Faith, Hope and Apathy. Politics and Popular Opinion in Thuringia, 1945
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FAITH, HOPE AND APATHY Politics and Popular Opinion in Thuringia, 1945-1968 Mark Andrew ALLINSON Thesis submitted for the award of a PhD, University College London, January 1997 LONDIN ProQuest Number: 10017340 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10017340 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract The thesis investigates the interplay of social and pohtical history in the Soviet Zone of Occupation of Germany/GDR between 1945 and 1968, taking Thuringia/^ez/rÂ: Erfurt as a case study. The thesis explores the changing nature of popular reactions to SED rule during this period, evaluates the nature and degree of regime stabihty achieved by 1968, and illustrates the methods which achieved this stabihty. An introductory chapter outlines Thuringia’s pohtical and social situation at the end of World War Two, and briefly comments on the emergence of the regional KPD, SPD and SED. The foUowing chapter discusses how the rival pohtical parties and the ‘mass organisations’ created by the SED were coopted to support the SED’s self-proclaimed ‘leading role’. However, these organisations were often inefihciently led, and their memberships indiffèrent or oppositional weU into the 1960s. The second section iUustrates the changing extent of SED hegemony through snapshots of popular opinion. Particular attention is paid to the initial postwar years, Stalin’s death, the popular uprising of 1953, agricultural cohechvisation (1960), the sealing of the GDR’s borders (1961), and trends in the mid-1960s. The third section concentrates on church-state relations to iUustrate the interplay between the SED’s attempts at pohtical dominance and popular responses. The concluding section examines responses to the ideological challenges of the constitutional debate and invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968). The thesis demonstrates that although some stabihty was attained by the mid-1950s, it depended more on the GDR’s fixed external parameters than the SED’s often inefficient rule. Outward conformity remained incomplete by the late 1960s. Ideological commitment also remained elusive, even among those responsible for perpetuating the system, and pohtical challenges to the regime occurred in both ‘normal’ and ‘crisis’ years. Nonetheless, the high levels of conformist behaviour ensured the regime would not coUapse for domestic reasons alone. For my parents TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 6 Maps 8 1. Introduction 17 PARTI ESTABLISHING SOCIALIST RULE 2. The Thuringian Background 35 Territory and political background Thuringia between Third Reich and Soviet occupation The road to socialist unity 3. Unite And Rule: The Development of the Political Parties and Mass Organisations 50 Establishing the structures Enforcing loyalty: the transformation of the Thuringian bloc parties A united front: from Antifa committee to Democratic Bloc and Nationale Front The role of the bloc parties: the CDU Uniting the non-political majority: the role of the mass organisations PART II POPULAR REACTION: THE APOLITICAL MASSES? 4. Thuringia From Postwar Survival to June Revolt 106 Thuringians in the postwar framework 1953: Act One - Stalin’s death 1953: Act Two - June uprising 5. Thuringia Before the Wall 144 1956: Destalinsation and the Hungarian example 1960: ‘Socialist springtime in agriculture’ 6. Thuringia Behind the Wall 178 1961 : The borders are sealed Superficial stabilisation behind the Wall The GDR in the 1960s PA R T m THE CHURCHES BETWEEN SOCIALIST STATE AND PEOPLE 7. The Churches’ Basis Challenged 212 The churches’ postwar framework The SED and the church leaderships The state and the clergy 8. The Battle For Youth 239 Youth policy before 1953 Battle rejoined; religious education and the introduction of the Jugendweihe 9. The Churches From the 1950s the 1960s: Supping With The Devil? 269 The churches in the 1960s The constitutional debate of 1968 The role of the Stasi and the case of Gerhard Lotz A question of morals? The churches and the SED PART IV CONCLUSIONS: THURINGIAN STATE AND SOCIETY IN 1968 10. Thuringia Between Socialist Constitution and Prague Spring 295 The constitutional debate Prague Spring and Thuringian autumn 11. Conclusions 325 Abbreviations and Glossary of German Terms 341 Sources and Bibliography 349 Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the support of many people over a number of years, to all of whom I owe thanks. The initial years of the project were financed by the British Academy, whose understanding staff enabled me to spend a longer period than normally permitted abroad for research. Bristol University’s Arts Faculty Research Fund kindly financed an additional research trip to Weimar. Once in Thuringia, I was fortunate to enjoy expert support from various sources; Dr Wolfgang Geist granted me unparalleled access to the SED’s former Bezirksparteiarchiv in Erfurt while it was still under PDS management, and initiated me in the mysteries of the SED’s archives; the staff at the Thuringian State Archives in Weimar, particularly Frau Johannes and Frau Bock, ensured I was never short of files; and the staff of Erfurt city library, particularly those in the local history department, answered many queries. In England, my thanks go particularly to the British Library of Politics and Economic Science and the German Historical Institute, London. I might never have travelled to Erfurt at all without the friendship of Jürgen, Brigitte and Julia Benedikt who helped with accommodation problems and introduced me to much of the splendid Thuringian landscape. Steffen Kachel, a fellow postgraduate student of 20th century Thuringian history and now a member of the Thuringian Landtag, has provided much practical support, background information and stimulating discussion about the issues covered in this thesis. I have been fortunate throughout my time in Thuringia to have met many people happy to help and talk about their experiences in the GDR and their outlooks since unification. These informal conversations have helped shape my perceptions of the GDR period and enabled me to corroborate the archival records. In particular I should like to thank for their time and patience: Dr Klaus, Ursula and Thomas Kachel, Anka Sommer and her family, Gerlinde Plotzke, Martin Weidauer and family, Dr Rosemarie Collet, the staffs of Intertext in Erfurt and Berlin, Karin Becherer and family and, at the PDS, Knut Korschewsky and Elke Pudzuhn, among many others. In England, I owe debts of gratitude to Andy Hollis at Salford University, who originally sent me to the GDR, Dr Elizabeth Harvey for her advice before I started this project, my colleagues in the German department at the University of Bristol, particularly for permitting me an essential sabbatical term. Dr Keir Waddington for his patience and helpfully critical support, especially at the draft stage, Neale Laker and Jon Telfer who endured the final stages while keeping their composure and ensuring I kept mine, and, of course, my parents, not least for periodically letting me fill their house with communist literature. Finally, this project could never have been started or completed without the dedicated support of my supervisor. Professor Mary Fulbrook, to whom I am greatly indebted. The shortcomings which remain are all my own work. Maps 1. The Soviet Zone of Occupation in Germany, 1948, showing Land and Kreis borders 1 a. Enlargement of Thuringian section of this map. Source: Rolf Badstübner (éd.), Geschichte der DDR (Berlin: VEB Deutscher Veriag der Wissenschaften, 1987), p.91 2. Comparison of Land borders (1945-1952) and Bezirk borders (1952-1990) Source: Statistisches Bundesamt, DDR 1990: Zahlen and Fakten (Stuttgart: Metzker-Poeschel, 1990) 3. The Bedrke of the German Democratic Republic, with Bezirk Erfurt highhghted Source: Werner Ostwald, ed.. Die DDR im Spiegel ihrer Bezirke (Berlin: Dietz, 1989), p.91 4. German DemocraticRepublic, 1964, showing post-1952 Bezirkand Kreis borders 4a. Enlargement of Thuringian section of this map Source: Horst Büttner and others, eds, Handbach der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik ([Berlin]: Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1964), p. 843 5. The Eichsfeld region Source: Helmut Bemd and others, eds. Die Grenze im Eichsfeld: Leid, Hoffhung, Freude (Gottingen: Veriag Gottinger Tageblatt, 1991), ffontspiece 6. Thuringia in 1918 highlighting the territories controlled by the Thuringian dynasties which remained under the jurisdiction of the Thuringian Church, Eisenach, after 1945, and the territories under Prussian control, which remained under the jurisdiction of the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, Magdeburg after 1945. Source: Friedrich Facius, ‘Politische Geschichte in der Neuzeit’, in Geschichte Thiiringens, Mitteldeutsche Forschungen, 48, ed. by Hans Patze and Walter Schlesinger, 6 vols (Cologne: Bohlau, 1968-79), V, Part 2 (1978). The Soviet Zone of Occupation in Germany, 1948, showing Land and Kreis borders S lra ls u n d R o sto ck \ Gnmmen •.. .U s e d o m GurcM re itsw bw ciJu a ld V Ï ■ — V M a lc h tn / Schonberg ■( G u stro w / / ^ \ \ / D em m in A nklam b _ ! ^V..^ /"^Neuhranden m u n d e >''7 burg / P a rc h im W a rc r, \ t H a g e n o w ^ y ' Pren^lau ' / Neustrelilz ^ I» \ — Ludwigslusi •'fRartdow- ^ \ \ V K Weslprignitz Ostpngnit v s .... ( i ^ Angermunde / Wittvnberge ; f \ f Niedcr ) ■.. .•• •'-^ V . O ste rb o rg b a rn im I 'ibrnv^mdc * v ^ Saijwedel \ B r n Ü P n - X . V. \ \ /\\ V /'"^Slendai .. __ A \ % a c A \ G V.