Rassegna Bibliografica Storia D'italia E 'Origini' Del Fascismo

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Rassegna Bibliografica Storia D'italia E 'Origini' Del Fascismo Rassegna bibliografica Storia d’Italia e ‘origini’ del fascismo di Massimo Legnani Chiunque voglia ricostruire il percorso della corre anzitutto soffermarsi, e per compren­ storiografia italiana del fascismo nell’ultimo dere il senso di questa eventuale ‘anomalia’ quarantennio, può difficilmente prescindere e, più in generale, per valutare quanto l’ope­ da una constatazione preliminare tanto evi­ ra contribuisca a riavviare la discussione su dente da proporsi quasi come un luogo co­ un tema, quello appunto delle ‘origini’ del mune. Mi riferisco al susseguirsi di due di­ fascismo, tanto essenziale quanto ultima­ stinti cicli di studi, ben scanditi anche crono­ mente poco frequentato. logicamente: il primo tutto rivolto a delinea­ Poiché il lavoro di Vivarelli ha alle spalle re l’insorgenza del fenomeno fascista e le una genesi scientifica lunga e non priva di tappe della rapida conquista del potere; il complessità, ad essa è necessario preliminar­ secondo concentrato sulla realtà del regime, mente rivolgersi (e alle vicende editoriali che e più specificamente sulla ‘maturità’ fascista la testimoniano). Lo stesso Vivarelli ne dà degli anni trenta. Una ulteriore considera­ ampio conto nella prefazione alla ristampa zione — altrettanto scontata — è che tale del primo volume, edito nel 1967 {Il dopo­ successione di fasi, pur alimentandosi agli guerra in Italia e l’avvento del fascismo sviluppi interni al campo di ricerca, riusci­ (1918-1922). I. Dalla fine della guerra al­ rebbe scarsamente comprensibile se non fos­ l’impresa di Fiume, Napoli, Istituto italiano se letta alla luce di riferimenti più generali, per gli studi storici), nonché in quella al se­ che si situano all’incrocio tra storia e politi­ condo, che costituisce la parte nuova dell’o­ ca, tali per cui al quesito centrale degli anni pera e che, pur ponendosi in linea di conti­ cinquanta e sessanta (quale la correlazione nuità con il disegno iniziale, rappresenta in tra crisi del regime liberale e irruzione del realtà qualcosa di più e di diverso dal sem­ movimento fascista) è subentrato, nel ven­ plice svolgimento di quel progetto. Il quarto tennio seguente, un diverso interrogativo di secolo che separa i due volumi viene del (quale e quanta parte della storia d’Italia resto motivato dall’autore con la necessità di precedente e, soprattutto, successiva si lega riavviare la riflessione muovendo da una ba­ all’esperienza fascista). Questo richiamo, se più larga, che ponga in diretta correlazio­ inevitabilmente sommario, sembra conferire ne dopoguerra ed età giolittiana. Di qui le alla pubblicazione di Roberto Vivarelli, Sto­ molte pagine dedicate al confronto delle ri­ ria delle origini del fascismo. L ’Italia dalla cerche e delle interpretazioni laddove gli esiti grande guerra alla marcia su Roma (vol. I, storiografici appaiono sufficientemente ma­ pp. 652, lire 60.000 e vol. II, pp. 954, lire turi (com’è nel caso dell’opera di governo di 70.000, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1991) un carat­ Giolitti) ed il ricorso, invece, ad indagini di­ tere per così dire controcorrente, su cui oc­ rette quando il retroterra del quadro post- Italia contemporanea”, dicembre 1991, n. 185 706 Rassegna bibliografica bellico risulti appena abbozzato o addirittu­ condo Vivarelli una larga autosufficienza ra da ‘scoprire’ (donde, ad esempio, un pro­ della correlazione tra ragioni della guerra e filo della questione contadina che, sia pure a definizione del nuovo assetto europeo (valga grandi linee, prende le mosse dall’indomani in proposito l’aggiornamento storiografico dell’unità). La dimostrazione che, in en­ sui trattati di pace contenuto nella introdu­ trambi i casi esemplificati, si tratta non di zione alla ristampa del primo volume), il semplici integrazioni, ma di una sorta di ‘ri­ 1920, portando al centro della scena i carat­ cominciamento’, viene da alcuni degli studi teri più propriamente nazionali della crisi, che Vivarelli ha pubblicato nell’intervallo esigerebbe non solo di essere analizzato in tra i due volumi e che, direttamente o indi­ organica connessione con le vicende politi­ rettamente, sviluppano la problematica da che del primo quindicennio del secolo, ma cui discende anche la forte oscillazione del — come si è accennato per la questione con­ titolo dall’iniziale nesso dopoguerra/fasci- tadina — misurato sull’intero arco della sto­ smo all’attuale accento sulle origini del fa­ ria postunitaria. È superfluo, credo, soffer­ scismo. Di questi contributi vanno richiama­ marsi sui rischi di schematizzazione che tale ti quantomeno quelli compresi nella raccolta distinzione comporta (e del resto il 1919 non Il fallimento del liberalismo. Studi sulle ori­ solo finisce a Fiume, ma la stessa spedizione gini del fascismo (Bologna, Il Mulino, 1981) dannunziana assume rilievo soprattutto per i non solo perché il sottotitolo anticipa il rio­ riverberi interni) e sugli elementi di compe­ rientamento del lavoro, ma in quanto, so­ netrazione tra i due versanti che duttilmente prattutto nel lungo saggio Liberismo, prote­ l’autore inserisce (a cominciare dalla campa­ zionismo, fascismo. Per la storia e il signifi­ gna elettorale del novembre 1919, largamen­ cato di un trascurato giudizio di Luigi Ei­ te modulata sul tema del “processo alla naudi sulle origini del fascismo, si evidenzia­ guerra”). Se nonostante ciò Vivarelli tiene no alcuni dei presupposti concettuali che ben ferma la differenziazione tra i due ambi­ presiedono alla ridefinizione dell’orizzonte ti è per la convinzione che, nella genesi della interpretativo. E che si riassumono nella crisi del regime liberale, la guerra agisca da contrapposizione liberismo/protezionismo, fattore aggiuntivo e che anzi, intesa in pro­ intesa come alternativa che, ben oltre le scel­ spettiva, la partecipazione al conflitto, per i te della politica economica, segna in profon­ valori positivi che fa emergere (e che sono dità l’evoluzione complessiva del rapporto sostanzialmente ricondotti alle ragioni del­ tra società politica e società civile. Il riferi­ l’interventismo democratico), dischiuda po­ mento (che riprenderò più avanti, alla luce tenzialità nuove di approdo delle istituzioni dei contenuti del secondo volume) riveste un liberali alla sponda democratica. preciso significato in almeno due direzioni: Riprenderò questa traccia in sede di con­ di sottolineare la distanza tra l’uso che Viva­ clusioni. Per ora vale soprattutto rimarcare relli fa della definizione ‘origini’ del fasci­ che il problema fascismo si presenta dunque smo e l’accezione corrente in cui il termine come “il frutto e non la causa della crisi del­ viene impiegato nelle monografie degli anni lo stato liberale” (vol. II, p. 7); il che spiega, sessanta (dove coincideva con il prendere per l’appunto, la struttura (e la mole) del se­ piede del nuovo movimento nelle diverse condo volume, il fatto che esso si proponga, realtà locali); di rimarcare la netta differen­ assumendo come filo conduttore la narra­ ziazione dell’approccio al 1920 rispetto al zione degli avvenimenti intercorsi tra le ele­ 1919. Mentre il primo anno del dopoguerra, zioni del 1919 e l’occupazione delle fabbri­ in quanto fondamentalmente caratterizzato che, “di riportare l’attenzione del lettore sul­ dai temi della politica estera, presuppone se­ l’intero arco di tempo della storia dell’Italia Rassegna bibliografica 707 unita, per dar conto di come si siano effetti­ pice e si rivela insanabile — sono individua­ vamente formate e di quanta storia avessero te da Vivarelli in una sorta di relazione alle spalle le questioni che tra il 1919 e il triangolare nell’ambito della quale l’esplo­ 1920 vennero drammaticamente alla ribalta” sione della protesta contadina (rivelazione (vol. II, p. 8). Di queste ‘questioni’ Vivarelli del fattore di più aspro squilibrio nell’asset­ ne ricostruisce analiticamente soprattutto to della società italiana) pone compiutamen­ due, ritenendo particolarmente grave la te in luce le miopie e le impotenze del ceto li­ sproporzione esistente tra il loro obiettivo ri­ berale di governo da un lato, le false certez­ lievo e l’insufficienza delle trattazioni sto­ ze — accompagnate da non minore immobi­ riografiche di cui sono state sinora fatte og­ lismo — del rivoluzionarismo socialista dal­ getto: quella socialista e quella contadina l’altro. Merito davvero cospicuo di Vivarelli (rispettivamente i capp. II e IV), peraltro ac­ è quello di ragionare sullo spessore storico compagnate da una attenzione larga all’evo­ di queste due ‘insufficienze’, evitando di re­ luzione del quadro politico e istituzionale stare impigliato — e subalterno — alla cro­ complessivo e dell’opera in esso svolta dal naca politica deH’immediato dopoguerra e ceto liberale di governo. Dico subito che il misurando invece la statura dei protagonisti risultato complessivo appare di grande valo­ (organizzazioni e singole personalità) su una re, nel senso che la padronanza della mate­ problematica che pone ai margini ogni spie­ ria (attestata fra l’altro da un esteso quanto gazione angustamente collegata al contesto puntuale apparato di note) consente di rea­ postbellico, alle sue ‘nevrosi’ e ‘confusioni’. lizzare un felice equilibrio tra l’utilizzo della Questa ampiezza di visuale è ben presente letteratura e gli approfondimenti derivanti nell’esame dei comportamenti del campo li­ da ricerche dirette. Queste ultime si esercita­ berale, nella denunciata incapacità di dar no prevalentemente sulle fonti politiche, sol­ corso a quella democratizzazione del sistema lecitate sempre con l’intento di far emergere, politico simbolicamente
Recommended publications
  • 1 Karl Wilhelm Fricke: Widerstand Und Opposition Von 1945 Bis Ende Der Fünfziger Jahre Quelle: Deutscher Bundestag (Hrsg.): Ma
    Karl Wilhelm Fricke: Widerstand und Opposition von 1945 bis Ende der fünfziger Jahre Quelle: Deutscher Bundestag (Hrsg.): Materialien der Enquete-Kommission. „Aufarbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED-Diktatur in Deutschland“ (12. Wahlperiode des Deutschen Bundestages), Bd. VII, Teil 1, S. 15-26. Auf eigene Definitionsversuche von Opposion und Dissidenz, Resistenz und Widerstand möchte ich hier verzichten. Sie blieben nach meiner Auffassung ohnehin fragwürdig, weil sich Geschichte, auch die Geschichte von Opposition und Widerstand in der DDR, als dialektischer Prozeß vollzieht und daher letztlich kaum definieren oder gar in das Prokrustesbett einer Theorie zwingen läßt. Der Berliner Historiker Peter Steinbach hat im Blick auf den Widerstand unter dem Hakenkreuz-Regime einmal geschrieben, daß „nicht primär eine historisch gesättigte Theorie des Widerstands anzustreben“ sei, „sondern eine möglichst farbige, inhaltlich und historisch differenzierte Gesamtgeschichte des Widerstands.“ Eine solche Gesamtgeschichte wäre ein wichtiger Beitrag der Historiker zu einer Theoriebildung oder, zumindest, zu einer Begriffsbestimmung von Opposition und Widerstand auch unter dem Regime der SED. Welche historischen Sachverhalte und Verhaltensweisen aus der Nachkriegszeit in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone und aus den fünfziger Jahren in der DDR in eine solche Gesamtgeschichte einzubeziehen wären – eben dies will ich in der nächsten halben Stunde kurz aufzuzeigen versuchen als Einleitung zu einer hoffentlich lebhaften Diskussion mit den Zeitzeugen. Der
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin 10-Final Cover
    COLD WAR INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT BULLETIN 10 61 “This Is Not A Politburo, But A Madhouse”1 The Post-Stalin Succession Struggle, Soviet Deutschlandpolitik and the SED: New Evidence from Russian, German, and Hungarian Archives Introduced and annotated by Christian F. Ostermann I. ince the opening of the former Communist bloc East German relations as Ulbricht seemed to have used the archives it has become evident that the crisis in East uprising to turn weakness into strength. On the height of S Germany in the spring and summer of 1953 was one the crisis in East Berlin, for reasons that are not yet of the key moments in the history of the Cold War. The entirely clear, the Soviet leadership committed itself to the East German Communist regime was much closer to the political survival of Ulbricht and his East German state. brink of collapse, the popular revolt much more wide- Unlike his fellow Stalinist leader, Hungary’s Matyas spread and prolonged, the resentment of SED leader Rakosi, who was quickly demoted when he embraced the Walter Ulbricht by the East German population much more New Course less enthusiastically than expected, Ulbricht, intense than many in the West had come to believe.2 The equally unenthusiastic and stubborn — and with one foot uprising also had profound, long-term effects on the over the brink —somehow managed to regain support in internal and international development of the GDR. By Moscow. The commitment to his survival would in due renouncing the industrial norm increase that had sparked course become costly for the Soviets who were faced with the demonstrations and riots, regime and labor had found Ulbricht’s ever increasing, ever more aggressive demands an uneasy, implicit compromise that production could rise for economic and political support.
    [Show full text]
  • Berlin Wall : a World Divided, 1961-1989
    THE BERLIN WALL A WORLD DIVIDED, 1961-1989 Frederick Taylor Contents FOREWORD v SAND 1 1 MARSH TOWN 3 2 REDS 18 3 `IT MUST LOOK DEMOCRATIC, BUT WE MUST HAVE EVERYTHING IN OUR HANDS' 30 4 BLOCKADE 50 BLOOD 63 5 `DISSOLVE THE PEOPLE AND ELECT ANOTHER' 65 6 THE CROWN PRINCES 91 7 WAG THE DOG 112 8 OPERATION `ROSE' 131 WIRE 165 9 BARBED-WIRE SUNDAY 167 10 PRISONERS 186 11 `THAT BASTARD FROM BERLIN' 202 CEMENT 235 12 WALL GAMES 237 PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERT 13 HIGH NOON IN THE FRIEDRICHSTRASSE 269 14 BREAK-OUTS 290 15 `ICH BIN EIN BERLINER' 334 MONEY 353 16 THE SURREAL CAGE 355 17 ENDGAME 380 18 THE WALL CAME TUMBLING DOWN 404 AFTERWORD 429 NOTES 450 BIBLIOGAPHY 482 INDEX 490 ABOUT THE AUTHOR PRAISE COVER COPYRIGHT ABOUT THE PUBLISHER FOREWORD THE BARBED-WIRE BEGINNINGS of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 divided, overnight and with savage finality, families, friends, and neighborhoods in what had until 1945 been the thriving, populous capital of Germany. Streets, subway lines, rail links, even apartment houses, sewers, and phone lines, were cut and blocked. The Wall represented a uniquely squalid, violentÐand, as we now know, ultimately futileÐepisode in the post-war world. The subsequent international crisis over Berlin, which was especially intense during the summer and autumn of '61, threatened the world with the risk of a military conflictÐone that seemed as if it could escalate at any time to a terrifying nuclear confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. How did it come to this? In 1945, the victors of World War IIÐthe USA, the Soviet Union, Britain, and by special dispensation the FrenchÐhad divided Germany into four Zones of Occupation and its capital, Berlin, into four Sectors.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix: Short Biographies
    Appendix: Short Biographies ACKERMANN, Anton (ne Eugen Hanisch) Born 25 December 1905 in Thalheim, Erzgebirge. Member KPD 1926. Graduated from Lenin School, Moscow, 1928. Worked in German section ofComintern 1932. Member of CC, member of Politburo, KPD 1935. Fought in Spanish Civil War 1936-7, afterwards in USSR. Co-founder of NKFD 1943. In Saxony as member of Matern Group 1945. Member of Secretariat of CC, KPD 1945. Member of Saxon Landtag 1946. Author of special German road to socialism 1946-8. Member of Central Secretariat of SED 1946. State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs October 1949- 0ctober 1953. Member ofCC October 1950-January 1954. Candidate member of Politburo October 1950-July 1953. Member ofVK 1950-4. Supporter of Zaisser-Herrnstadt 'faction'. Expelled from CC 23 Janu­ ary 1954. Rehabilitated 29 July 1956. Head of Film Section, Ministry of Culture 1954-8. Member, Head of Culture, Education and Health Section, State Planning Commission 1958-. Died 4 May 1973. APEL, Erich. Born 3 October 1917 in Judenbach, Thuringia. Mechanical engineer l939,then soldier. Engineer in USSR 1946-52 Member of SED 1952. GDR Deputy Minister of Mechanical Engineering 1953-5. Minister 1955-8. Head, economic commission of Politburo February 1958. Candidate 1958-60. Member of CC 1960-5. Member of VK 1958-65. Candidate member of Politburo 1961-5. Secretary ofCC July 1961-June 1962. Named Minister July 1962. Chairman of State Planning Commission and Deputy Chairman of Council of Ministers January 1963-65. Committed suicide 3 December 1965. AXEN, Hermann. Born 6 March 1916 in Leipzig. Member of KJV 1932.
    [Show full text]
  • Stalinism Revisited Stalinism Revisited
    CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Stalinism Revisited Stalinism Revisited Stalinism Revisited brings together representatives of multiple generations to create a rich examination The Establishment of Communist Regimes in East-Central Europe of the study and practice of Stalinism. While the articles are uniformly excellent, the book’s signal contribution is to bring recent research from Eastern European scholars to an English-speaking audience. Thus the volume is not just a “state of the discipline” collection, in which articles are collected to reflect that current situation of scholarship in a given field; instead, this one includes cutting edge scholarship that will prompt more of the same from other scholars in other fields/subfields. I would recommend this book highly to anyone interested in understanding the technology of Stalinism in both StalinismStalinism thought and practice. Nick Miller Boise State University The Sovietization of post-1945 East-Central Europe—marked by the forceful imposition of the Soviet- type society in the region—was a process of massive socio-political and cultural transformation. Despite its paramount importance for understanding the nature of the communist regime and its RevisitedRevisited legacy, the communist take-over in East Central European countries has remained largely under- researched. Two decades after the collapse of the communist system,Stalinism Revisited brings together a remarkable international team of established and younger scholars, engaging them in a critical re-evaluation of the institutionalization of communist regimes in East-Central Europe and of the period of “high Stalinism.” Sovietization is approached not as a fully pre-determined, homogeneous, and monolithic transformation, but as a set of trans-national, multifaceted, and inter-related processes of large-scale institutional and ideological transfers, made up of multiple “takeovers” in various fields.
    [Show full text]
  • Karl Schirdewan: Aufstand Gegen Ulbricht
    GDR Bulletin Volume 22 Issue 1 Spring Article 16 1995 Karl Schirdewan: Aufstand gegen Ulbricht Morris Vos Western Illinois University Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/gdr This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Vos, Morris (1995) "Karl Schirdewan: Aufstand gegen Ulbricht," GDR Bulletin: Vol. 22: Iss. 1. https://doi.org/10.4148/gdrb.v22i1.1170 This Review is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in GDR Bulletin by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k- state.edu. Vos: Karl Schirdewan: Aufstand gegen Ulbricht BOOK REVIEWS 37 admits that the work is Berlin- and church-heavy in its organization and also in leadership positions within focus. In the fine tradition of participant-observation, the German Communist Party itself, Schirdewan was Riiddenklau captures the day-to-day problems and arrested by Gestapo agents in 1934. From that year interactions typical of various groups as they were until liberation by American tank troops during his perceived and played out at the time, not as they are death march in April 1945, Schirdewan was being rewritten with the help from the revelations and subjected to confinement and torture in prisons and reverberations that have ensued since unification. concentration camps. He became a member and a An extremely useful reference text for anyone secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist attempting to de- and re-construct the ebbs and flows of Unity Party and in 1953 a member of the Politbüro— her favorite movement, Störenfried nonetheless only in 1958 to be relieved of all duties in the Party.
    [Show full text]
  • Austin Mathews Edited Thesis Final 2
    STALINISM AND SURVIVAL: THE POLITICAL MOTIVES OF WALTER ULBRICHT by Austin S. Matthews, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts with a Major in Political Science December 2013 Committee Members: Theodore Hindson, Chair Robert Gorman William DeSoto COPYRIGHT by Austin S. Matthews 2013 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Austin S. Matthews, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the memory of my uncle, Michael McClean. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my family: I am indebted to your generosity. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Your encouragement in pursuing education has brought to me a fulfillment in life that I could’ve never imagined. You have provided me with treasures that are beyond words. My sincerest love to you; may this work be a testament to your parenting. To Dr. Theodore Hindson: I will forever remember the course I took with you regarding the political history of Stalinism. That class had two significant impacts on my life. The first was that the subject matter inspired my current academic pursuits.
    [Show full text]
  • Der Ausbau Des Überwachungsstaates. Der Konflikt
    Dokumentation ROGER ENGELMANN UND SILKE SCHUMANN DER AUSBAU DES ÜBERWACHUNGSSTAATES Der Konflikt Ulbricht-Wollweber und die Neuausrichtung des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der DDR 1957 Die Auseinandersetzungen des Jahres 1957 zwischen Ulbricht und dem Minister für Staatssicherheit Ernst Wollweber haben in mehrfacher Hinsicht Schlüsselbedeutung für die Geschichte der SED-Herrschaft. Sie sind Ausdruck des Übergangs von der kurzen „Tauwetterperiode", die Anfang 1956 nach dem XX. Parteitag der KPdSU und der 3. Parteikonferenz der SED eingesetzt hatte1, zu einer neuerlichen Verhärtung der Herr­ schaftsstrukturen. Sie gehen außerdem einher mit der umfassenden Übernahme der Anlei­ tungsfunktion der SED gegenüber dem MfS, die in der Vergangenheit zu einem wesentli­ chen Teil von den sowjetischen Beratern wahrgenommen worden war, und mit einer grundlegenden Neubestimmung und Neuordnung der Arbeit des Staatssicherheitsdien­ stes. Schließlich zeigen sich in den Auseinandersetzungen Bedingungen und Rituale eines der entscheidenden Machtkämpfe innerhalb der Führungselite des SED-Regimes. Jüngere Veröffentlichungen haben schon Einblicke in dieses Geschehen eröffnet, besonders ein 1990 publiziertes autobiographisches Fragment von Wollweber aus dem Jahre 19642. Die­ ses zeichnet in erster Linie ein Persönlichkeitsbild Ulbrichts und hebt den Aspekt der Machtauseinandersetzung zwischen den beiden Kontrahenten hervor. Die nunmehr in den Archivbeständen der SED und des MfS aufgefundenen Quellen unterstreichen den Wert dieses Dokuments, beleuchten aber ungleich stärker die politisch-strukturelle Di­ mension der Vorgänge im Kontext der SED-Herrschaftsgeschichte. Im Januar 1957 erließ Ernst Wollweber in Form von drei Befehlen eine Meldeordnung für sein Ministerium. Die am 4. Januar erlassenen Befehle 7/57 und 8/57 regelten das Meldewesen innerhalb des Staatssicherheitsdienstes und gegenüber dem Ministerium des Innern3. 10 Tage später erging der Befehl 11/57 (Dokument 1) über Meldungen des MfS an die Staats- und Parteiführung.
    [Show full text]
  • East Germany: the Stasi and De-Stasification
    East Germany: The Stasi and De-Stasification JOHN O. KOEHLER hortly after Mikhail Gorbachev was installed as secretary general of the Sovi- Set Union’s Communist Party in the spring of 1985, he began to pursue his liberalization policies of glasnost and perestroika. The impact was felt almost immediately within the ruling Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), the Communist Party of the East German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR). Gorbachev’s policies gave new hope for political, economic, and social renewal to those disenchanted with the gerontological Stalinist leadership of Erich Honecker and his sycophants.1 A new wind was blowing from the East, generated by the “great teacher”—the Soviet Union. In line with the USSR’s change of course, both Moscow’s German- language propaganda magazine, Sputnik, and its weekly newspaper, Neue Zeit, reprinted Gorbachev’s speeches and editorialized on the necessity for reforms of the socialist system. For East Germany’s leaders, however, they became hostile publications and were banned despite protests emanating from Moscow. Nonethe- less, they presaged a major change: For the first time since the founding of the DDR in 1949, the restlessness of Party members and much of the citizenry could not be blamed on the capitalist enemy of the proletariat. Until the mid-1980s, opposition to the regime was largely underground, although hundreds of thousands of burghers spent time in penitentiaries for pub- licly voicing their discontent. The repression began immediately after the end of World War II, carried out by Soviet security services and German Communist Party veterans (both those who had been in exile in the Soviet Union and those that had survived Nazi imprisonment).
    [Show full text]
  • in Der Elitären Ebene.« Ein Gespräch Mit Karl Schirdewan
    428 UTOPIE kreativ, H. 139 (Mai 2002), S. 428-438 JENS-F. DWARS »... in der elitären Ebene.« Ein Gespräch mit Karl Schirdewan Fünf Jahre nach der »Wende« erschienen im Aufbau-Taschenbuch- verlag die Memoiren von Karl Schirdewan: »Aufstand gegen Ulbricht. Im Kampf um politische Kurskorrektur, gegen stalinistische, dogma- tische Politik«. Da ich gerade auf der Suche nach Material für eine Biographie über Johannes R. Becher war und Schirdewan in seinem Buch auch eine Begegnung mit dem verzweifelten Kulturminister erwähnt hatte, bat ich ihn um ein Gespräch. Das Interview fand am 11. Juli 1994 im Wohnhaus der Familie statt. Keine Villa, nicht einmal eine Spur von vergangenem Luxus, wie man es nach Maßgabe heutiger Medien von Ulbrichts Kron- prinzen hätte erwarten können. Nein, zu enthüllen gab es nichts. 1957 war er in Ungnade gefallen, wenn auch nicht ins Bodenlose. Die Staatliche Archivverwaltung der DDR war fortan sein Ressort. Karl Schirdewan – 1907 Ein Bahnbrecher der Zukunft wurde zum Hüter der Vergangenheit in Stettin geboren. Wächst degradiert, vom Aussichtsturm der Führung in den Keller der Ge- als Findelkind bei Pflege- schichte verbannt. Das war zynisch von den Genossen und bitter für eltern und in einem katholi- ihn, aber doch leichter zu ertragen als das Los der anderen, die ihre schen Waisenhaus auf. 1914 adoptiert vom Ehe- Opposition mit Berufsverbot, Gefängnis oder Zuchthaus bezahlten paar Schirdewan in Breslau. wie Wolfgang Harich, Walter Janka, Erich Loest und Hunderte von Katholische Mittelschule, heute wieder Namenlosen. Lehre in Getreidehandlung, Das unscheinbare Anwesen in einer Potsdamer Einfamilienhaus- Laufbursche, Bürogehilfe. siedlung fiel nur auf, weil sein Putz sich noch mehr als bei den Nachbarn 1923 Eintritt in den Kommu- von der Wand zu lösen begann.
    [Show full text]
  • PAS Sept/Okt 2005
    Potsdams]andere[Seiten Die Linke Monatszeitung für die Landeshauptstadt Juni 2007 Nr. 6 · 3. Jahrgang Links informiert Potsdams neue Stadtteile Urabstimmung Mindestlohn jetzt! Mitreden in Potsdam – DIE LINKE. kommt – 3 1. Mai 2007 und weiter 6/7 auch für die Ortsteile? 10 dabeisein, mitmischen Wer soll das Auf ein Wort… bezahlen?! Täglich fahren Schüler aus den neuen Ortsteilen in die Potsdamer Innenstadt in ihre weiterbildenden Schulen. Ihre Eltern zahlen dafür mo- natlich 25,50€. In Potsdam- Mittelmark und in Havel- land werden die Eltern hier- bei finanziell entlastet. Potsdam ist aufgefordert, sich auch in dieser Sache als Auftrag an die kinderfreundliche Stadt zu LINKE zeigen. Die Entscheidung dazu muss im „Haus hinterm Von Kerstin Kaiser Bus“ fallen – endlich! (Siehe SEITE 7) Freuen wir uns! Was die PDS tief im Westen nie geschafft hat, jetzt – kurz vor dem Gründungsparteitag der Protest in Rostock und Heiligendamm neuen Linkspartei – ist es Polizeiaktion „unterstützte“ die Mobilisierung zum G8-Gipfel/CDU-Geißler Mitglied bei Attac da: eine LINKE Fraktion in ei- nem westdeutschen Lan- Am 9.Mai 2007 durchsuchten mehr als Polizeieinsätze haben jedoch vielen Men- friedliche Demonstrationen sind und die desparlament. Und das mit 800 Polizistinnen und Polizisten im schen, die bislang unentschlossen waren, ein klares NEIN sagen zur Gewaltanwen- einem stolzen Wahlergebnis, ganzen Bundesgebiet über 40 linke bei ihrer Entscheidung geholfen, aktiv zu dung.“ das Anlass zu Selbstbe- Hausprojekte,Wohnungen, Büros und In- werden und ihre Ablehnung gegen die Das Anti-G8-Bündnis Potsdam ruft alle wusstsein (nicht: Selbstzu- foläden. Auch in Brandenburg wurden Politik des selbst ernannten Weltregie- Menschen in der Landeshauptstadt auf, friedenheit) gibt.
    [Show full text]
  • Anglo/GDR Relations and the Role of Christian Idealism in Cold War Politics 1961-1965: a Case Study of the Coventry/Dresden Project
    Anglo/GDR Relations and the Role of Christian Idealism in Cold War Politics 1961-1965: A Case Study of the Coventry/Dresden Project Mefrilyg Frances Thomas University College London PhD 2002 ProQuest Number: U642705 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 U642705 Published by ProQuest LLC(2015). 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 This study is an examination of the interaction between Anglo/GDR relations and GDR Church/state relations during the first half of the 1960s. Using the Coventry/Dresden project of Christian reconciliation as a case study, it analyses the manner in which the governments of both countries exploited the concept of Christian/Marxist dialogue in order to create a climate of co-operation within the GDR which would, in the short term, ensure the stability of the regime. In particular, this study examines the activities of Christian organisations such as the British Council of Churches and Coventry Cathedral in Britain, Aktion Siihnezeichen (an organisation founded to atone for Nazi war crimes) in the GDR, and the Evangelische Akademie in West Berlin.
    [Show full text]