How far had East Germans formed a
niche society in East Germany by 1989
official
Was a niche society
1970s
Lack of protest, stasi more active
People showed 'conformity' to
advance themselves educationally,
not support for the state
Berlin Wall stopped people from leaving as
from 1949-1961 2.5 million people had left for
the West, a clear sign people were not happy
with the regime
High membership of socialist organisations
FDJ had 2.1 million members
People seemed to be
conforming to the regime by
joining organisations that
supported the states, these
youth groups were incredibly
popular
However, membership of such organisations
did not mean support for the regime, people
merely seemed to support the regime to
advance themselves as without conforming,
they could not get a job or go to university
Not a niche society
1950s
1953 riots, people not simply
conforming but rather openly
protesting about their disatisfaction
with the regime
People protested against the
increased work norms as a
result of the May Directive
which increased work
quotas by 10%
People leaving across the
East-West border of Berlin,
people openly showing
disatisfaction with regime
If there was a niche society then people would not
be protesting against the state by leaving across
the border but would accept their position and
keep quiet
Before 1950s stasi not very active,
people were not afraid to openly
protest against regime, not much
would happen to them, Berlin Wall
1961 changed this and after 1953,
stasi became far more active
Resented the high taxation and low wages,
people were not happy, Ulbricht provoked
the riots by doing this
This lead to people openly protesting against
the state as they were already taxed highly
and thier wages were barely adequate
1989
USSR pulled support with the abandonment of the
Brezhev Doctrine, no fear of USSR interfereing,and the fall
of the Berlin Wall gave people renewed confidence to start
protesting
Compared to 1953 riots where the USSR got
involved, people learned there was no point
in protesting, when suport was dropped, they
saw they had a chance
Rise of political activism in the form of the civic movement and
silent marches, people are no longer accepting their position, the
introduction of perestroika and withdrawl of support by USSR
gave people cofnidence to protest as the stasi could not stop them
all
USSR coud no longer interfere with
satelltie states, no longer economically
viable, withdrew monitary aid to GDR
People applying for exit visas throughout 1980s,
this shows people were not going to put up
with the regime and were leaving, which is a form of
protest
Fall of the Berlin Wall lead to masses of people
leaving across the border, up to 2,000 a day in
1989, people not happy with regime, openly
showing disasisfaction with regime
1961
Berlin wall constructed to stop
exodus of people moving across
the border who were not happy
with the regme, this was a form of
open protest against the state
2.5 million people left the GDR between
1949-1961, people clearly not happy
with the regime, no niche soceit in
1950s
Intro
Fear and repression was the main creator of the
niche society, after 1953 the level of protest went
down as the stasi became more active, in the 1970s
where they became even more active a niche society
was formed as people did not see the point in
protesting. in 1989 the removal of the Berlin Wall
and repression led to open protest and no niche
society
No niche society in 1950s, lack of repression,
1970s was niche society- increased
repression, 1989 no niche society- lack of
represion