Repression and control

Question 1

What kind of state was the GDR?

Answer 1

A police state

Question 2

What was the NVA?

Answer 2

The National People’s Army - the East German military force formed in 1956 out of the People’s Police

Question 3

What were the various branches of the police?

Answer 3

• KVP
• Criminal police
• Special police
• voluntary police

Question 4

Who were the KVP?

Answer 4

The parliamentary police who were responsible for internal security - they had been called out in June 1953

Question 5

What surveillance methods did the Stasi use?

Answer 5

• Phone tapping
• Video surveillance
• Agents following suspects
• Radiation tags
• Honey traps (many prostitutes worked for the Stasi)
• Blackmail

Question 6

Unofficial collaborator or IM (euphemistically informal collaborator)

Answer 6

The “key weapon” of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) - with their help theMfSspied on the population and tried to gather information on its moods and any attempts at “subversion”

Question 7

What methods did the unofficial collaborators (IMs) use?

Answer 7

They reported on all areas of society, infiltrated opposition groups and supplied even the most intimate information about their colleagues, friends or fellow pupils

Question 8

Mary Fulbrook on the system if informing and infiltration

Answer 8

Even though this system was efficient it unwittingly helped destabilise the GDR - by infiltrating opposition groups some informers inevitably aided their work to maintain their credibility

Question 9

What was the FDJ encouraged to participate in?

Answer 9

Festivals and torchlight parades (this reminded many of Hitler Youth)

Question 10

• How many newspapers did the GDR have?
• How many people read these newspapers?
• How many of them were controlled directly by the SED?

Answer 10

The GDR had 38 newspapers read by 8.3 million of its citizens; 66 per cent of them were controlled directly by the SED but all their content was subject to SED scrutiny

Question 11

What was censored in East Germany?

Answer 11

Post from the FRG was censored and telephone calls tapped as a matter of course

Question 12

In schools, what was the main foreign language taught?

Answer 12

Russian

Question 13

What shows that students were encouraged to embrace Russian with enthusiasm?

Answer 13

“Learn the language of our friends!”

Question 14

What languages were far less widespread?

Answer 14

English and French

Question 15

Why were foreign magazines and newspapers often available to buy?

Answer 15

As it was assumed few could read them

Question 16

In 1952 Otto Grotewohl had stated that…

Answer 16

art and culture must be subordinate to politics

Question 17

What was the purpose of art and culture?

Answer 17

To engender support for the regime

Question 18

What model did art follow?

Answer 18

“Socialist realism”

Question 19

What is “Socialist realism”?

Answer 19

A form of modern realism imposed in Russia by Stalin following his rise to power characterised in painting by rigorously optimistic pictures ofSoviet life

Question 20

What was the purpose of “Socialist realism”?

Answer 20

To reflect and promote the ideals of a socialist society

Question 21

Examples of Socialist realist art in the East German state

Answer 21

• “The Tractor Driver”
• “For Peace and Socialism”
• “The Builders of Socialism”

Question 22

“The Tractor Driver”

Answer 22

This mural portrays a tractor driver as a hero and symbol of industrial progress

It represents the emphasis on agriculture and the important role of the working class in advancing the country’s development

Question 23

“For Peace and Socialism”

Answer 23

This painting portrays a scene of factory workers engaged in industrial production with an emphasis on unity and cooperation and productivity of the working class

Question 24

“The Builders of Socialism”

Answer 24

This monumental painting depicts a group of workers and farmers (both men and women) confidently marching forward - it represents the collective efforts of the working class in building socialism

Question 25

What were removed from libraries, museums and galleries?

Answer 25

Politically suspect books and paintings (some work which had been banned by the Nazis now found itself banned again)

Question 26

Who is the famous Socialist German playwright?

Answer 26

Bertolt Brecht

Question 27

What were all 16 trade unions affiliated to?

Answer 27

The FDGB

Question 28

What per cent of the labour force did the FDGB represent?

Answer 28

97%

Question 29

What did the FDGB stand for?

Answer 29

The Free German Trade Union Federation

Question 30

What wad the FDGB and what did it do?

Answer 30

The official East German trade union organisation - it represented the interests of workers and played a significant role in promoting socialist values and the economic system

Question 31

The FDGB was committed to the fulfilment of the…

Answer 31

Five-Year Plans and offered incentives to workers including honorific titles such as Hero of Labour

Question 32

When did workers loose the right to strike?

Answer 32

1961

Question 33

In the 1970s the FDGB became much more involved in…

Answer 33

the implementation of social welfare such as the provision of pensions and social insurance

Question 34

Why were the youth important?

Answer 34

They were the adults and functionaries of the future

Question 35

When was the FDJ founded?

Answer 35

March 1946 with Erich Honecker as its head

Question 36

What was the main role of the FDJ?

Answer 36

The political indoctrination of the young

Question 37

__________ for the FDJ waned as teenagers grew older

Answer 37

Enthusiasm

Question 38

Enthusiasm for the FDJ waned as teenagers grew older - provide evidence to support this

Answer 38

66% of 18 to 25 year old left the organisation

Question 39

How did membership in the FDJ affect young people’s lives in the GDR?

Answer 39

Membership in the FDJ was highly encouraged and often considered beneficial for educational and career opportunities - it also played a role in shaping their political beliefs and loyalty to the socialist regime