GDR 2b.4

Question 1

SED propaganda on GDR in 1980s

Answer 1

full employment
non existent homelessness
very cheap rents
heavily subsidised essential food items
cheap public transport

Question 2

Reality of GDR in 1980s
(based on the propaganda)

Answer 2

full employment - over staffing - citizens who are seen as politically unreliable would not get the jobs they wanted
no homelessness - lack of new housing many lived in overcrowded accommodation
cheap public transport - overcrowded
food readily available - queues long + luxurious items rare

Question 3

economic growth from 1982-85
compared to 1976-80

Answer 3

decreased to 1.5%
from 2%

Question 4

no. of political prisoners sold to the FRG per year

Answer 4

1,500

Question 5

did the politburo know about the amount of loans taken from FRG

Answer 5

no

Question 6

what happened to consumer goods as the economy collapsed

Answer 6

domestic goods were being exported to boost the economy

Question 7

what did exporting domestic goods mean for the people

Answer 7

shortage of consumer goods within the GDR
many east germans had saved up a considerable amount of money hoping to have goods they could spend their money on

Question 8

five year plan
years

Answer 8

1986-90

Question 9

five year plan
aims

Answer 9

address issues by acknowledging internal weaknesses such as housing shortages
construction or modernisation of over 1million homes
focus on new technology - microchips

Question 10

five year plan
result

Answer 10

unrealistic
did little to improve quality of items
failed to close the gap on the economy compared to the FRG

Question 11

% of government spending on expenditure on defence

Answer 11

8%

Question 12

by the 1980s what could the expenditure on maintaining, modifying and guarding the berlin wall pay for instead

Answer 12

all of GDRs has and electricity bills
the implementation of 35hr working week

Question 13

late 1980s - how many full time stasi employees were there

Answer 13

91,000

Question 14

how much did the stasi employees cost each year

Answer 14

DM 4 billion

Question 15

debt to western institution in 1980s

Answer 15

DM 40 billion

Question 16

GDP in late 1980s

Answer 16

DM 250 billion

Question 17

Schurer-Papier

Answer 17

october 1989
prepared for politburo
projected need to increase export surplus by over 500% from 1990-95 to stabilise debt levels

Question 18

what made up 30% of the GDRs western exports by 1983

Answer 18

reselling soviet oil to the west

Question 19

what did reselling soviet oil mean domestically

Answer 19

they had to use brown coal instead
cheaper + inefficient fuel

Question 20

exports of heavy industry

Answer 20

dropped by aprox 30% from 1986-88

Question 21

who was made aware of the financial crisis

Answer 21

only khrushhev and gorvachev
honecker hid it from most of the SED, including Gunter Mittag

Question 22

Gunter Minttag

Answer 22

GDR’s economics minister from 1976-89
1983 - arranged for the ‘billion loan; from the FRG
had both his legs amputated mis 1980s due to illness

Question 23

how much did the expenditure on subsidised housing, educaion, health and welfare rose between 1980 to 1985

Answer 23

1980 - DM 72.9 billion
1985 - DM 112.3 billion

Question 24

air pollution

Answer 24

GDRs worst in europe
caused respiratory problems like bronchitis

Question 25

air pollution - bitterfeld

Answer 25

town in GDR so polluted by power stations, chemical works + coal mines that if UN criteria had been applied it would be deemed unfit for human habitation

Question 26

by 1987 how many east germans suffered from some sort of alcoholism

Answer 26

approx 1/8

Question 27

what was Honeckers order towards industrial factories -1970s

Answer 27

ensure 5% of their output is consumer goods

Question 28

What did Honeckers 5% consumer goods order onto industrial factories result in

Answer 28

strange combination of products steel mills producing microwave ovens brown coal fired power plants making ironing boards production of poor quality goods - consumer discontent

Question 29

private sector in 1985

Answer 29

made 2.8% of net national product manufactured spare parts for cars, washing machines, fridges and TVs

Question 30

what did the lack of consumer goods lead to

Answer 30

bartering

Question 31

Bückware

Answer 31

(duck goods) found below the counter tips + bribes to get a desired item

Question 32

western influence - June 1987

Answer 32

some music speakers at a rock festival in west berlins Reichstag building turned to the east allowed over 4,000 young east germans to hear david bowie and genesis

Question 33

20% of all GDR trade-

Answer 33

-was with the FRG in 1989

Question 34

how many political prisoners did the GDR sell to the FRG

Answer 34

34,000

Question 35

how much did the FRG pay to aid GDRs economy

Answer 35

DM 3 billion

Question 36

FRDG and USSR - late 1980s

Answer 36

formal state visits between the two Kohl - formal state visit to moscow in 1988 Gorbachev - visited FRG in 1989

Question 37

Helmt Kohl

Answer 37

FRG chancellor 1982-90 chancellor of reunited germany 1990-98

Question 38

what did Perestroika and Glasnost mean for the GDR

Answer 38

undermined GDRs legitimacy inspired demands to carry Gorbachev's reforms into the GDR worsened the growing economic problems

Question 39

anti soviet propaganda

Answer 39

presented widespread food shortages + homelessness in USSR censored any soviet media that hat openly supported gorbachevs reforms or critised Honecker 1988 - teacher arrested for using an article from Pravda in a lesson - a student informed the SED

Question 40

November 1988 - anti soviet propaganda

Answer 40

banned soviet magazine Sputnik at a film festival 5 soviet films supporting gorbachevs policies were banned

Question 41

GDR generation

Answer 41

25-40 year olds grown up in the shadow of the berlin wall opposed the SED focused on issues such as peace, ecological problems, women’s rights, third world issues + gay rights

Question 42

how many ecological groups

Answer 42

80-90 groups based on larger cities like Leipzig

Question 43

Environmental library

Answer 43

based in a berlin apartment started in 1986 self printed journal - Umweltblätter - circulated around 2,000 a month

Question 44

January 1988 - pressure for reform

Answer 44

100 activists arrested and deported to the FRG after distrusting SED rally commemorating spartacist communist uprising of 1919

Question 45

what were the GDR generation more focused on

Answer 45

wanted to promote peace introduction of military training in education + cold war tensions in early 1980s fuels interest in peace campaigns did not focus on reunification- didn’t really want it + thought it was unrealistic

Question 46

IFM

Answer 46

initiative for peace and human rights began to foster contacts outside the GDR and into the soviet bloc gained protection from protestant church

Question 47

membership of protestant church in 1950 + 1980s

Answer 47

1950 - 80% of population late 1980s - 30% of population

Question 48

1978 accord between church and honecker

Answer 48

acceptance of a church within socialism

Question 49

stasi in the church

Answer 49

Rudi Mittig (deputy at the Stasi) believed church should be neutralised Stasi placed agents in all levels from bishops to church lawyers In some churches, around 25% were informers

Question 50

what was the protestant churches role in opppoistion

Answer 50

sheltered opposition groups such as environmental library + IFM

Question 51

church from below

Answer 51

formed in the summer of 1987 Kirche Von Unten New Christians rejecting the more cautious approach of church leaders began working with environmental group, IFM more 1988 ready to implement its ideas into wider society

Question 52

what did the church from below think of the protestant church begore 1987

Answer 52

tainted with the states directives

Question 53

may 1989 local elections

Answer 53

SED won 98% of votes

Question 54

Research by the Central Institute for Youth Research in Leipzig

Answer 54

1988-89 found widespread disillusionment with the GDRs socialism

Question 55

% of young workers that felt strong identification with the GDR october 1988

Answer 55

less than 20% felt strong identification 25% hardly felt any/none

Question 56

reasons for the push for reform

Answer 56

GDRs long term stagnation due to failure of the economy Gorbachevs reforms reform protected + incubated by church rise of protest groups instability of SED

Question 57

"when you die would you rather go to a capitalist hell or a socialist hell?"-

Answer 57

-"A socialist hell, of course, you get roasted in the flames of hell in both cases, but in a socialist hell, there's a shortage of matches, they've run out of wood, and the devil is not working at the moment."