Oppression and Scarcity: The History and Institutional Structure of the Marxist-Leninist Government of East Germany and Some Perspectives on Life in a Socialist System

by Peter W. Sperlich

Overview

Imagine being forced to adopt an ideology that strips you of your political rights and plunges you into a life of despair and unending shortages. After the Second World War, the people of East Germany endured just such an appalling fate when socialism was forced upon them. Examining the effects of an oppressive and economically incompetent system, Sperlich presents a systematic review of post-war German history, with an emphasis on the founding of a communist state on German soil: the German Democratic Republic. He traces the imposition of communist rule, discussing the suppression of free elections and opposition to the infliction of a dictatorial one-party regime. Sperlich demonstrates how East Germans suffered under the restraints of socialism, and recounts the peaceful revolution of 1989, which led to the reunification of the two German states.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275975654
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/30/2006
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Peter W. Sperlich is Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Rotten Foundations: The Conceptual Basis of the Marxist-Leninist Regimes of East Germany and Other Countries of the Soviet Bloc.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Partitioning of Germany and Allied Policies
Beginnings and Governmental Structure
Politics: Party, State, and Citizen
Economics: Reforms, Rigidity, and Failure
Persuasion and Non-Persuasion: Public Opinion and Public Discourse
Life in East Germany: Some Vignettes
The End of the GDR: Revolution and Reunification
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

James Gregor

"Professor Peter Sperlich has provided a particularly instructive history of East Germany's Marxist-Leninist government with all its betrayal and promise—together with its final disillusionment and failure. He has provided an eminently informative, memorable and engaging record of arresting tragedy. It is recommended to all who would truly understand a significant part of the history of the twentieth century."

James Gregor

"Professor Peter Sperlich has provided a particularly instructive history of East Germany's Marxist-Leninist government with all its betrayal and promise--together with its final disillusionment and failure. He has provided an eminently informative, memorable and engaging record of arresting tragedy. It is recommended to all who would truly understand a significant part of the history of the twentieth century."

—

James Gregor, University of California, Berkeley

Steve L. Coombs

"The meaning for human lives of the Marxist-Leninist states is a central topic in the history of the twentieth century. Professor Sperlich's meticulously researched account of the German Democratic Republic is a valuable contribution to that understanding….Sperlich's work draws heavily on previously unexamined primary sources, for some of which the very existence was previously unknown, and it will serve as a landmark for those who come after him. The perseverance and dedication required to overcome the myriad obstacles must have been very substantiated indeed. The cumulative impact of Sperlich's work is made the more compelling by his purely factual and dispassionate presentation, eschewing rhetorical flourishes. He writes with precision and with clarity, allowing the readers to discover for themselves the profoundly inhuman character of the defunct regime."

—

Steve L. Coombs, retired, Cleveland State University

Steve L. Coombs

"The meaning for human lives of the Marxist-Leninist states is a central topic in the history of the twentieth century. Professor Sperlich's meticulously researched account of the German Democratic Republic is a valuable contribution to that understanding....Sperlich's work draws heavily on previously unexamined primary sources, for some of which the very existence was previously unknown, and it will serve as a landmark for those who come after him. The perseverance and dedication required to overcome the myriad obstacles must have been very substantiated indeed. The cumulative impact of Sperlich's work is made the more compelling by his purely factual and dispassionate presentation, eschewing rhetorical flourishes. He writes with precision and with clarity, allowing the readers to discover for themselves the profoundly inhuman character of the defunct regime."

Editorial Reviews

According to the American newsreels and TV shows, life under Marxist-Leninist governments was composed primarily of wearing drab clothing, standing in long lines for survival rations, and being thrown into gulags at various points in the life-cycle. In this second volume in his series, Sperlich replaces these rather simple-minded perceptions with the realities and practicalities of life in East Germany before reunification. He explains how Germany was partitioned and how allied policies moved from the four-zone to the two-state systems, the beginnings of government structure, politics in terms of the party, the state and citizenship, reforms and failure in economics due to rigidity, and the influence of public opinion and public discourse. He closes with reflections on life under socialism, including the practice of religion, cultural life, and how the customer is always wrong, and closes with an analysis of the end of the socialist experiment.” —Reference & Research Book News

From the Publisher