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diff --git a/hstr122/fall_of_berlin_wall.md b/hstr122/fall_of_berlin_wall.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9d622e --- /dev/null +++ b/hstr122/fall_of_berlin_wall.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +Identify role of agency and structure in the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. +450 words max. +November 9, 1989: The day that brought down Communism. +Professor Schmidtke: in his childhood, East Germany was like a different world--cut off by the wall. +How was the GDR able to collapse so easily? German "democratic" republic not democratic. +Introducing the world at the time: Europe divided between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries. The "iron curtain." +A country divided and a city divided, Berlin split in two. Each side doing everything to undermine the authority of the other. +August 13, 1961, East Germany built a wall in the city of Berlin. This was seen as a sign of weakness, "anti-fascist protection wall," but it was really to keep their population in. Prevent brain-drain into the west. The communist side was less competitive than the West, partly due to reparations from WWII. +Extant for nearly 30 years. Wherever you were on the 13th, you would be stuck! A country and people divided, and the whole continent divided into two blocs. +But the story today is November 9th, the wall coming down. What was responsible for the collapse of the GDR? +For all practical purposes, by the end of the 1980s, Soviet-type systems were no longer capable of self-reporduction. [STRUCTURAL ARGUMENT] - political and economic structures contributing to the self-destruction of the GDR/Soviet Union. Something deeply dysfunctional. +Three points to the argument: economic deprivation, political authoritarianism, the international environment. +1. Levels of economic consumption were never at the levels of the West. "Supermarket of the west" deliberately put there to showcase Western superiority. West was proud of its material wealth. The state decided levels of production, price, where it would be sold. The price for any good would always be the same. Of course in capitalist economies, price signals fulfill this purpose. +The state was trying to be competitive; for a short while, it was thought that the USSR would overtake the West (see space race) but there was a widening gap between the Communist East and the Capitalist West in innovation, productivity. Communist states were supposed to be a paradise for workers, but it was not glorious. They worked hard but there was a lack of consumer goods. +The car, the Trabant, was a classic example of this. There was no incentive to make it better. The revolution was largely a political action of dissatisfied consumers. They felt deprived, compared to the West. "They only overthrew our Communist regime because they couldn't get bananas!" +2. Political authoritarianism, lack of popular support. One party rule, no fair elections. All media controlled by the state. They tried to block off information coming from the outside. East germans couldn't listen to West German media, with severe punishments. The communists were terrified of the population, huge amounts of surveillance, secret policing. +Communist ideology was based not on democratic legitimacy, but in terms of class struggle. Stalin pointed to the idea of liberating the proletariat. The whole state was built on the idea that "we represent the working class, and we must not have any impedements in our fight" "The party is always right." +For the younger generations, this lack of freedom became less and less appealing. Post war? Cracking down on intellectuals became dysfunctional in structural terms. +3. The international environment. Polish Labour movement Solidarity forced free elections, and the communists lost! Moscow accepted the new Polish government, marking the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Following this, Hungary pressed for democratic reforms, and opened their border to Austria, weakening the Iron Curtain. But Erich Honecker did not want changes or democratic reforms. +Glasnost Now--more and more demands for democracy, as it became increasingly clear that the sattelite states of the USSR would fall together. Summer of 89, they would go to Prague, Budapest and try to escape the GDR through the West German embassy. Everyone wanted out. +40th anniversary of the GDR, October 7, 1989, celebration, millitary demonstration. At the same time, protests. Gorbachev spoke to Erich Honecker: "he who does not change will be punished by life." But Honecker still did not consider reform. But something started in Leipzig--a meeting for the Monday prayers led to an iniative to demonstrate. They were arrested, but would be released and would continue. The demonstrations grew in size, and as they did the security forces became less willing to use force. Why did they not use a "chinese solution"? They no longer had the backing of Moscow. After weeks of trying to suppress the demonstrations, they gave up. +Demonstrations moved across East Germany, until it reached Berlin. Over a million participants demanding all kinds of things. It was very unclear how events would develop. Mass Rally on Alexanderplatz on 4 November: intellectuals, leaders all gave speeches on their visions for the future. Nearly 10% of the entire population was on the street. +GDR made a fateful decision. The population could leave! Everyone was allowed to travel wherever they wanted. Active immediately. Error of Schabowski. Those at the border felt betrayed, and the guards were eventually allowed to let the loudest troublemakers pass. Supervisor disobeyed direct orders to allow anyone to pass. The border guards had no idea what to do. Spectacular but unforeseen. There was no going back; they couldn't close the border again. +Very quickly, the wall came down, ushering in a period of fundamental change. The lack of freedom to travel was felt very accutely by the East Germans. In the end, you could say the agents were social movements under the guise of the church. The ruling party hadn't dissolved, but had no authority. December 7 1989 Central Round Table. There was an immediate attraction to reunification. Slogan changed from "we are the people" to "we are one people." +Timeline: wall fell on 9th November 1989. First free democratic election on 18th Mach 1990. Treaty of the creation of a Union, 1st July 1990. Reunifcation 3rd October 1990. |