Were East Germans more acquiescent to Soviet domination than the rest of Eastern Europe and if so, why?
score:12
As knut's answer points out, it's strange that your list of Eastern Bloc uprisings omits the events of 1953.
So, no, East Germans were not as a general rule more passive or acquiescent to the imposition of soviet rule than any of the other populations of Eastern Europe.
Churches, small businesses, non-communist political parties, independently minded clubs and organisations (like the scouts), non-communist radio stations and newspapers etc etc had to be coerced, bribed, tricked or infiltrated into compliance using all the same techniques across East Germany as were used elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Anne Applebaum's recent book Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe is rich in detailed information on this topic.
In fact the Applebaum book is a study of the similarities between the Poland, Hungary and East Germany (she has very little to say about the other Soviet satellites), and shows how the patterns of totalitarian control (and indeed resistance) were the same in all three countries.
Nevertheless, to try to answer the final section of your question ... if there was anything unique in the East German situation which made communist government easier to impose, what did it comprise?
1) For those who desired a proper and symbolic break from Nazism, communism was an authentic alternative. Victor Klemperor was an example of an East German citizen whose anti-fascism bound him to the regime (to the extent of participating in government) even though he was never a communist. The title of his diaries for the post-war period The Lesser Evil alludes to his attitude to the regime.
2) Inauthentic as it was, the East German sense of identity and nationhood was problematic for dissidents. Whereas a dissident Pole, Romanian etc could still think of himself as a loyal or true Pole (or Romanian etc), how was a dissident of Leipzig to think of himself? A loyal East German? Preposterous. A true German? Perhaps, but what a can of worms!
3) Of the Eastern Bloc countries, East Germany was amongst the most prosperous, or at least was perceived that way. It may well have received preferential levels of economic assistance from Moscow in order to maintain that status, though I don't have sources for this.
4) Although Republikflucht was of course a problem, East Germany, unlike other Eastern bloc countries was able to use deportation to West Germany as a safety valve. It could rid itself of its most troublesome dissidents and thereby prevent the build up, within the country, of an established and organised opposition.
Upvote:-4
The reason why the uprising in Berlin of 1953 was not so widely publicized could be because the uprising could be seen as an attempt of a fascist revanche. Such uprisings in a defeated country were well expected due to degraded level of life, contributions and lost national pride.
The uprising was closer to the end of WWII than anti-Communist coups in other East block countries, and the West still had not develop united line on how to react and whether to support such developments.
Upvote:2
Possibly this may be relevant.
This map shows the vote share of the party Die Linke ("The Left", former Socialist United Party, the ruling party of the GDR) at the German elections in 2009:
As you can see, the former SUP received a high share of votes in East Germany, sometimes exceeding 30%, much more than in West Germany. If you compare this to Poland or Hungary you will see that the East Germans are much more left-leaning in their sympathies. They probably could be even more loyal to Socialism when all the state media were supportive of the socialist party.
If East Germany was independent today, the Die Linke could come to be winners of the elections.
Upvote:5
As an addendum to knut - and I'm lifting a quote from an answer I gave to another question - There is a quote from a Russian General about fighting East Germans that comes to mind for this particular question.
Penkovskly, for instance, cited Gen. Kupin, the Commander of the Soviet Tank Army in Dresden and others stationed in East Germany as asserting that
“in case of a Berlin crisis or a war we would have to kill both West and East Germans. Everything is ready to fight against not only West Germany but East Germany as well, because the Germans have Anti-Soviet sentiments”
Page 12, Right Column
This came from "Intelligence Estimates of the Warsaw Pact" from "Studies in Intelligence Vol. 51, No 4 (Extracts-December 2007)"
Upvote:17
Your assumption is wrong, there was the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
And the Fall of the Iron Curtain was also initiated by the East German mass protests.
More post
- 📝 Is there any historic record of using a wooden bow as a club?
- 📝 Who sold this book in London in the 1930s?
- 📝 Did Antoine de Saint-Exupery have any offspring?
- 📝 Which names are correct? Mala vs Malka Zimetbaum and Edward vs Eduard Galinski?
- 📝 What animals did South East Asians ride in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 Was there ever a democracy where the three branches went to war?
- 📝 Were Alexander the Great and Hephaestion lovers?
- 📝 What allowed or prevented Roman conquest in terms of population, climate and geography?
- 📝 Why did the National Origins Act of 1924 use the 1890 census data?
- 📝 Why did the Jacobites lose the Battle of Aughrim?
- 📝 Did JFK really say "Hitler is one of the greatest men…one of the most significant figures that ever lived"?
- 📝 How old is the Classic Arabic language?
- 📝 What were the causes of the "Dardanelles" fiasco in World War I
- 📝 Why was there an autumn recess in Britain in 1641?
- 📝 Flag flying dynamics
- 📝 Why has Nepal never been conquered or colonized?
- 📝 Why the belt or strap in some plate armor and some other armor exposed in the middle front side?
- 📝 Is there evidence that communists supplied drugs to West Berlin?
- 📝 Is the position of women as portrayed in the Mad Men series historically accurate?
- 📝 What was the real name of the painter who made the Christ Pantocrator of Sant Climent de Taüll Church?
- 📝 What was the currency in use in Palestine shortly before and during WWI?
- 📝 Imposition of property taxes in California
- 📝 Did Western China have special-named martial arts during Islamic era?
- 📝 What criteria are used to determine the popularity of Medieval European rulers?
- 📝 Are there any good books in English about the mechanics of German reunification?
- 📝 Why are dates and locations important in History?
- 📝 Did the Picture Post publish the 1857 photo "Two Sepoys of the 31st Native Infantry Who Were Hanged at Lucknow" in 1939?
- 📝 Any precedents of U.S. presidents having served in other government roles after the ends of their terms?
- 📝 What kind of uniform is this?
- 📝 Where is an image of the oracle bone that describes the nova?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Were East Germans more acquiescent to Soviet domination than the rest of Eastern Europe and if so, why?
- 📝 Were some groups in the Soviet Union more likely to collaborate with the Germans than others?
- 📝 Why were so many more Jewish men than Jewish women killed during the Holocaust?
- 📝 How dependent were the Germans on horse transport in their invasion of the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Why were the Prague Spring leaders treated more leniently than Nagy and his colleagues?
- 📝 Why were there more Muslims in East Bengal than in West Bengal
- 📝 Why were the cities of the Eastern European Plain founded much later than those elsewhere in Europe?
- 📝 How independent were the Eastern European countries from the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Were there any Native American tribes that had more than a strategic alliance with the Confederates?
- 📝 In Europe, why were hereditary dynasties more prevalent in the medieval world than in the ancient world?
- 📝 Why were the Thirteen Colonies more successful, both economically and socially, than other colonies?
- 📝 Why did the Sykes-Picot agreement divided the middle east into more than 10 countries?
- 📝 Why did the Germans use the Enigma machine rather than the far superior "Lorenz" cipher machine?
- 📝 Were the living standards in Medieval Europe a lot worse than in the Muslim world?
- 📝 Were there any Germans in Japan after the surrender of Germany in May, 1945 and if so, what happened to them?
- 📝 Is it true that there are more slaves in the world now than ever at one point in history?
- 📝 In WWII, what were the major differences in tank combat on the eastern and western fronts?
- 📝 Why was sugar cultivation more profitable in the Caribbean/Brazil than West Africa?
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
- 📝 Why were the Germans and Russians so fixated on an unlikely "separate peace" in 1945?
- 📝 What East German laws and regulations were extended to the West after unification?
- 📝 Why did baseball become more popular than cricket in the USA?
- 📝 Why did the German air force lose experienced pilots faster than the Allies, even though they were defending their home airspace?
- 📝 Did the Germans lose the U-Boat war in World war II because of a shortage of quality, rather than quantity?
- 📝 Why did the rest of the Eastern Bloc not invade Yugoslavia?
- 📝 Why do land mines seem to be a more serious problem in the Balkans than the Alps?
- 📝 Did the Germans use the V1 and V2 missile system on the Eastern Front in World War 2?
- 📝 How were servants to the Kaiser of Imperial Germany treated and where may I find more information on them?
- 📝 Were Soviet warships allowed to use the Panama canal?
- 📝 Why were the Mongolian armies able to to use greater percentages of archers than (Medieval) Europeans?