The East German Democratic Republic (GDR) had major issues, including its political practices, which contributed to the country’s collapse rather than triumph. East Germany adopted four separate constitutions throughout its existence, but none of them was truly used to govern (Orlow, 2018). Instead, East German Communists and their allies in Moscow ruled based on their interpretation of Marxism-Leninism ideology (Orlow, 2018). People had the right to vote but could not actually elect leaders, democracy existed as a concept rather than in practice, and freedom of expression was prohibited as all media was censored (Orlow, 2018). The Soviet regime extensively manipulated the GDR, which instead of becoming a sovereign entity with a prosperous population, was moving towards downfall.
Economic problems accompanied the political system’s troubles in East Germany. The GDR strived to establish socialism and perceived the development of the industrial economy as one way of doing so (Orlow, 2018). The country lacked natural resources, had poor agricultural land, and the communists collectivized agriculture despite the farmers’ objections (Orlow, 2018). Moreover, the Communist regime in East Germany established an economic system that minimized “individual initiative and responsibility” and advanced state and party control (Orlow, 2018, p 313). As decision-making authority was centralized, economic managers did not have freedom, private enterprise was eliminated, and consumer products were considered unimportant (Orlow, 2018). Consequently, the GDR had chronic shortages and widespread dissatisfaction among its citizens (Orlow, 2018). By 1961, many people, especially those under 25 years of age, escaped to the Federal Republic, and East Germany lost a significant part of its economically productive population (Orlow, 2018). The leaders knew about the public’s dissatisfaction and struggle but pursued their own goals.
The GDR could not become a unified country because of substantial discrepancies among its people. The regime’s “ideological incentives” could not compensate for the lack of political freedom and extremely low standards of living (Orlow, 2018, p. 315). The East German leaders believed they were “liberated by the Red Army” (Orlow, 2018, p. 309). In 1972, the leading Communist Party declared that Germany had always been divided into bourgeois and proletarian (Orlow, 2018). The regime encouraged the public to be proud of their new citizenship and neglect the history of being a single nation with other Germans (Orlow, 2018). However, most East Germans wished to remember the two states’ past and did not consider West Germany a foreign country (Orlow, 2018). The people perceived themselves as victims with no prosperity, stability, or freedom (Orlow, 2018). Moreover, despite expressing favor for democracy, elections, and progress, the GDR was a dictatorship represented and ruled by the Communist Party (Orlow, 2018). The regime had little chance for success because East Germany could neither unite its leaders and citizens nor provide for its population.
The GDR had accumulated multiple issues before the apparent contradictions in the mindsets of leaders and people. Nonetheless, the regime’s inability to unite the nation led to the Berlin Wall and the country’s collapse. While the GDR’s officials called the Wall “an anti-fascist protective barrier,” the Western Allies stated that it violated the Potsdam Agreements (Orlow, 2018, p. 319). By constructing the Wall, East Germany suggested that the country should not be ignored (Orlow, 2018). In the 1960s, GDR was experiencing an “economic miracle”, as the nation’s productivity and standard of living outpaced its communist allies (Orlow, 2018, p. 325). However, the Berlin Wall also indicated that the East German regime failed to “win the support of its own people” (Orlow, 2018, p. 320). The GDR’s economic growth still could not surpass that of West Germany or other Western countries (Orlow, 2018). Moreover, East Germany could not develop its economy and simultaneously maintain political control (Orlow, 2018). The Berlin Wall signified that despite attempting to make progress, none within the East German regime acted as part of a combined entity with one common purpose.
The book Stasiland by Anna Funder suggests that the GDR could not unite the nation because the state relied on total control rather than trust. Notably, the writer’s former boss from West Germany disliked people from the eastern side of the Berlin Wall and proclaimed that the regime was simply “an experiment” that failed (Funder, 2002, p. 21). Under the disguise of wanting to build a better world with equal rights and opportunities, the German Communists created a land with no freedom (Funder, 2002). The government regulated everything through the Stasi, which used “any means it chose,” encouraged people to spy and report on their friends and families, and kept files on each citizen (Funder, 2002, p. 14). The state regarded everyone as a potential threat and directed “all the defense lawyers and all the judges” so that the public would not have legal protection (Funder, 2002, p. 43). For some individuals, “the GDR was not just Stasi,” but people knew that their society was “built on lies” (Funder, 2022, p. 189). East of the Berlin Wall, only Communism and the East German regime mattered, and all else was expendable.
References
Funder, A. (2002). Stasiland. Harper Collins.
Orlow, D. (2018). A history of modern Germany: 1871 to present (8th ed.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.