Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

During the Cold War, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) gained a reputation as the most successful and stable communist state in Eastern Europe. It experienced less unrest and better economic results than its neighbors in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. This apparent tranquility made the revolutionary events of 1989 especially surprising. Previously silent East Germans demonstrated until the ruling communists granted them the freedom to travel and voted for unity with their western neighbors. Heated debates have ensued to explain both this long history of stability in the GDR and the sudden upheaval of 1989. Social histories of the GDR have proven difficult because of the nature of the communist dictatorship. The state existed largely because of Cold War disagreements and Soviet intervention. It possessed limited popular legitimacy. Therefore, many historians diminish the importance of popular behavior. Totalitarian studies of communist East Germany claim that society withered away and ceased to exist in the midst of a powerful state. Others insist that the social history of the German Democratic Republic can only be understood through political history. Furthermore, several GDR supporters and dissidents alike argue that the state's overall stability stemmed from the lack of opposition of a passive population. For example, a former GDR human rights advocate, Ehrhart Neubert, ... log in or subscribe to read full text