D – D – R: match each letter with the right word.
The first D stands for “Deutsche”, the second for “Demokratische”, and R for “Republik”. The task asks for the former state’s full name, not any sequence of words sharing those initials.
The English translation is “German Democratic Republic”, producing GDR. DDR and GDR therefore refer to the same state in different languages. Knowing both abbreviations makes German and English historical texts easier to compare.
The other three answers
Similar initials do not make an invented name correct.
Third German Broadcasting
“Dritter Deutscher Rundfunk” would produce the same German initials, but it does not name the state sought. The question concerns a state name, not broadcasting.
The German Republic
“Die Deutsche Republik” replaces the important word “Demokratische” with an article. That was not the official name.
Third German Republic
The second D does not mean “Dritte” (“third”). The name does not number republics; it contains the word “Demokratische” (“democratic”).
A state name is not an independent assessment of its politics.
Under SED rule, the GDR was a dictatorship. Political power and major decisions rested with the party leadership; the constitution’s democratic promises were not fulfilled. The name and the actual political system therefore need to be considered separately.
The question tests an abbreviation. You do not need to list every GDR institution or explain its entire history. The time frame is useful, however: founded in 1949, it ceased to be a separate state with unity in 1990.
Founding of the GDR · House of History ↗DDR in German = GDR, German Democratic Republic, in English.
Write out the full name once. Pay particular attention to “Demokratische” rather than “Dritte”.
Three words for this question
- die Abkürzungabbreviation
- A shortened written form, here using the initial letters of several words.
- der Staatsnamestate name
- The official name of a state.
- die Republikrepublic
- A form of state without a hereditary monarch as head of state; the term alone does not guarantee democracy.