The Fall of the GDR / Edition 1

by David Childs

Overview

The book charts the dramatic months leading to one of the most profound changes of the 20th century, the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the restoration of German unity in 1990. The author analyses the nature of Communist rule in the GDR over 40 years, its few strengths and its many weaknesses, and the myths which grew up around it. This book places the GDR in its international setting as the proud ally of the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact. It examines the reactions abroad to the unfolding revolution.

The text is based on a wide variety of written sources and many interviews with leading Communist figures, such as Krenz and Modrow, and with their opponents and successors, and former Stasi officers and the dissidents they tried to crush. It greatly benefits from the author's decades of involvement with East Germany, including personal friendships there, before 1989 and his eye-witness accounts of many of the events during Die Wende. It should be of interest not only to students of German politics, contemporary history and the Cold War, but to all who are curious about the momentous times through which we have lived.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780582315693
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/19/2001
Series:	Themes In Modern German History
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Childs is Professor of German Politics at the University of Nottingham.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The GDR in 1988 – a stable state?; Chapter 2 The GDR’s flawed development; Chapter 3 The Stasi and the internal security of the GDR; Chapter 4 Coping with Gorbachev; Chapter 5 Gorbachev 1989: ‘Life punishes those who come too late’; Chapter 6 The birth of the opposition parties; Chapter 7 The fifty days of Egon Krenz; Chapter 8 International reactions to events in the GDR; Chapter 9 Modrow’s fight to save the GDR; Chapter 10 The free elections of March 1990; Chapter 11 German unity achieved;

Editorial Reviews

"a well-written narrative history...should be read by anyone who is interested in the decline and fall of communism" Contemporary Review, vol. 281, no. 1638, July 2002

From the Publisher

Childs (emeritus, German politics, University of Nottingham) recounts the events leading up to the 1989 re-opening of the Berlin Wall and the re-unification of Germany in 1990. Drawing from interviews with Communist officials, their successors, Stasi officers, and dissidents, as well as Childs' own first-hand experiences during the lat days of the GDR, the book examines and evaluates the Communist regime, outlining its strengths and weaknesses and dispelling the myths surrounding its rule. It also considers the international significance of the GDR, its relationship to the Soviet Union, and the response abroad to its sudden demise. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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