Socialist Reformers and the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic DOI: 10.1057/9781137574169.0001 Other Palgrave Pivot titles Gwendolyn Audrey Foster: Disruptive Feminisms: Raced, Gendered, and Classed Bodies in Film Catherine A. Lugg: US Public Schools and the Politics of Queer Erasure Olli Pyyhtinen: Manifesto for a New Sociological Imagination: How Relations Matter Jane Hemsley-Brown and Izhar Oplatka: Higher Education Consumer Choice Arthur Asa Berger: Gizmos or: The Electronic Imperative: How Digital Devices have Transformed American Character and Culture Antoine Vauchez: Democratizing Europe Cassie Smith-Christmas: Family Language Policy: Maintaining an Endangered Language in the Home Liam Magee: Interwoven Cities Alan Bainbridge: On Becoming an Education Professional: A Psychosocial Exploration of Developing an Education Professional Practice Bruce Moghtader: Foucault and Educational Ethics John K. Roth and Carol Rittner: Teaching About Rape in War and Genocide Robert H. 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No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saff ron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. Th e author has asserted his right to be identifi ed as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fift h Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978-1-137-57416-9 PDF ISBN: 978-1-349-84737-2 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Orlow, Dietrich. Title: Socialist reformers and the collapse of the German Democratic Republic / Dietrich Orlow (Boston University, USA). Description: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave Pivot, 2015. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2015037976 | ISBN 9781137574152 (hardback) | ISBN 9781137574176 (ePub) | ISBN 9781137574169 (PDF) Subjects: LCSH: Germany (East) – Politics and government – 1989–1990. | Germany (East) – Economic policy. | Germany (East) – Social policy. | Social reformers – Germany (East) – History. | Socialism – Germany (East) – History. | Socialism – Germany (East) – Philosophy. | Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands – History. | Human rights – Germany (East) – Societies, etc. – History. | BISAC: HISTORY / Europe / Germany. | HISTORY / Revolutionary. | HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century. Classifi cation: LCC DD289 .O75 2015 | DDC 943/.10877—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015037976 www.palgrave.com/pivot DOI: 10.1057/9781137574169 Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 The SED Reformers 8 3 The HRO Reformers 16 4 The Illusions of the Hardliners 25 5 The First Group of SED Reformers Takes Charge 32 6 A New Group of SED Reformers Tries Its Luck 51 7 The Round Table: The HRO Reformers’ Fifteen Minutes of Fame 64 8 Conclusion 74 Index 81 DOI: 10.1057/9781137574169.0001 v 1 Introduction Abstract: This chapter places the analysis that is to follow into the political and historiographic context of the late 1980s. The – failed – efforts by the East German reformers are part of a larger picture that included the efforts by Mikhail Gorbachev to change the Communist regime in the Soviet Union and to put the relations between the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe on a new footing, as well as the – successful – efforts by indigenous groups in Poland and Hungary to democratize and humanize their Communist- dominated societies. Orlow, Dietrich. Socialist Reformers and the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. doi: 10.1057/9781137574169.0002. DOI: 10.1057/9781137574169.0002 Socialist Reformers and the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic The course of European history was changed dramatically by a series of events that took place in just two years, 1989 and 1990. In the course of a few tumultuous months the Soviet empire collapsed, [1] Germany was reunified, and Western political and economic ideas and institutions triumphed in the countries east of what was now a torn Iron Curtain. Suddenly, the Cold War seemed over, and talk of a “common European house” was ubiquitous. Although with the benefit of hindsight the beginning of what was to come can be dated to the election of Mikhail Gorbachev as secretary general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, virtually no contem- porary political or academic analyst predicted the rapidity or profundity of the changes that came in 1989/90. Not surprisingly, after the dust had cleared participants and analysts alike hastened to explain why the changes had happened, and, in the case of the political leaders, to highlight their own role in bringing about the momentous events. By now these analyses fill a medium-sized library with a plethora of more or less acute accounts, triumphant memoirs, and apologetic reminiscences. [2] Nowhere was the collapse of Communism and the triumph of the West more evident than in Germany. What had been for forty years a divided country with two antagonistic societies facing each other across a fortified if somewhat porous border, within a year between October 1989 and 1990 became a united, Westernized country as East Germany was essentially absorbed by West Germany. The West German constitution, the Basic Law, was now the law of the land for all of Germany, and the West German “social market economy” replaced the centrally planned and controlled economic system in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Somewhat overlooked in the euphoria over the introduction of West Germany’s political and economic system in the GDR (which most East Germans enthusiastically welcomed [3]) are the political activists who wanted neither German reunification nor the wholesale transfer of West German capitalism to East Germany. Instead, these self-proclaimed reformers, who were active both within the ruling Communist Party and outside it, wanted to retain an independent, sovereign East Germany with a “better, more beautiful” form of socialism. What follows is an analysis of these socialist reformers and the reasons for the ultimate failure of their vision. There were many causes for the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and East European countries. Independent labor unions, DOI: 10.1057/9781137574169.0002 Introduction like Solidarity in Poland, and human rights organizations (HRO) (Bürgerrechtsbewegungen, in East Germany) certainly played a role. So did self-styled reformist leaders within the Communist parties, although the fall of socialism was certainly not their intent. This was true for the Soviet Union itself, where Mikhail Gorbachev, who was elected secretary general of the Communist Party in 1985, led the reformist elements in the party. Hungary and Poland also embarked on reforms with the coop- eration of the leadership of the ruling Communist parties. In contrast, in East Germany (and in Czechoslovakia and Romania) the Communist Party leaders resisted all attempts at reform until it was too late to save the regime. True, in October 1989 Egon Krenz, one of the self-styled reformers in the East German Communist Party (called the Sozialistische Einheitspartei, Socialist Unity Party, SED) replaced the hardliner Erich Honecker as the secretary general, but Krenz’ proclamation that under his leadership the East German Communists would undertake a “turn- around” (Wende) was not taken seriously by anyone, and after fifty days Krenz disappeared from the political scene. As we shall see, in contrast to what was happening in Poland and