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These include the raising of work quotas, and the subsequent reduction of worker income. As well as this was the program of collective farms in the countryside. Going further back than this, it is possible to cite the imposition of Stalinism as a long-term cause. As well as this there is the economic and social change in East Germany at the time. For the short term however, it would be useful to discuss the winter of 1952/53, during which there was a substantial economic crisis in East Germany. Perhaps added to this is the political crisis in East Germany at the time, which can be seen as a major cause of the working class unrest. After all of these factors are discussed, a conclusion will be reached as to the reasons for the working class protest. In his book, “The Two Germanies since 1945”, Turner begins to describe the reasons for the unrest of June 1953 by looking at the role of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deuchtschland (SED) After the second party conference in July 1952. He says that the pressing for “austerity in the operation of government-owned plants and for establishment of work quotas…” led to a raising of quotas for the contracts in 1953, which ultimately led to a reduction of the workers incomes. He also makes mention of the showtrials which were introduced to cover for these large quotas not being reached. In typical Stalinist fashion, the SED blamed the failure to meet targets due to sabotage from the supervisors. As well as the problems in the industrial sector, there were also long-term problems in agriculture as well. Government officials were putting private farmers under sever pressure in order to force them to form the collective farms. Whilst they achieved limited success, the problems came when the regimes harsh measures began to force people to leave the country. By the end of 1952, nearly 15,000 farmers and their families had left the country, which left around 13% of the countries arable land unattended. Because of this a food shortage problem soon developed. Another long-term cause is the imposition of Stalinism. The policies and framework of the soviet Model was imposed rapidly on East Germany, mainly because of the Soviet Union was uncertain of the future of East Germany as a Soviet state. They believed that it may just become a neutral area between themselves and the West, or they believed it would become a separate entity in it’s own right. By 1949, the Stalinist policies had taken over in East Germany. However, the speedy imposition caused problems. As well as the exodus of the farmers due to the imposition of collectivisation, many independent businesses began to leave the country for the West, as were many leading intellectuals, who could not live with the ideological monopoly the SED tried to impose on East Germany. This drop in population lead to many problems for the GDR. Added to these problems was the need to create an economy for a country that had for a long time been part of a larger, more complete country. By this, it is meant that the GDR did not have the industry needed to sustain the type of economy that it wanted. In order to remedy this, there was a policy of producing goods solely for use for basic industries. More produce for the industry’s meant less produced for the consumers of East Germany. Ulbricht, the SED General Secretary, was the leader of East Germany at this time. He was not in an authoritative office in the GDR, but as with all Stalinist models, the Party took preference over the State. He initiated the program of Socialist reconstruction in East Germany in the early 1940’s and it was accelerated after 1952. In 1950, 51% of the population was brought under socialist control, and in 1951, the first five-year plan was introduced. It was predicted that there would be a 90% increase in the industrial output. In order to achieve this, it was believed that there would need to be a 72% increase in labour productivity. This was highly ambitious on the part of the planners, and in hindsight is impossible to achieve in such short space a time. As well as this economic reform, there was a lot of social reform in a short space of time. In 1949, the GDR effectively became a one party state. The four parties in East Germany that the Soviet Union approved of were merged into one, and the “elections” held were merely false shows of affirmation for the SED. In this period the SED began to purge it’s party of any disloyal members, and a Stalinist control of the Party was assumed by Ulbricht. Another long-term problem, which led to the working class revolts of 1953, is the changing roles of the Trade Unions in East Germany. East Germany had a strong tradition of Trade Unions, but at the end of the war, their role began changing. They still retained their socialist members, but they became much more controlled by the Communist party. In 1948 they changed again. Now they were no longer concerned with just protecting the workers interests. They became more like the TU’s in the USSR, with much more broader functions. They became in effect an extension of the Communist Party, aiding state objectives of fulfilling the socialist construction. The large scale industrial manufacturing was supported by the Trade Unions, who would help to create and support it, as they would later benefit from the increased workforce which would be brought in to work in the industrial sector. The problems arose around the poor resources that East Germany had. As well as this, the socialist construction program also assumed that the working classes would be behind the programme. This brought up the problem of the legitimacy of the SED in East Germany. If the working classes were resisting their changes, then how could they legitimise themselves to the East German public at large? There came an added tension between the working class between the working classes and the SED about what role the Trade Unions should play. The working classes wanted a return to the more traditional role of trade unions, but the SED took the typical Soviet view of Trade Unions. If they were constructing a Communist society where everyone was equal and working towards the greater good, then why would they need the Trade Unions to be solely focusing on the workers conditions and rights? This problem just began to get worse over the issue of rates of pay that the East German working class was used to receiving. Their base rate of pay was very generous after the end of the Second World War, but both party and state saw these rates of pay as a problem. The first five-year plan reduced these rates of pay and replaced them with their own “technical agreements”. The workers refused to agree to this change in pay, despite increased intimidation. Many were dependent on the system staying as it was fir their standards of living. The Communist party newspapers criticised this resistance, but the protests were largely successful. The changes to the work norms were dropped in 1952. This attempted change in policy, and arguments over it, ended up with a hindered productivity, which in a system making rash productivity targets was not a good sign. This climb down by the party suggests though, that they were vulnerable to the workers. It showed that resistance and protest could bring about change. In the short term however, it is useful to look at the events of the winter, which spanned between 1952/53. There was a major economic crisis during this time, which was only compounded by a broader social crisis. The workers were beginning to become alienated with industry, and the productivity was beginning to fall as a consequence. Added to the industrial problems was a problem in agriculture. The communist party was initially conciliatory to the farmers, but they were now beginning to enforce collectivisation on a larger scale. The response of the farmers was to resist the changes actively. Production went down to the levels were the farmers were producing enough for their own needs and little more. This obviously led to a food shortage, which only served to anger the industrial workers further. As well as the working crisis for both industry and agriculture, the GDR was also part of a political crisis. The leadership was trying to build a new social order, but it was clearly failing. However, they felt that to abandon policy was to undermine their own position. There began to be deep divisions in the party, many of the members seeing Ulbricht as a liability. The morale of both the party and society as a whole was at a low. This was not helped by Ulbricht’s reluctance to compromise. He instead decided to increase the insistence of his policies. All these problems however became more prevalent on March 9th, 1953 when Stalin died. The question that was heard all around Eastern Europe was, Can Stalinism survive without Stalin? Ulbricht himself was a staunch Stalinist, and so his hold on power was tenuous at best. On April the 5th-16th, Ulbricht ignored the new Soviet leadership’s advice to abandon his course of rapid industrialisation. He rightly believed that the Soviet Union would not forcibly interfere. On 28th of May, the Council of Ministers announced a new quota of an increase of work by about 10 percent. Needless to say, this doesn’t go down well with the workers. However, between June 11th and 12th the SED changes tack, and announce changes in their policy. But, on the 16th of June, and article in “die Tribune” suggests that these increased quotas will remain. Demonstrations begin, and a General Strike beings the day afterwards. In conclusion, it is probably fairest to say that the working class protests began mainly due to a number of long-term and short-term reasons. However, to amplify on that statement, it is also fair to say that a lot of these causes, both long and shot term can be seen as the fault of the leadership of the GDR. Many of these mistakes were really inherent problems of Stalinism. Collectivisation always lead to decreased productivity. The five-year plans always made outrageous targets that were just not possible to reach with the resources available. Added to this was the changing role of the trade unions, which lead to disputes between the workers and the party as to what role they should play. All in all, the causes, when by themselves, while problems, but not major ones. When added together over time, they lead to demonstrations and a General Strike. Bibliography: Bibliography G.W.Snadford, From Hitler to Ulbricht H.A.Turner, The Two Germanies Since 1945 M. MacCauley, The German Democratic Republic Since 1945 W. Carr, A History Of Germany 1815-1990 Word Count: 1854
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