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Eli Rubin on Dictatorship and Demand: the Politics Of Mark Landsman. Dictatorship and Demand: The Politics of Consumerism in East Germany. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005. 310 pp. $45.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-674-01698-9. Reviewed by Eli Rubin Published on H-German (October, 2005) Mark Landsman's book stands at the crest of on this subject; the second task he accomplishes a coming tide of books in English concerning East as well, though I have a few questions concerning Germany, consumption, and questions of how to his argument in its broadest scope. explain the intertwined fates of politics, econom‐ The basic premise of the book is that of an on‐ ics and everyday culture on the other side of the going tension within the East German govern‐ Berlin Wall. If Landsmann's book is any indication ment concerning how importantly the Party lead‐ of where this feld is heading, scholars of East ership, and therefore the state as its sometimes Germany and modern Germany in general should unruly instrument, should take the needs, wishes, be in for some very good summer reading in the and demands of consumers in the GDR. The SED, next couple of years. Landsman's book is, like led by Ulbricht, followed a consistently Stalinist, many dissertations-turned-monographs, inspired productivist bent, believing that self-denial and by some of the pioneering work done on the ques‐ sacrifice were necessary for all East Germans in tion of consumption in the GDR--an important order to build the conditions necessary for social‐ question despite, and because, it is counter-intu‐ ism, a socialism in which presumably there would itive--in the last decade by German scholars such be no more shortages or complaining or bad ser‐ as Ina Merkel, Annette Kaminsky, Andre Steiner, vice in restaurants, all hallmarks of consumer life Patrice Poutros and Phillip Heldmann. It serves a in East Germany. However, after the June 17, 1953 dual purpose: to convey to American and English- uprising, it became clear that an even more fun‐ reading audiences the fascinating debate that damental prerequisite for building socialism in originated in Germany concerning the relevance East Germany was that the Socialist Unity Party and role of consumers and consumer policies un‐ actually stay in power. And to accomplish this, the der a productivist-oriented socialist regime, but Party would have to appease the population's ap‐ also to add a new argument to that debate. Lands‐ petite for at least basic consumer goods like nice man's book accomplishes the frst task with clothes and decent food. Thus, Landsman portrays aplomb--setting the bar very high for future work H-Net Reviews the SED as caught in a serious dilemma as it well, but the differences were already shaping up, worked towards building socialism: if they as American players like General Lucius Clay pushed too hard, they would lose power, but if were convinced that food had to come before in‐ they bent too far backwards to appease the every dustry, whereas the Soviets and their KPD pup‐ wish and need of consumers, they would never pets were convinced of exactly the opposite, as get around to the main goal of building socialism. Landsmann helpfully points out. It was only after Landsman's argument then is that the one several groups, such as officials within the state side of the tension was caused by a group of offi‐ labor union, the FDGB, complained to the DWK cials and organizations within the government, that workers simply could not work while suffer‐ and to some extent the Party, pulling the behe‐ ing from hunger, that the SMAG issued the notori‐ moth SED and GDR government apparatus to‐ ous order 234, which was the frst of many failed wards the needs of consumers. Landsman calls attempts to square this circle by doling out more this the "consumer supply lobby" and this is im‐ calories--but only for those engaged in the kinds portant because in past literature on this subject a of productivist work favored by the Soviets and kind of false dichotomy has been set up pitting the the SED (heavy industry). "people" against "the state," replete with divided Chapter 2, entitled "The Contest Begins: The camps of "top-down" and "bottom-up" GDR histo‐ Currency Reform, the Berlin Blockade and the In‐ rians (Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk against Andreas troduction of the HO," introduces the importance Ludwig, for example). Landsman is attempting of external pressures on the SED, as well as pres‐ here to show frst that the situation was more sures from within the Party. The 1948 currency complex, and second, that there is a large middle reform has a bit of an over-glossed patina, as between the top and the bottom in which the real Landsman points out, and it was not exactly as tensions played out, in which the fate of the GDR-- though all store shelves flled magically overnight which hinged to a large extent on the GDR's abili‐ with a cornucopia of modern consumer goods. ty or inability to overcome the consumption/pro‐ Nonetheless, the East German leadership prompt‐ duction dilemma--was to a large extent deter‐ ly buried their heads in the sand of the collected mined. writings of Marx and Lenin, predicting with confi‐ The structure of Landsman's book proceeds dence that the whole thing was a sham and would from this thesis by focusing on moments of crisis end in massive unemployment for the western in the frst sixteen years of the Soviet Sector/GDR, zone--whereas the Soviets promptly told them to each one precipitated by or involved with the con‐ start upping the supplies for consumers and en‐ tradictions between productivism and con‐ larging Order 234 for more workers. This was not sumerism. The frst chapter, "Production and Con‐ the only point in time at which the Soviets would sumption: Establishing Priorities," focuses on the put pressure on the SED to start paying attention very early days of the Soviet occupation, and does to the needs of consumers. Various SMAG officials a wonderful job of laying out very clearly the pro‐ complained about the total lack of courtesy and ductivist approach of the pre-GDR state appara‐ Kaufkultur in East German stores. Considering tus, the Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission (DWK), that for a long time Russians generally thought of essentially a puppet of the SMAG high command. Germany as a quasi-paradise of the good life, and The crisis of these frst few years was simply life that the USSR's master plan was to ship its raw itself, as he puts it: "Deprivation, demoralization, materials to East Germany and get top-quality and despair continued to shape the life of the So‐ manufactured goods in return for its own citizens, viet zone." It did so for many in the allied zone as the fact that Russians had to tell Germans to pull their act together on the consumer front ought to 2 H-Net Reviews tell us how bad the situation in East Germany for government, the needs they uncovered never re‐ consumers really was. (And Landsman cites nu‐ ally were met anyway. merous other examples of Soviets chastising East In his conclusion, Landsman hints at a broad‐ German officials for not having nice stores, not er and more fundamental argument not really having enough jewelry, and so on--all small vi‐ voiced clearly in his introduction: that in a gnettes that Landsman delivers beautifully.) Once planned economy, the consumer "lobby" could again, East German authorities bowed to the pres‐ never have won. The deck was stacked against it-- sure but the solution they delivered was half- there was no way that a socialist government hearted at best. The HO stores they created to dry could ever have truly put consumption as its pri‐ up the black market were a nice try, but the prices ority. At the end of the day, socialism was always of the goods in them were kept exorbitantly high about maintaining power through control of the (ostensibly to absorb excess purchasing power), means of production, not the means of consump‐ and even though they came down later, the HO tion, and so industry would always have the up‐ never fully became an organization that was sole‐ per hand in the titanic clashes Landsman docu‐ ly about the consumer. The customer was never ments between the consumer lobby and industry. king. Industry did not want to play ball with trade; so It should be clear that the dichotomies be‐ industry did not have to, and whole towns and tween the forces pushing for better treatment of districts repeatedly did not get the things they consumers on the one hand and the forces con‐ needed and wanted, making life in the planned cerned with "building socialism" on the other re‐ society a profoundly unplanned and unpre‐ peat themselves in the series of crises that Lands‐ dictable experience. man considers: the provisioning crisis of the This book is eminently researched, crisply forced collectivization in 1951 and 1952; the June written, with a narrative that fows and is quite 17 uprising; the turmoil in 1956 involving Poland easy to read. Moreover, Landsman does such an and Hungary and the ascent of Khrushchev; and excellent job of explaining the highly confusing the renewed provisioning crisis following the sec‐ structure of the East German Party-State struc‐ ond attempt at forced collectivization in 1960, ture, that for this reason alone this book ought to leading to the Berlin Crisis and the building of the be a fxture on the shelves of any researcher on Wall in 1961.
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