© Uni ver si t y of Readi ng 2006 www. readi ng. ac .uk

17t h June 1953A Workers’ Upri si ngRi chard M McKenzi e MA – Readi ng Uni versi t y

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17t h June Upr i s i ng• Onl y mass ci v i l

di sobedi ence i n GDR bef or e 1989

• Began over t he const r uct i on of “ pal aces f or wor ker s” i n St al i nal l ee 1952

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What happened?• 1952 Bui l di ng of

soci al i sm i ncr eases nor ms no pay r i ses

• 16 t h June bui l der s of St al i nal l ee down t ool s

• Mar ch t o House of Mi ni st r i es demandi ng t o speak t o Ul br i cht of Gr ot ewohl

• St r i kes escal at e and SED l oses cont r ol aski ng Sovi et s t o i nt er vene 3

Cl i ps• Upr i s i ng f r om West Ger man poi nt of v i ewht t p: / / www. yout ube. com/ wat ch?v=I MLXKI h7XqA

• Upr i s i ng f r om East Ger man poi nt of v i ewht t p: / / www. yout ube. com/ wat ch?v=AJy45Dgq7pc

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Causes• Deepeni ng of col d war di v i s i on• I nt r oduct i on of st r i c t bor der cont r ol s• Gr owt h of r ef ugees:

– June 1952: 16, 883– Sept 1952: 23, 331– Mar ch 1953: 58, 605

• Col l ect i v i sat i on• Food shor t ages

– 176, 000 Tonne Meat– 200, 000 Tonne Veg– 14, 000 Tonne But t er

• I ncr ease of wor k nor ms

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Labour Rel at i ons• Uni ons AGREED 10% i ncr ease i n wor k nor m• No space f or di sagr eement

– Enemi es– Spi es– Sabot eur s– Agent Pr ovocat eur s

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Deat h of St al i n• Di ed 5 t h Mar ch

1953• Cr eat es power

vacuum i n Sovi et Bl oc

• Al l ows DDR t o est abl i sh new cour se 11 t h June 1953– Takes back pr i ce

i ncr ease– Keeps nor ms

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St r i ke• Ber l i n and

t hr oughout DDR• No l eader shi p• St at e of emer gency• Sovi et s commi t

– 600 t anks– 20, 000 sol di er s

• DDR commi t– 15, 000 pol i cemen

• 50- 125 peopl e k i l l ed• 400, 000 – 1. 5mi l l i on

t ake par t

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Resul t sThe Sol ut i on

Af t er t he upr i s i ng of t he 17t h of JuneThe Secr et ar y of t he Wr i t er s’ Uni onHad l eaf l et s di st r i but ed i n t he St al i nal l eeSt at i ng t hat t he peopl eHad f or f ei t ed t he conf i dence of t he gover nmentAnd coul d wi n i t back onl yBy r edoubl ed ef f or t s. Woul d i t not be easi erI n t hat case f or t he gover nmentTo di ssol ve t he peopl eAnd el ect anot her ?

Di e Lösung

Nach dem Auf st and des 17. Juni Li eß der Sekr et är des Schr i f t st el l er ver bands I n der St al i nal l ee Fl ugbl ät t er ver t ei l en Auf denen zu l esen war , daß das Vol k Das Ver t r auen der Regi er ung ver scher zt habe Und es nur dur ch ver doppel t e Ar bei t zur ücker ober n könne. Wär e es da Ni cht doch ei nf acher , di e Regi er ung Löst e das Vol k auf und Wähl t e ei n ander es?

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Ber t ol d Br echt

www. ger manwar f i l m. co.uk

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