How successful was Honecker in developing a distinct identity for the GDR during the years 1971-85?

Question 1

Why did Honecker take it upon himself to develop a GDR identity?

Answer 1

Because Ulbricht had always believed the two Germanys would one day be reunited under Socialism whereas Honecker realized reunification was a bleak prospect and felt an identity would aid the maintenance of a socialist state. A seperate identity would provide a clear demarcation between the two states.

Question 2

When and why did Ulbricht resign?

Answer 2

In May 1971, following Ulbricht losing favour with the USSR and his Politburo colleagues, Honecker, accompanied by senior GDR guards armed with machine guns, visited Ulbricht at his home at forced his resignation.

Question 3

What is Abgrenzung?

Answer 3

Demarcation: The policy of developing clear differences between the GDR and the FRG, actively pursued by Honecker.

Question 4

How did the SED control what newspapers were available?

Answer 4

• SED Deutschland was the Party’s main national paper and Honecker met with it’s editor everyday to approve the front page.
• Other papers were published by National bloc parties, and regional papers were also permitted but they were all subject to having their content dictated by the SED.

Question 5

How many news agencies reported on international events ?

Answer 5

1

Question 6

How did the government eliminate competition for income of circulation and advertising?

Answer 6

All newspapers were government funded.

Question 7

How did the SED control Western newspapers before and after the building of the Berlin Wall?

Answer 7

Before 1961, although it was easy to get a Western paper into the GDR, it was illegal to read or display Western newspapers anywhere.
After the construction of the Wall, many Western visitors had papers taken off of them when entering the GDR. The only Western papers allowed to be published and distributed were the those from Western communist parties.

Question 8

How did the SED prevent the publication of subversive material?

Answer 8

There were strict controls on printing machines and photocopiers.

Question 9

What were the underlying messages of papers in the GDR?

Answer 9

All leaders were adulated, while widespread social problems in the FRG (homelessness, drug use) and anniversaries (formation of SED / of the GDR) were promoted.

Question 10

What percentage of publications did the SED control?

Answer 10

70%
Most of the rest were papers from mass organisations such as the FDJ or trade unions, all of which followed party etiquette.
The only publications not controlled by the SED were those made by the church, but they were expected to be strictly religious and contain no controversial material.

Question 11

What are four examples of radio stations within the GDR? What did they publish?

Answer 11

Radio DDR 1: set up in August 1953
Radio DDR 2: set up in 1958
Berliner Rundfunk: catered for the capital.
DT 64: a youth station introduced in 1964.

These stations published a variety of music, spoken word, sports reporting was particularly popular.

Question 12

How many radios were there by 1985?

Answer 12

6.6 million licensed radios in the country, 39.9 for every 100 people.

Question 13

Why was radio content a matter of concern for the regime?

Answer 13

Because Western stations were widely available across the GDR and they were often more popular than GDR output. There was high demand for Western music among the young and although the SED tried to jam Western stations, this was outlawed by international law and the GDR faced having their own content jammed in retaliation.

Question 14

Who controlled television in the GDR?

Answer 14

Fernsehen der DDR (DDR-FS), a state-run company who had two TV channels by 1969, the same year colour programming was introduced.

Question 15

How did the GDR attempt to combat Western TV influence?

Answer 15

Most homes in the GDR could access Western channels and often preferred to watch their content. The SED was careful to not show GDR news and the same time as FRG news, as people preferred to watch that of the FRG. Entertainment shows were instead broadcast at the same time as the FRG news in the hopes of discouraging viewing.

Question 16

What was the output of GDR television like?

Answer 16

It was heavily political and often not very subtle.
E.g. Karl Eduard Von Schnitzler had a weekly programme titled Der Schwarze Kanal (the Black Channel) which involved slating the FRG and bombarding viewers with anti-Western propaganda, for example, referring to the FRG as the “Land of Wolves”. Many were shocked by the content and Von Schnitzler became one of the most hated people in the GDR.
Honecker recognised that a more subtle approach was needed by the mid-70s and there were some very successful shows such as the GDR’s version of the children’s programme The Sand Man, which is still fondly remembered.

Question 17

How did the GDR use language to develop cultural differences between itself and the FRG?

Answer 17

• East Germans did their shopping in a Kaufhalle (buying hall) rather than a Supermarkt (FRG term)
• The capital was never referred to as East Berlin as it highlighted the division. Instead, signs read “Berlin, Capital of East Germany”
• Also examples of a tendency to Sovietise language used in the GDR e.g. Kollectiv (collective) and brigade (groups of workers). This was enhanced by the teaching of Russian as the foreign language in schools.

Question 18

How did access to Western media undermine the SED? What did the SED do?

Answer 18

Access to Western media significantly undermined SED propaganda and made GDR citizens well aware of the higher living standards and better personal freedoms in the West.
Viewing and listening to Western programmes was illegal but was so widespread it was impossible to control. In 1974, the SED caved and Western stations became discouraged, but tolerated.

Question 19

Why did the SED actively promote sport?

Answer 19

As well as improving the population’s health, the benefits of sport on individual’s health was seen as a means to boost productivity. It could also provide a key tool in developing pride in the state.

Question 20

Why were sporting organisations an effective method of bringing the population under the control of the regime?

Answer 20

Because they were controlled by the SED and were not overtly political.

Question 21

How many citizens were members of a sports club in 1982? Which were the most popular?

Answer 21

3.3 million citizens belonged to a sports club. Fishing, gymnastics and football were the most popular.

Question 22

How did the SED encompass sporting clubs under regime control?

Answer 22

Under the German Gymnastics and Sport Association (DTSB)

Question 23

How many sports festivals were there in 1980?

Answer 23

28,000 ranging from national to regional and even to village level. There was even the children’s Spartakaiden. These festivals attracted high participation rates as did rambling, chess, and walking.

Question 24

Why was enthusiasm for sport sometimes dampened?

Answer 24

Due to poor investment in sports facilities, especially swimming pools which were often closed for repairs.

Question 25

Why was sporting success at international level so important for the GDR?

Answer 25

• It was a means to develop international pride
• Demonstrated socialist dominance over capitalism
• Lessened the GDR’s diplomatic isolation

Question 26

Explain the development of the GDR’s team name at the Olympics.

Answer 26

• 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games the GDR and the FRG competed as one all-German team
• 1968 Mexico Games, the GDR and the FRG compete separately; FRG as “Germany” and the GDR as “East Germany”
• 1972 Munich Olympics, full recognition of the GDR had occurred as its own flag and national anthem were used.

Question 27

Give an example of GDR international sporting success.

Answer 27

At the Montreal Olympics in 1976, the GDR finished 2nd in the medal table behind the USSR. They beat the FRG and the USA.

Question 28

What can we attribute the GDR’s sporting success to? (4)

Answer 28

• The SEDs extreme emphasis on scouting children at a very early age and heavy focus on the sports that were seen as the most likely to result in medals.
• Prospective athletes were sent to specialist schools were they received intense training accompanied by heavy political indoctrination. By the mid-70s there were 10,000 places available at these elite schools
• Also, the DTSB was formed in 1957 and worked with the Ministry of Education, the FDJ and the SED to help produce world-class athletes.
• The Stasi sent spies to the FRG to obtain information on their training programmes, and an extensive network of informers supplied information on the political ideology of athletes. When athletes competed internationally, they were accompanied by Stasi officers and unable to fraternise with those from the West.

Question 29

Sporting success provided a focus for national pride, but the effectiveness of this was often hampered by?

Answer 29

Popular resentment at the privileged treatment athletes received. Their ability to travel abroad was particularly disliked.

Question 30

From the late 1970s, international recognition of GDR success was hampered by what?

Answer 30

Accusations of the use of performance enhancing drugs. Many of these suspicions were confirmed after Germany reunified and records were released.

Question 31

Why were GDR women so successful?

Answer 31

• The amateur status required by the Olympics favored East German women as they could dedicate all their time to a training regime provided by the state whereas Western women still had to work or dedicate time to family duties.
• Progress in women’s sport was also aided by the systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs, a program organised by the SED who administered substances often without telling the athlete or fully understanding the consequences. For example, Heidi Krieger won gold in the shot put during the European Championships in 1986, after eight years training at the Dynamo Sports Club in Berlin. She was fed with regular doses of anabolic steroids and birth control pills and since 1997, has been living as a man.