C. I.2.c.iii. German Democratic Republic

Volume One -> C. Popular Resistance in Communist Regimes -> C. I. The Soviet Bloc -> C. I.2. The Soviet Bloc 1980 to 1991 -> C. I.2.c. The Revolutions of 1989-90 -> C. I.2.c.iii. German Democratic Republic

The dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall symbolised the end to the division not only of Germany, but of Europe, into opposed ideological, political, economic and military blocs, and has prompted a large literature. The titles below give weight to the role of civil resistance.

Bleiker, Roland Nonviolent Struggle and the Revolution in East Germany, Cambridge MA, Albert Einstein Institution, 1993 , pp. 53

Dale, Gareth The East German Revolution of 1989, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2007 , pp. 252

Eye-witness stresses the role of civic groups and the increasing radicalisation of workers and technicians, and engages critically with other interpretations of the revolution. See also his earlier book, Gareth Dale, Popular Protest in East Germany 1945-1989, London, Frank Cass, 2004 , pp. 256 .
Hirschmann, Albert Exit, voice and the fate of the German Democratic Republic, Vol. 45, issue Jan., 1993 , pp. 172-202

Much cited conceptual analysis contrasting the movement of emigration through Hungary to the West and the internal resistance.
Joppke, Christian East German Dissidents and the Revolution of 1989: Social Movements in a Leninist Regime, New York, New York University Press, 1995 , pp. 277

Maier, Charles Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany, Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1997 , pp. 464

Drawing on newly released Party and Stasi archives, Maier analyses the 40 years of East German history, and charts both the growth of dissent (for example the autonomous peace campaigns and youth culture) in the 1980s, and the systemic decline of the regime due to economic crisis and corruption at the top. See also: Maier, ‘Civil Resistance and Civil Society: Lessons from the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989’, in Timothy Garton Ash, Adam Roberts, Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) , pp. 260-76.
Mueller, Carol Claim “Radicalization?” The 1989 Protest Cycle in the GDR, Vol. 46, issue 4 (November), 1999 , pp. 528-547

Opp, Karl-Dieter; Voss, Peter Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany 1989, Ann Arbor MI, University of Michigan Press, 1995 , pp. 280

Study based on fieldwork interviewing various actors.

Websites recommended

Claim “Radicalization?” The 1989 Protest Cycle in the GDR , 1999
Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany Princeton NJ Princeton University Press, 1997

Drawing on newly released Party and Stasi archives, Maier analyses the 40 years of East German history, and charts both the growth of dissent (for example the autonomous peace campaigns and youth culture) in the 1980s, and the systemic decline of the regime due to economic crisis and corruption at the top. See also: Maier, ‘Civil Resistance and Civil Society: Lessons from the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989’, in Timothy Garton Ash, Adam Roberts, Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) , pp. 260-76.
East German Dissidents and the Revolution of 1989: Social Movements in a Leninist Regime New York New York University Press, 1995
Exit, voice and the fate of the German Democratic Republic , 1993

Much cited conceptual analysis contrasting the movement of emigration through Hungary to the West and the internal resistance.
Nonviolent Struggle and the Revolution in East Germany (http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/NonviolentStruggleandtheRevo...) Cambridge MA Albert Einstein Institution, 1993
Origins of a Spontaneous Revolution: East Germany 1989 Ann Arbor MI University of Michigan Press, 1995

Study based on fieldwork interviewing various actors.
The East German Revolution of 1989 Manchester Manchester University Press, 2007

Eye-witness stresses the role of civic groups and the increasing radicalisation of workers and technicians, and engages critically with other interpretations of the revolution. See also his earlier book, Gareth Dale, Popular Protest in East Germany 1945-1989, London, Frank Cass, 2004 , pp. 256 .

See also:

A. 3.b. Evolution of Resistance
Goodwin, Jeff; Pfaff, Steven, Emotion Work in High-Risk Social Movements: Managing Fear in the US and East German Civil Rights Movements, (A. 3.b. Evolution of Resistance)