The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 came as a global shock, most prominently to the Socialist Unity Party (SED), the leadership of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). However, with closer analysis, it becomes evident that the cracks were showing in the ideological façade of the GDR long prior to its dramatic collapse.
Foundational myths and constructions of the West
The erection of the ‘anti-fascist protection wall’ in 1961 served as a concrete consolidation of the foundational myth of the GDR- their need for insulation from the imperialistic West. Socialist idealism was contrasted against Western decadence, a bourgeois condition founded on materialism, individualism, and brutality. Western ‘non-culture’ was perceived as a force of corruption, attempting to ideologically infiltrate the GDR, especially the politically susceptible GDR youth, leading to the emergence of anti-socialist traits, nonconformity, and politically dangerous subcultures, such as the environmental movement.
Enduring fragility of the GDR
The social stability of the GDR remained fragile throughout its existence, due to its prolonged failure to ever effectively monopolise East German society in accordance with idealised socialist values. In an attempt to combat this, the GDR often used the media to inspire a hegemonic socialist state identity, through state-controlled mediums of TV, radio and newspapers. However, due to the ubiquity of Western media, over 80% of the GDR population were able to escape these dull, repetitive, and illusioned propaganda castings, and cast their eyes on the “greener grasses” of the West. Furthermore, shortfalls in GDR propaganda meant that they at no point enjoyed the support of even half of their population: the GDR population was not as docile and obedient as they have been historically re-imagined, even before dissent became more organised and ratcheted up in the 1980s.
The role of the youth
The youth were the future, but as social mobility stagnated through the 1970s, youth non-conformity rose, symbolising a conscious renunciation of the chances -or lack thereof- offered by the socialist system. As the cracks in the social foundations of the GDR widened, the youth began to look outwards, predominantly over the wall to the opportunities offered by the West. Through access to Western media, the youth could undergo ‘fantasy dropout’ from the GDR socialist reality, and immerse themselves in a world just out of reach, which they often then embodied through subcultural and stylistic expressions.
The beginning of the end
In the 1980s, the people of the GDR wholeheartedly embraced Western popular music, even as it meant a betrayal of the essential ideologies of the GDR itself. The foundational myth around the intrinsic evil of the West was dispelled, to the extent that their ideological commitments seemed almost farcical. As GDR control over the media atrophied, so did their grip on the hearts and minds of their population.
Overall, whilst the SED was highly self-conscious, they were not self-aware. Their delusional perceptions surrounding Western decadence, and the origins of social discontent, which they refused to believe could be anything but Western, were a key aspect of their undoing.
This post was written by Charlotte Stobart (Newcastle University), and edited by Elizabeth Dacombe.