Synopses & Reviews
In the two decades following the defeat of the Third Reich, East Germany was transformed from a war-ravaged occupation zone into an apparent model of Soviet-style socialism. Based on extensive archival research, this book explores the building of socialism in East Germany not from the standard perspective of the party and state authorities. Rather, it focuses on the effects at the grass-roots, where patterns of popular opinion, social and cultural communities from the pre-eminent past and the divided loyalties of local functionaries played a crucial role in shaping the face of "real existing socialism."
Review
This readable account, among the first on select aspects of the grass roots of East German society, is an informed complement to studies...
Choice
About the Author
Corey Ross is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Birmingham.
Table of Contents
The Land Reform and its Effects * Recasting the Factories after the War * The Origins and Effects of 17 June in the Factories * The "Unforced" Collectivization * Mobilizing East German Youth *
"Republikflucht": Fleeing the Construction of Socialism * The Factories from 17 June to the Socialist Brigades * The Villages from Stalemate to Collectivization * Youth and the Threats to Socialism * The Problems and Possibilities of the Open Border * The Grassroots Effects of the Berlin Wall * Integration, Skepticism and Pragmatism: Patterns of Popular Opinion and Social Change in the Mid-1960s