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Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany took place in June and July 1953. A strike by Berlin construction workers on June 16 turned into a widespread uprising against the East German government the next day. The uprising in Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (ГСВГ, Группа советских войск в Германии) and the Volkspolizei. In spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. There were demonstrations even after June 17 in more than 500 towns and villages.
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In July 1952 the second party conference (less important than party congress) of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) took place in East Berlin. By Walter Ulbricht's catchwords, there was the "construction of Socialism as scheduled" („planmäßiger Aufbau des Sozialismus“) taking place; it was decided that the process of Sovietization should be intensified and the importance of the state expanded.
This meant for example the new division of 5 Länder into 14 regions (Bezirke) plus East Berlin, and first of all, an assault on remaining middle strata of the GDR: peasants and small business/handicraft firm owners, who were to give up their independence by raised charges.
This decision was made on the background of the catastrophic economic situation in the country. In the course of the militarisation pushed by Soviet authorities, the direct and indirect military expenditures rose and already made up around 11% of the national budget in 1952. Together with reparation payment, this totaled over 20% of the budget. The economic policies of the SED favoured development of heavy industry at the expense of food and consumer goods industries, all of which resulted in severe crisis in supplying the public with goods. Electricity was turned off at the onset of darkness every evening (during top period).
The dramatic increase of the emigration (brain drain) in the first half-year of 1953, already high since the establishment of the GDR, constituted a grave economic and social problem. Another factor that contributed to complicating political situation was the high number of political prisoners in the GDR. The repressions against the illegal organisation Young Congregation“ (Junge Gemeinde), wrongly perceived as the central youth organisation of the evangelical church, played a role here. Numerous trainee pastors were imprisoned (Johannes Hamel, Fritz Hoffmann). Ecclesiastic free time centres were closed and taken over by the FDJ (e.g. Schloss Mansfeld, Huberhaus Wernigerode). High school students who belonged to church were often expelled by the school authorities, sometimes even shortly before school graduation.
Within this complicated background, the decision to raise the work norms (in short the principle 'more work for the same salary') was perceived as a provocation which would conceivably lead to deterioration of the living standard. With the 10% raise of the work norms by June 30, 1953, the 60th birthday of Walter Ulbricht, the Central Committee wanted to challenge the economic difficulties. Issued as a suggestion, it became in effect a direction, that was introduced in all the state-owned enterprises (so-called volkseigene Betriebe) and was in fact going to cause reduction of salaries. The Central Committee had decided on the raise of the norms on May 13-14, 1953 and the Council of Ministers had approved it on May 28.
In May 1953, the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) raised the work quotas for East German industry by ten percent. On June 16, between 60 and 80 East Berlin construction workers went on strike after their superiors announced a pay cut if they didn't meet their work quota. Their numbers quickly swelled and a general strike and protests were called for the next day. The West Berlin-based Radio in the American Sector reported about the Berlin events and thus probably helped to incite the uprising in other parts of East Germany.
By dawn on June 17, 100,000 protesters had gathered in East Berlin, with more arriving throughout the morning. Many protests were held throughout East Germany with at least some work stoppages and protests in virtually all industrial centers and large cities in the country.
The original demands of the protesters, such as the reinstatement of the previous lower work quotas, turned into political demands. SED functionaries took to the streets and began arguing with small groups of protesters. Eventually, the workers demanded the resignation of the East German government. The government decided to use force to stop the uprising and turned to the Soviet Union for military support. In total, around 16 Soviet divisions with 20.000 soldiers as well as 8.000 Kasernierte Volkspolizei members were committed.
Around noon, the Volkspolizei had trapped many of the demonstrators in an open square. When dozens of T-34 Soviet tanks, initially demonstrating the military presence, appeared the uprising began to lose momentum. Although there were no major assaults on the military, a massacre followed. It is still unclear how many people died during the uprising, and by the death sentences which followed. The official number of victims is 55[1]. After the evaluation of documents accessible since 1990, the number of victims appears to be at least 125. Higher estimates put the number of dead at 267. According to another source, 401 people were killed including numerous tourists and media reporters who got too close, 105 executed under martial law, 1,838 injured, and 5,100 arrested, 1,200 of these later being sentenced to a total of 6,000 years in penal camps.
In memory of the 1953 East German rebellion, West Germany established 17 June as a national holiday. Upon reunification in October 1990, the "Day of German Unity" was moved to 3 October, the date of formal reunification). The extension of the boulevard Unter den Linden in West Berlin, called Charlottenburger Chaussee, was renamed Straße des 17. Juni following the 1953 rebellion.
The event is perhaps best remembered in the following poem by Bertolt Brecht:
- The Solution
- After the uprising of the 17th June
- The Secretary of the Writers Union
- Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
- Stating that the people
- Had forfeited the confidence of the government
- And could win it back only
- By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
- In that case for the government
- To dissolve the people
- And elect another?
The uprising is also mentioned, albeit subtly, in the 1984 song "Summer in Berlin" by German synthpop band Alphaville.
- Bibliographical Database of the International Literature on the Uprising of June 17th 1953 in the GDR
- Ulrich Mählert. Der 17. Juni 1953, ein Aufstand für Einheit, Recht und Freiheit. Berlin: J.H.W.Dietz, 2003.
- 1953: The East German uprising on libcom.org
- Alexandra Richie. Faust's Metropolis: a History of Berlin. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1998.
- Ann Tusa. The Last Division: a History of Berlin, 1945-1989. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1997.
- BBC: Berliner recalls East German uprising (by Ray Furlong)
- Der 16. Juni 1953 bleibt mir unvergesslich Eyewitness report (in German)
- Hope M. Harrison. "Driving the Soviets up the Wall: Soviet-East German Relations, 1953-1961."
- Christian F Ostermann. "Uprising in East Germany, 1953: The Cold War, the German Question, and the First Major Upheaval..." Central European University Press: 2003.