Alex, Rudy and Christian sit down to discuss the history of the German Democratic Republic from its foundation atop the ruins of WW2 to the prelude of reunification. They discuss the challenges of building socialism in the fourth of ruined country, the challenges of brain drain, the economy before and after the Wall was built, the intelligentsia/worker divide, the varying responsiveness of the ruling party to criticism and how the GDR was able to provide a normal life to most of its population for decades.

 

Main References:

The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker - Mary Fulbrook

A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee - Victor Grossman

The Human Rights Dictatorship: Socialism, Global Solidarity and Revolution in East Germany - Ned Richardson-Little

Complementary references:

The Making of the GDR, 1945-53 - Gareth Pritchard

Where was the Working Class?: Revolution in Eastern Germany - Linda Fuller

Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of Eastern Germany - Charles S. Maier