Rias Berlin and the June 17, 1953, Uprising in East Germany

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Radio Station ◽  
German Reunification ◽  
Political Actor ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Moment

This chapter examines the June 17, 1953 uprising in East Germany and the decisive role RIAS played in those turbulent events. RIAS's participation in the uprising is a testament to the complex interplay between the American radio station and the government of the German Democratic Republic. Throughout the revolt, RIAS was an influential political actor whose staff sought to shape the course of events in large part by trying to establish an explanatory narrative for the uprising. RIAS's commentators repeated a range of themes and ideas they hoped would explain the events, often as those events were unfolding. The ultimate expression of this approach was the declaration, in the moment, that the June 17 uprising was a popular cry for German reunification.

scholarly journals Przyrodnie siostry – sytuacja kobiet z byłej RFN i NRD 30 lat po zjednoczeniu Niemiec

2020 ◽  
pp. 155-179
Author(s):  
Joanna Trajman
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
German Reunification ◽  
The West

The goal of this article is to present the transition in the situation of women in the former West Germany and East Germany as a consequence of German reunification. Starting with an outline of the legal framework defining gender equality, as well as the actual circumstances of females in society as part of a family and on the labour market in both German countries, the situation of women in the united country is analysed within the context of their professional activity, remuneration and pension amounts and promotion prospects as well as the ability to combine their professional and family lives. I try to answer whether women in the former East Germany became underprivileged due to the German reunification process and whether the situation of the West German women changed as a result of certain equality incentives which could be considered the heritage of the German Democratic Republic.

Occupation, Reparations, and Rebellion: The Soviets and the East German Uprising of 1953

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-250
Author(s):  
Wayne Geerling ◽  
Gary B. Magee ◽  
Russell Smyth
Keyword(s):  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Internal Resistance ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
Local Production ◽  
Soviet Occupation ◽  
East German ◽  
Regional Factors ◽  
Local Companies

Abstract Analysis of the link between the Soviet occupation of East Germany and internal resistance within the German Democratic Republic reveals that ongoing payment of reparations by East Germans out of local production—via the Soviet’s ownership of prominent local companies—affected both the incidence and the intensity of unrest at the precinct level during the uprising of June 17, 1953. This result is robust when controlling for variation in the presence of Soviet military bases and deaths in Soviet nkvd Special Camps, as well as a host of regional factors potentially correlated with differences in unrest.

Transit to East Germany: The Distribution and Reception of Once Upon a Time in the West in the German Democratic Republic

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Stott
Keyword(s):  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Germany ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Business Professionals ◽  
The West ◽  
Nation States

This chapter examines the relocation, transition, and appropriation of the Spaghetti Western in a hitherto under-researched context: the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), prior to its unification with the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in 1990. It explores the selection, distribution and reception of Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West, Sergio Leone, 1968) in the German Democratic Republic as a case study of how international cultural transfer causes objects of cultural production to be repositioned as they enter a new reception context. It also examines the ideological, economic, and sociological concerns underpinning the decisions of those who facilitated the movement of film across the political, cultural, and linguistic boundaries of nation states. In East Germany, the facilitators involved in the selection, censorship, dubbing, and promotion of films were mainly government administrators rather than film business professionals, because film was a state-controlled industry. The chapter focuses on the ‘official’ reception of the film on the basis of available censorship protocols and government policy papers, as well as print media sources.

Deutschland einig Vaterland?

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-31
Author(s):  
Christian Schweiger
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The Self ◽  
German Reunification ◽  
German Federal Republic ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
German States

Thirty years on from the peaceful revolution in the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) Germany remains profoundly divided between the perspectives of Germans living in the eastern and the western parts of the country, which is becoming ever more obvious by the polarization of domestic politics. Hence, Germany today resembles a nation which is formally unified but deeply divided internally in cultural and political terms. This article examines the background to the growing cleavages between eastern and western regions, which have their roots in the mistakes that were made as part of the management of the domestic aspects of German reunification. From a historic-institutionalist perspective the merger of the pathways of the two German states has not taken place. Instead, unified Germany is characterized by the dominance of the institutional pathway of the former West German Federal Republic, which has substantially contributed to the self-perception of East Germans as dislocated, second-class citizens.

Building a Rival Fourth Estate: RIAS’s Campaign against East Germany

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Fourth Estate ◽  
Personal Investment ◽  
East German ◽  
Socialist Unity

This chapter considers the development of models for news broadcasting at both RIAS and the stations of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). By this time the station had aimed to establish itself as a rival fourth estate in East Germany in order to compete with the official news organs of the Socialist Unity Party. Yet in performing this task, the station's staff confronted a range of apparent contradictions; in attempting to resolve these, RIAS crafted a style of journalism that drew on principles it had forged during the Berlin Airlift: it eschewed neutrality in favor of engagement, but worked to insure the news it broadcast was accurate. It also built a professional staff of reporters who, for a variety of reasons, felt a strong personal investment in seeing the collapse of the East German Communist regime and the reunification of Germany.

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