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Dissent in East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR)

Dissent in East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR). Dr. Zoltán Grossman The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz. Options in East Germany. REVOLT: East Berlin Uprising crushed by Soviet tanks, 1953. ESCAPE:

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Dissent in East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR)

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  1. Dissent in East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR) Dr. Zoltán Grossman The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washingtonhttp://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz

  2. Options in East Germany REVOLT: East Berlin Uprising crushed by Soviet tanks, 1953 ESCAPE: Berlin Wall and Wall with Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) blocks emigration, 1961

  3. Stasi secretpolice Communist leader Erich Honecker

  4. Dissent from Left • Birthplace of Marxism • Industrial working class • Large CP before WWII • Nationalism tainted • Powerful critique that Party betrayed socialism

  5. Dissent from Left • Robert Havemann (1910-82) • Ex-Resistance leader accused SED of betraying socialism • Wolf Biermann (1936-) • Singer stripped of citizenship, 1976 • Rudolf Bahro (1935-97) • The Alternative in Eastern Europe (Manuscript smuggled to West, 1977)

  6. Dissent from Left • Christa Wolf (1929-2011) • Most famous East German writer, best known for Cassandra. • Informed for Stasi (3 years), which rejected her as “reticient.” • Stasi spied on her for 30 years; she supported Biermann, other activists • Refused to leave GDR, participated in 1989 revolution but opposed 1990 reunification. • Revealed her own Stasi files.

  7. Opposition to Nuclear Missiles • Western movement vs. US medium-range missiles in West Germany, UK; GDR/USSR oppose US missiles • Dialogue with East German activists who opposed US & Soviet missiles • “Swords to Ploughshares” church-based independent peace movement in GDR

  8. Hungary Opens WesternBorder, Aug. 1989 Pan-European Picnic “Tourists” cross border to Austria

  9. Monday Walks • Begins at Protestant services in Leipzig, Sept. 4 • Led by leftist, Green youth activists • Crowds grow from 120,000 to 320,000

  10. Fears of Crackdown • GDR leader Honecker admired China’s crushing of Tienanmen Square protests • Stasi shoot-to-kill order, tries to provoke riots • Moscow opposed violence

  11. Gorbachev ends Brezhnev Doctrine • No more threat of Soviet intervention • Czechoslovakia, 1968 • Warsaw Pact satellite states more hardline than Mother Ship USSR “Gorbachev help us!”

  12. Peaceful Revolution 500,000 in East Berlin by Nov. 4

  13. Berlin Wall, Nov. 9 • Minister on TV ends travel restrictions • Berlin Wall falls overnight after 28 years • East Berliners visit West

  14. Drive to Reunification • Exposed to Western consumerism • Dream of One Nation • Rise of Conservatives

  15. Reunification,1990 • Helmut Kohl’s CDU wins GDR election, March • FRG (West) annexes GDR (East), Oct. • Die Wende (Change/Turning Point)

  16. Effects on Left • State socialism discredited among masses in 1990s • Even “Socialism with a Human Face” • “Third Way” (social democratic or Green) alternative not followed • Leftists did not predict rise of ethnic nationalism, religious identity • “Dissidents” won in 1989, lost in 1990

  17. Effects on Right • Gorbachev not just Communist trick; reform was possible • Totalitarian regime could be abolished from within, like authoritarian regime (countered Kirkpatrick Theory) • Conservatives did not predict end of Cold War—how to justify military spending? • Conservatives won in 1990, but now….?

  18. Filmgruppe

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