The German Revolution of 1989

The German Revolution of 1989 PDF Author: Gert-Joachim Glaessner
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An investigation by a team of international scholars into the causes and consequences of the collapse of the German Democratic Republic. The study details the numerous indications that a unique combination of destabilising factors coincided to bring about the end of "real socialism."

The German Revolution of 1989

The German Revolution of 1989 PDF Author: Gert-Joachim Glaessner
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An investigation by a team of international scholars into the causes and consequences of the collapse of the German Democratic Republic. The study details the numerous indications that a unique combination of destabilising factors coincided to bring about the end of "real socialism."

We Were the People

We Were the People PDF Author: Dirk Philipsen
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822312949
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
On the night of November 9, 1989, an electrified world watched as the Berlin Wall came down. Communism was dead, the Cold War was over, and freedom was on the rise—or so it seemed. We Were the People tells the story behind this momentous event. In an extraordinary series of interviews, the key actors in the drama that transformed East Germany speak for themselves, describing what they did, what happened and why, and what it has meant to them. The result is a powerful firsthand account of a rare historical moment, one that reverberates far beyond the toppled wall that once divided Germany and the world. The drama We Were the People recreates is remarkable for its richness and complexity. Here are citizens organizing despite threats of bloody crackdowns; party functionaries desperately trying to survive as time-honored political prerogatives crumble beneath their feet; an oppressed people discovering the possibilities of power and freedom, but also the sobering strangeness of new political realities. With their success, East Germans encountered the overpowering might of thie Western neighbor--and stand perplexed before the onslaught of real estate agents, glossy consumer ads, political professionalism--and the discovery that a lifetime of social experience has suddenly lost all usable context. They became, in the words of one participant, a people "without biography." Over all the recent events and unlikely turns recounted here, one thing remains paramount: the sweep of the initial democratic conception that animated the East German revolution. We Were the People brings this movement to life in all its drama and detail, and vividly recovers a historic moment that altered forever the shape of modern Europe. Some Voices of the People Bärbel Bohley/ "Mother of the Revolution" Rainer Eppelmann/ Protestant Pastor Klaus Kaden/ Church Emissary to the Opposition Hans Modrow/ Former Communist Prime Minister Ludwig Mehlhorn/ Opposition Theorist Ingrid Köppe/ Opposition Representative Frank Eigenfeld/ New Forum Harald Wagner/ Democracy Now Sebastian Pflugbeil/ Democratic Strategist East German Workers Cornelia Matzke/ Independent Women's Alliance André Brie/ Party Vice-Chairman Gerhard Ruden/ Environmental Activist Werner Bramke/ Party Academic

East German Dissidents and the Revolution of 1989

East German Dissidents and the Revolution of 1989 PDF Author: C. Joppke
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230373054
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
In contrast to the dissident movements of Eastern Europe, the East German movement remained committed to the 'revisionist' reform of the communist regime. This book tries to explain why. It is argued that the peculiarities of German history and culture prevented the possibility of a 'national' opposition to communism. As a result, East German dissidents had to remain in a paradoxical way 'loyal' to the old regime.

The Revolution in East Germany in 1989. A Peaceful Revolution?

The Revolution in East Germany in 1989. A Peaceful Revolution? PDF Author: Sophia Khatri
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3346373835
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject History of Germany - Postwar Period, Cold War, grade: 1,0, University of Ghent, language: English, abstract: This paper discusses the classic understanding of the Revolution in East Germany in 1989. The excluding criteria of violence will be challenged upon the revolutionary process. Furthermore, the reasons for the non-violent participation in the protest will be analysed upon a structural-behavioural approach within the Ration Action Theory. This paper examines the term 'Peaceful Revolution' and its outstanding characteristic of peaceful. First, the definition and framework of the Revolution will be discussed. The paper concentrates on the non-violent aspect through a behavioural-rational approach which will be also introduced to the reader. In the second part, the paper will discuss if the process in East-Germany fulfils the conditions of a Revolution. Furthermore, the reasons why people participated in demonstrations in the autumn of 1989, especially why the people choose a non-violent way, will be viewed. The paper follows the research question: Why did the protest in Autumn 1989 in East Germany remain peaceful? How does the Peaceful Revolution challenge the classic definition of Revolution? 1989 became a historically important year for Germany and the whole of Europe: The fall of the Wall on November 9th became a symbol for the self-liberation of East Germans. It marked the end of an authoritarian soviet Era and the reunification of one of the economically strongest nations in Europe. Today 30 years later the Peaceful Revolution is celebrated as a unique spontaneous and non-violent revolution in Germany. The GDR (German Democratic Republic) citizens reached for freedom during the Monday demonstrations in the main cities of Leipzig, Dresden, and East-Berlin after they were oppressed for 40 years by a socialist totalitarian regime. Elementary human rights such as freedom of travel, speech, and information were taken away from them. During one month, October 1989, East Germans started writing history: the dictatorship was peacefully challenged with demonstrations and rallies and then completely swept away. Divided Germany and Europe were gone. October 9th is seen as a milestone in Germany's road to freedom and finally resulted in the Fall of the Wall on November 9th.

The East German Revolution of 1989

The East German Revolution of 1989 PDF Author: Gareth Dale
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution

Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution PDF Author: Karl-Dieter Opp
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 9780472105755
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Explains the extraordinary collapse of Communist East Germany

End Game

End Game PDF Author: Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1800736223
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
The fall of the Berlin Wall, and the chain of events leading up to it, arguably constitute one of the most thoroughly documented episodes in recent history. Nonetheless, most accounts have focused predominantly on high-level politics and diplomacy along with the most dramatic and photogenic public displays. End Game, a rich, sweeping account of the autumn of 1989 as it was experienced “on the ground” in the German Democratic Republic, powerfully depicting the desolation and dysfunction that shaped everyday life for so many East Germans in the face of economic disruption and political impotence. Citizens’ frustration mounted until it bubbled over in the form of massive demonstrations and other forms of protest. Following the story up to the first free elections in March 1990, the volume combines abundant detail with sharp analysis and helps us to see this familiar historical moment through new eyes.

Revolution 1989

Revolution 1989 PDF Author: Victor Sebestyen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780753827093
Category : Europe, Central
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Documents the collapse of the Soviet Union's European empire (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslvakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) and the transition of each to independent states, drawing on interviews and newly uncovered archival material to offer insight into 1989's rapid changes and the USSR's minimal resistance.

Germany 1989

Germany 1989 PDF Author: Lothar Kettenacker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317875664
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
In autumn 1989 the world watched transfixed as East German citizens, demonstrating under the banner ‘We are the people!’, staged the only successful, totally peaceful revolution in German history. By October 1990, the process of reunification was formally concluded, bringing together a nation that had been divided for almost four decades. Now, nearly twenty years later, it is possible to judge the causes and consequences of the revolution more clearly. Was the fall of the Berlin Wall an unexpected fluke, or was it, in fact, the result of a long process of engagement between East and West? And did the momentous events of 1989 really signal the start of a bright new future for a united Germany? In this probing and wide-ranging account, Lothar Kettenacker considers the background behind the division of Germany and explains how the Berlin Wall and its death trap border proved to be the most horrendous manifestation of East-West antagonism. He also looks beyond 1990 to show how the confusion caused by the sudden collapse of the GDR and the fusion of two radically different economies is proving to be a challenge that will preoccupy Germany for generations to come.

Popular Protest in East Germany

Popular Protest in East Germany PDF Author: Gareth Dale
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135760918
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
An incisive new study of dissent and protest in the German Democratic Republic, focusing on the upheaval of 1989-1990. The author, an active participant both in the 'Citizens' Movement' and in the street protests of that year, draws upon a vast array of sources including interviews, documents from the archives of the old regime and the Citizens' Movement and his own diary entries, to explore the causes and processes of the East German revolution. The book is at once a lucid and vibrant narrative history and a pioneering contribution to research in this field.