GDR - Unit 2 - The Development of a Communist State Flashcards
1
Q
New Economic System 1963 - 1968 - 11 Points
A
- Launched because of the new found security of the Berlin Wall, which gave the SED the opportunity to adopt and experiment with new policies
- Need for economic reforms that could help with innovation and efficiency
- Government retained control of overall economic power but more decision making allowed at a lower level
- Introduced profit and by 1965, industrial production had risen by 43%
- Focus on incentives and need for scientific and technological developments
- Encouraged links with industry and university
- Managers didn’t have appropriate financial skills
- Difficulty obtaining necessary resources
- Opposition from those who wanted a communist state
- People would sabotage by breaking machinery or taking extended sick leave
- Differences in wages led to more arguments and lack of consumer goods to buy
2
Q
Economic System of Socialism 1968 - 1971 - 9 Points
A
- Introduced to be based more on communist ideology
- More centralised planning with extension to trade and agriculture as well as industry
- Placed more emphasis on developing computer technology
- High quotas
- Economy grew by 5.7% and GNP rose from 3.5% in 1960-65 to 5.1% in 1965-70
- Desired progression was limited by lack of resources
- Desire to overtake FRG placed emphasis on industry not consumer goods
- Changing political climate led to Brezhnev imposing more hard-line communist policies
- 1970 - while Ulbricht was on holiday, Honecker introduced a politburo resolution, which dramatically increased central planning and scraped the ESS
3
Q
Consumer Socialism - 12 Points
A
- ‘Unity of Social and Economic Policy’, which was the idea that any increase in production would provide the capital needed to improve the social conditions in the GDR, such as healthcare, education and housing
- 1972 - all private and semi-private companies were nationalised, which created over 11% of the GDR’s production, and employed 500,000+
- Policy abolished in 1976 due to impact of the loss of these enterprises
- Production grew 5% every year in the 1970s until the 1980s
- Nearly every household had a TV and a refrigerator, and 85% had a washing machine
- Stabilised the economy, allowing the state to maintain control
- Resentment at the unavailability of consumer goods, which was directed towards Delicate and Exquisit shops designed for elite party members
- 1982 - GDR found it increasingly difficult to secure credit due to OPEC oil prices rising in 1973
- Solution was to borrow 2 million DM from FRG in 1983 and 1984
- The money was placed in banks rather than into industry, to convince Western nations that the GDR was a credible investment
- 1982 - imports fell by 30% while exports rose by 9.1%
- Saved fuel was then sold to the West alongside many consumer goods
4
Q
COMECON Membership - 7 Points
A
- 1950 - GDR became a member of COMECON
- 76% of trade was with the USSR and the Eastern Bloc
- GDR became the most industrialised country in the Eastern Bloc, with the highest living standards
- Supplied the USSR and the Eastern Bloc with vital technology for chemical and electrical engineering at well below world market prices
- 45% of GDR’s exports was to USSR, but wasn’t profitable as the products were never bought at real market prices and often paid with natural resources
- USSR supplied 90% of GDR’s iron ore, oil and wood, and 80% of its rolled steel and sheet metal
- GDR was sheltered from OPEC steep oil prices by using USSR supplies, but by 1980s the Soviets reduced the GDR’s oil supplies
5
Q
Newspaper - 4 Points
A
- All newspapers were given instructions by the government on what to write
- Honecker had daily meetings with the editor of Neues Deutschland about the front page and to approve it
- Before 1961, all western newspapers had been banned, and the only ones allowed were from western communist parties
- SED controlled 70% of publications and promoted the GDR
6
Q
Radio - 9 Points
A
- By 1985, there were 6.6 million licensed radios in the country, and almost 40 for every 100 people
- Western radio stations were broadcasted across most of the GDR, and were more popular than the GDR’s
- Demand for western music from radios was high, and this weakened the radio control of the SED over the people
- Government attempted to jam foreign signals, but FRG threatened to do the same as jamming was outlawed by international agreement
- Produced distinct differences in language
- West Berlin was called this, but East Berlin was just called Berlin
- People only bought radios as a gesture of conformity
- Western programmes made people aware of better living standards in the FRG
- By 1974, western stations were discouraged but tolerated
7
Q
Television - 6 Points
A
- 1970s - TV was widely available
- Popular entertainment was broadcasted at the same time as Western news to discourage viewers
- TV was controlled by a state-run company (Fernsehen der DDR) and had 2 stations by 1969
- Care was taken to ensure news programmes were not broadcast at the same time as those on FRG stations
- GDR television stations were heavily political and were not very subtle
- Leading propagandist was Karl Eduard Von Schnitzler -his programme was called ‘The Black Channel’ and bombarded its viewers with propaganda
8
Q
The Importance of Sport - 4 Points
A
- Sporting organisations were controlled by the SED and not overly political
- 1982 - 3.3 million East Germans belonged to a sports club
- In 1980, there were over 28,000 sporting festivals in the GDR and this festival attracted a high participation rate
- From 1960s, sport was important to the GDR as a means to develop a sense of national pride, showed the supposes superiority of socialism, and as a means of reducing the GDR’s diplomatic isolation
9
Q
International Sport - 12 Points
A
- Mexico Olympics 1968 - GDR and FRG enter as separate teams
- Received 25 medals and came 6th overall
- Munich Olympics 1972 - GDR had its own flag and national anthem, gaining recognition
- Moscow Olympics 1980 - GDR won 11/13 gold medals available in women’s swimming and 6 of those were new world records
- Maria Koch - set world records at 100, 200, and 400 metres
- Rica Reinisch - swimmer who won 3 gold medals
- Katarina Witt - figure skater who won Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988
- SED placed emphasis on identifying talented children at a young age and sent them to elite schools
- Stasi sent spies to FRG to obtain information on sports training programmes
- The women were given steroids to improve their performance
- Impact of these drugs could be devastating, for example Heidi Krueger won gold, but lived as a man from 1997
- Many Germans were happy to celebrate victories for all Germans, regardless of whether they were from the East or the West
10
Q
Hallstein Doctrine
A
Didn’t accept the GDR as a legitimate state and wouldn’t permit any diplomatic relations
11
Q
Ostpolitik 1969 - Positive Improvements - 9 Points
A
- Aimed to improve FRG relations with the GDR, USSR and other Eastern Bloc states
- Designed to acknowledge the GDR as an independent state
- Supported by the period of Détente during the Cold War
- Willy Brandt met Willi Stoph in in 1970, and was welcomed enthusiastically
- Some members of the crowd who welcomed him were waving flags with the letter ‘y’ to show their support for him
- Agreement was reached which allowed West Germans to visit the GDR, which meant that there was more contact between divided families
- Number of visits by West Germans to the GDR rose from 1.2 million in 1971 to over 6 million in 1973
- GDR gained financial support for its economy and more diplomatic recognition - received over 15 million DM in loans from the FRG and trade benefits
- 1975 Helsinki accords agreed by 35 European states
12
Q
3 Agreements in the Helsinki Accords
A
- European borders could not be changed by force
- Focus on trade and technology links
- Human rights and freedom of movement
13
Q
Ostpolitik 1969 - Negative Improvements - 6 Points
A
- Policy contributed to the SED and Honecker enforcing more repressive policies from 1970s onwards
- SED began using Abgrenzung (demarcation) emphasising the differences between the GDR and FRG
- Measures such as the GDR-Soviet Friendship Treaty 1975 increased solidarity with the USSR
- Article 6 of the 1974 Constitution stated that the GDR ‘is forever and irrevocably allied with the USSR’
- Amendments were made to the Constitution to counter political change
- Reference to the GDR as ‘ a socialist state of the German nation’ was reworded to be ‘a socialist state of workers and peasants’
14
Q
The Agreements of 1970 - 1972 - Positive Improvements - 5 Points
A
- Treaty of Moscow 1970 - FRG and USSR agreed to no territorial claims against each other
- Treaty of Warsaw 1970 - FRG accepted border between the GDR and Poland
- Four Powers Agreement 1971 - allowed West Berliners to visit East Berlin and secured Soviet acceptance of this provision
- Basic Treaty 1972 - key accord that saw the FRG and GDR both acknowledge the existence of each other as states and agreed to settle disputes without threatening or using force
- Nations with formal relations with the GDR increased from 38 in 1972 to 123 by 1978, and included the USA in 1974
15
Q
The Agreements of 1970 - 1972 - Negative Improvement
A
Guillaume Affair 1973
