Life in the GDR

Life in the GDR

1. The economy

   • Negatives
     • Few natural resources + had to import many necessary materials
     • Roughly 30% of the GDP of GDR was exported in the 1970’s to pay for the necessary imports
     • GDR had a small labour force, due to the migration of a large segment of the population early in the country’s existence
   • Positives
     • GDR became the most affluent socialist country
     • Had highest GDP per capita + highest living standards among soviet-style economies
     • East German economy flourished despite the seeming lack of resources and shortage of the labour force
     • The government encouraged women to join the workforce (allowed them to combine family and working lives to compensate for the migration to the FRG)
     • A steady rate of economic growth, which ranged from about 3 to 5% a year was observed throughout the 1970’s, and only a slight decline occurred in the 1980’s

2. Religion

   • Religious instruction removed from Schools - Law for Democratisation of German School (1959)
   • Youth Dedication service introduced in 1949. Seen as an alternative to Protestant or Catholic confirmation
   • A recent study cabout religion found that 52.1% of people are atheists. This compared with only 10.3% in western Germany. Unable to find anyone under 28 in eastern Germany who believed in God.

3. Trade Unions

   • The Union is an important part of the lives of the workers (centre of the average citizen's existence)
   • The local union + enterprise form a collective and offer the worker a variety of educational, cultural, and social activities. FDGB also administers the social insurance program and provides holiday centres and packaged holidays for workers.
   • 1984--> 1,163 "holiday homes" with a capacity of 135,889 beds available. Housing, libraries, discount shops, clubs, and recreational facilities were provided through the worker's enterprises. Through their activities, the union and the enterprise permeate every aspect of the individual's life.
   • FDGB had a socialisation function to perform. In the mid-1980s, it cooperated with schools and enterprises to indoctrinate workers with the socialist ideology.

4. Agricultural policy

   • 1945→ Large landed estates taken and redistributed as small plots. - New owners found these difficult to farm due to lack of technology, knowledge, and materials.
   • 1952→ 1st wave of VOLUNTARY collectivisation to form LPGs (a collective farm). So unpopular, some farmers abandoned their land to flee West. Led to problems of shortages in food supply.
   • 1960-61→ 2nd wave of FORCED collectivisation of any remaining independent farmers.

5. Education

   • Overhauling education = priority (was seen as a method of instilling communist ideology)
   • Technical and practical skills were prioritised. Schools were ‘twinned’ with factories in order to give students ‘hands on’ training. Students could also fill the gaps in worker shortages.
   • The law for the Democratisation of German Schools (1946) . Expanded pre-school education, abolished private/religious schools and introduced a national curriculum with set textbooks.
   • Between 1956-65 → created a system of ‘polytechnic education’ → a 10 year system for 6-16 year olds. Uniform was compulsory as was practical work for 1 day a week after 14 years old.
   • Sport and paramilitary training was important to raise fitness levels and achieve international success.
   • Adult education was encouraged
   • Positive impact on poor children, in 1951, only 16% of pupils attended school for 8 years. By 1970, it was 85%.

6. Lifestyle

   • Young women at work
   • Youth groups
   • Shortages
     • People said: Everything is available, just not at all times and not everywhere, especially not when you need it.
     • Produced many high-quality products and was, economically speaking, the most developed member of the Eastern bloc. However, in the stores or small supermarkets, there was little sign left of the economic power of the country.
     • Due to the planned economy, which resulted in rather inefficient production and lots of red tape.
     • All products were allocated by the government, with many a product arriving in the wrong place. Some hardly ever reached the consumer.
   • East German identity
     • Communist leader of East Germany wanted to build on traditional German values (discipline, hard work, respect for authority and efficiency) + connect them with the desirable qualities of a model citizen.
     • Educational, media, and political systems were all geared towards the creation of the new socialist East German identity.
     • New Communist govt. also highlighted the work it had done in the Nazi trials and criticized the seeming lack of similar behavior on part of the West
   • Social change (welfare)
     • By 1956 welfare system was compulsory and centrally controlled most things
     • Free Health care for all from state hospitals and medical centres
     • Pensions for all men over 65 and women over 60
     • Free accident insurance for all
     • Unemployment not an issue as work was available for all
     • Impressive numbers of new homes but tower blocks
     • After 1959 housing was a priority and 100,000 new homes were built per year between 1959-1962.

7. The Stasi

   • Internal army by which the government kept control. Its job was to know everything about everyone, using any means it chose.
   • Protected the Party from the people (arrested, imprisoned+interrogated anyone it chose, inspected mail (copying letters and stealing valuables), and intercepted tens of thousands of phone calls. Also bugged hotel rooms+spied on diplomats).
   • It ran its own universities, hospitals, elite sports centres and terrorist training programs for Libyans and the West Germans of the Red Army Faction
   • Pockmarked the German countryside with bunkers in the event of WW3
   • It was the mainstay of State power. Without it, and without the threat of Soviet tanks to back it up, the SED regime could not have survived.