1953 Berlin Uprising🌺 Flashcards
When did Stalin die?
On March 1st, Stalin was found in soiled pyjamas. Non-Jewish doctors arrived the next morning with Beria. By March 5th, Stalin’s breathing had become hollow, and his skin was turning blue from cold. His right side was paralysed from stroke. He died this day.
What did Svetlana, his daughter, reflect on as she watched him die?
Svetlana, his sister, watched him as he groped for power, recalling Lubyanka where three people stood in each yard of prison space, or Ivanovo, with 323 men in a cell. In Russia, thousands attended his funeral and 100 died of asphyxiation.
Why did people begin to lose rest in East Germany before the uprising?
Farmers disliked collectivisation and had to move elsewhere, while workers complained of unfair distribution of Christmas bonuses in December 1952.
People living within the 5km frontier of West Germany were forced to evacuate in their thousands.
People wanted free elections, abolition of the volkspolizei, alongside its paramilitary wing the kaserniete volkspolizei.
(KPD)
What did Walter Ulbricbht do to reduce opposition? What was introduced on 9-12 June, and what would this consist of ?
Walter Ulbricht of the SED wanted to remove opposition in his party and secure the GDR’s own identity. From 9-12 July 1952, Walter Ulbricbht at the second party conference of the SED announced ‘accelerated construction of socialism,’ to transform the GDR into a socialist state with farmers forced to join agricultural cooperatives, LPGs, and new investment in heavy industry, which saw falls in consumer goods production. People requested lower prices at the Handelsorganisation.
Who was oppressed as a result of socialist realism?
Artists had to stay in line with ‘socialist realism,’ making many move to the West, while the Church was persecuted with RE banned in schools, and Junge Gemeinde blacklisted as an evangelical youth group with the university students expelled.
What were Lander replaced with?
Besirk, regional administrative districts, were set up to confirm Germany’s divide, headed by Besirksrat, regional councils, with Besirkssekretär, regional chief secretaries, in power.
What increases in prison population were seen, and for what offences? What was done on the Baltic Coast?
more were arrested during this time, from 1952 to May 1953, the population in prisons rose from 45,000 to 66,000. People were arrested for tax-evasion, illegal currency, or black market trading. On the baltic coast, a series of hotel raids, and guest houses, in February 1953, lead to convictions creating empty workers houses for the FDGB.
How did Moscow respond?
How did workers respond?
Why did veterans like the process, according to Catherine Epstein?
Moscow stayed away from the July 1952 meeting and many workers disliked the accelerated road to socialism, seeing divides created between the East and West.
Many veterans liked this process, as according to Catherine Epstein, they had fought the Nazis when Hitler and Goebbels were rising to power, therefore distrusting of the aristocracy, churches, and landowning middle classes, while resenting of the class traitors in the SOD.
What did Senior East German Communists in the Politburo do? Who was Rudolf Hernnstadt and who was he backed by?
Senior East German communists in the Politburo expressed their concerns, including Fred Oelßner, Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl, Frederick Ebert, and Anton Ackermann. Rudolf Hernnstadt,, editor of Neues Deutschland, tried to rescue the party from Ulbricht’s sectarian policies in the 50’s, backed by Wilhelm Zaisser, Minister of State Security.
What was announced on 9 April 1953 and 28 May 1953?
On 9 April 1953, it was announced that 2 million workers would no longer get food subsidies and there would be price rises for these nonessential workers, and on 28 May, a 10% rise in work norms was announced to stem agricultural issues of 1952 and improve working standards.
When did Ulbricbht, Grotewohl, and Oelßner go to Moscow? Why did they fear negotiation so what did Moscow assure them of?
What was agreed to on 9 June and what was signed on 11 June?
June 1953, Ulbricht, Grotewohl, and Oelßner went to Moscow, and were fearful of their new negotiations with Churchill over the German question on 11 May. Moscow reassured them if they followed a New Course, Moscow would value them above all else, especially with regards to economic policy.
On 9 June, 1953, they agreed to the new course, and signed a communique on 11 June, drafted by Hernnstadt and the Council of Ministers, ensuring: they would raise standards of living; encourage farmers and hotel owners to move back and restore their land and property; no longer persecute the Junge Gemeinde and Christian groups; end discrimination of middle class children; reverse the April actions against the workers.
Why did the working class criticise the communique?
Many saw this as a failure. People feared the encouragement of criminals to return to East Germany, while others feared ration cards would allow people from the West to come over, lowering stock and creating queues. Many self proclaimed ‘true communists,’ complained of the return of landowners.
What did Neues Deutschland announce on 14 June? What did Tribune have to state in return, and how did they explain this?
On 14 June, Neues Deutschland announced that work norms may be reversed, by the FDGB paper Tribune stated this would not happen, and that work norms would provide workers with better and cheaper goods for no mire work.
When did the uprising begin, and where did the workers march to?
What did they demand, and who broadcasted them?
How many were on the streets in East Berlin, and how many demonstrators in total?
On 16 June, construction workers on the Stallinallee marched up to the headquarters of the FDGB and the House of Ministries to demonstrate, demanding cancellation of work norms and free elections, while RIAS, American radio station in West Berlin, allowed broadcasting of demands.
90,000 were on the streets in East Berlin and 420,000 demonstrators in West Germany. 5% of workers took part.
Which areas were most affected? (M….g, H….e, L…..g)
Who was released in Halle?
How many towns were involved?
Where was unaffected?
What was a 15 year old boy arrested for in Neustrelitz?
Rural communities such as Z…n and J….n had their own demonstrations.
What did workers on farms do?
Mostly affected areas included Halle, Magdeburg, and Leipzig. In Halle, demonstrators released Edna Dorn, who was supposedly a former officer at Rävensbruck and was serving a 15 year prison sentence. 373 towns and 113/181 district towns were involved. Only Northern Bizirke concentrated in Mecklenburg were unaffected. A 15 year old boy in Neustrelitz was arrested on 20 June for offering flyers encouraging strikes and protest. Rural communities such as Zossen and Jessen organised their own demonstrations with forcible dispersion in Jessen. Workers on farms would have guns to shoot private farmers who wanted to return, leading to the dissolving of collective farms.
