1999/><ref>{{ill|Dierk Hoffman|lt=Hoffman, Dierk|de}}. {{cite book|title=Otto Grotewohl 1894-1964 : Eine politische Biographie|language=de|date=2009|publisher=Publications of the Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR-Institute of Contemporary History (Munich)|pages=466–468}}</ref> After Ulbricht's death in 1973, Stoph became Chairman of the Council of State—a post equivalent in rank to president of the GDR. After Volkskammer elections in 1976, Honecker re-arranged the state and party leadership structure. Believing that Stoph's successor as prime minister, Horst Sindermann, was too liberal on economic matters, Honecker replaced him with Stoph.
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F031406-0017, Erfurt, Treffen Willy Brandt mit Willi Stoph.jpg|thumb|left|Stoph with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt (on his right), 1970]]
During his first stint as Prime Minister, Stoph began a series of negotiations with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1970. It marked the first ever meeting between the leaders of East and West Germany.
Stoph was known as a man who could be trusted to carry out the directives of the SED's Politburo; indeed, Honecker tapped him for his second stint in the premiership for this reason.<ref name=saxon1999/> Although he nominally held the highest state post in the GDR, in practice he was outranked by Honecker, who derived most of his power from his post as general secretary of the SED.
For the most part, Stoph was a loyal supporter of Honecker. However, Stoph joined the plot to remove Honecker in October 1989. At the Politburo meeting at which Honecker was voted out, Stoph made the motion to "release" Honecker and replace him with Egon Krenz.<ref name="Revolution1989">{{cite book |author-last=Sebestyen |author-first=Victor |author-link=Victor Sebestyen|title=Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York City|year=2009|isbn=978-0-375-42532-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/revolution1989fa00sebe}}</ref> A month later, on 13 November, Stoph and his entire 44-member cabinet resigned in response to public pressure. Stoph was subsequently arrested for corruption in December 1989. Despite his role in pushing Honecker out, the SED expelled Stoph on December 3, the same day it expelled Honecker. He was later spared detention on grounds of ill health. In 1994, a court in Berlin decided that his seized savings of 200,000 Deutsche Mark would not be returned to him.
==Death== Stoph died in Berlin at the age of 84 on 13 April 1999.<ref name=saxon1999>{{cite news|last=Saxon|first=Wolfang|title=Willi Stoph, 84, Premier, Twice, in East Germany|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/22/world/willi-stoph-84-premier-twice-in-east-germany.html|access-date=28 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 April 1999}}</ref> He was buried in Wildau.
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{commons-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before= Karl Steinhoff}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of the Interior of the German Democratic Republic|years=1952–1955}} {{s-aft|after=Karl Maron}} |- {{s-bef|before= none (position established)}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of National Defense of the German Democratic Republic|years=1956–1960}} {{s-aft|after=Heinz Hoffmann}} |- {{s-bef|before=Otto Grotewohl}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Council of Ministers|years=1964–1973}} {{s-aft|after=Horst Sindermann}} |- {{s-bef|before=Walter Ulbricht}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic|years=1973–1976}} {{s-aft|after=Erich Honecker}} |- {{s-bef|before=Horst Sindermann}} {{s-ttl|title= Chairman of the Council of Ministers|years=1976–1989}} {{s-aft|after=Hans Modrow}} {{s-end}}
{{portal bar|East Germany}} {{Heads of state of the German Democratic Republic}} {{Heads of government of the German Democratic Republic}} {{Interior Ministers of Germany|state=collapsed}} {{Defence Ministers of Germany}} {{Heads of State of Germany}} {{Authority control}}
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