 In 1950, NWDR began two second radio services in its area on FM, NDR2 in the north and WDR2 in the west.In 1952, NWDR pioneered the launching of 625-line television broadcasting in (West) Germany.In June and July 1953, a strike by construction workers in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) led to an uprising of the people of the communist state which was violently put down by Soviet forces and the "Volkspolizei".