Description
Book SynopsisWould it have been possible to build a unified and democratic Germany half a century before the fall of the Berlin Wall? This book reassesses this question by exploring Germany''s division after the Second World War from the point of view of the SED, the communist-led and Soviet-sponsored ruling party of East Germany.Drawing on unpublished documents from the SED archives, Dr Spilker rejects claims that the East German comrades and their Soviet masters had abandoned their struggle for socialism and were willing to accept a democratic Germany in exchange for a pledge to neutrality. He argues that the communists'' sudden switch to a multi-party approach at the end of the war was a tactical move inspired not by a desire for compromise but by the mistaken belief that they could win political hegemony - and the chance to introduce socialism throughout Germany - through the ballot box.Communist optimism, as this book shows, rested on specific assumptions about the situation after the war, all
Trade Review...cogent and persuasive...Specialists will find the book stimulating...But the book's vigorous argument, and direct, unpretentious prose will also make it accessible to a wider audience interested in the early phases of the Cold War. * Gareth Pritchard The English Historical Review *
Spilker often breaks new gorund...a well structured and readable study... * Dierk Hoffmann Bulletin German Historical Institute *
Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. 'It Should Look Democratic': The German Communists and the Birth of the SED ; 2. Nationwide Goals and Zonal Priorities: The KPD/SED and the German Question from Potsdam to Bizonia ; 3. Between Hope and Despair: The SED and the Consolidation of the SBZ ; 4. Unity Postponed: The SED and the Founding of the GDR ; 5. Retreat and Retrenchment: The SED and the German Question in the Early 1950s ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index
