 The Soviet Zone was formed into the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) in October 1949 and led by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) under Soviet influence.The SED reorganized the "Grenzpolizei" along military lines, similar to the USSR Border Troops, and briefly transferred them from the Ministry of the Interior ("Ministerium des Innern") to the Ministry of State Security (MfS or "Stasi") from May 1952 to June 1953.In 1961, the "Grenzpolizei" were reorganized as the Border Troops of the GDR ("Grenztruppen der DDR") and were moved from the Ministry of the Interior, which oversaw policing, to the Ministry of National Defence (MfNV) which oversaw the military.