National Defense Council of the GDR

The National Defense Council of the German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany) (German: Nationaler Verteidigungsrat der DDR - NVR) was created in 1960 as the supreme state body of the GDR in charge of national defense matters, including mobilization planning. The NVR held the supreme command of the GDR's armed forces (including the internal security forces), and the NVR's chairman was considered the GDR's commander-in-chief.

The predecessor of the NVR, the Security Commission of the CC Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), met for the first time on 6 July 1954. With the enactment of the "Law on the Formation of the National Defense Council of the GDR" on 13 February 1960, the Security Commission was transformed into the NVR. When the Council of State of the GDR (Staatsrat der DDR) was created on 12 September 1960 to replace the office of President of the GDR, the law creating the Staatsrat (which amended the 1949 GDR Constitution) also acknowledged the role of the NVR in GDR defense policy. On 9 April 1968, when the 1968 GDR Constitution became effective, the NVR was designated as the supreme leadership body of the state in time of war or national emergency, with full legislative and executive authority. The first session of the NVR convened on 16 March 1960; the 78th, and last, session convened on 16 June 1989.

The NVR consisted of a chairman and at least 12 members, all of whom were members of the CC of the SED; most were also members of the CC's Politbüro. Some of the members of the NVR also held leadership roles in the "armed organs" (bewaffnete Organe) of the state: the National People's Army, the Volkspolizei, and the Ministry of State Security. Subordinate to the NVR were the regional (Bezirk) and district (Kreis) operational directorates (Einsatzleitungen), whose chairmen were also the first secretaries of the regional and district party organizations of the SED.

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