socialism and communism are the same thing when it comes to practice, the only real difference between National Socialism and Socialism/Communism is that hitler wanted a socialist "utopia" based on race where you dont try to help international revolutions as much and focus on your own nation instead whereas stalin focused more on class (i.e whos rich and owns land yada yada) and assisting other socialist countries (internationalism)
On the formation of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), why did most people remain living the state. Why didn't everyone leave and go to the Federal Republic of Germany? What incentive was there to stay in the GDR?
There was a old man who had lived in both the Third Reich and the GDR. When he was asked which secret police was worse, the Gestapo or the Stasi, he said, “The Gestapo wanted you to think they were everywhere. The Stasi actually were.” Now that says a lot.
@@HistoryHustle some chalk that up to the fact that size wise and population wise, the GDR was much more compact than the Third Reich. It made control and surveillance much easier given the number of unwilling or willing informants for the Stasi.
@@GlamorousTitanic21 Makes sense. The Gestapo had a much larger Germany to cover and then later almost all of Europe. Plus the Stasi had the KGB to help them.
Gestapo were more terrorists to Jewish people the stazi weren't exactly the only secret police in the game, reactionary anti communism created genocidal regimes
My dad was in Queen's Lancashire Regiment, he was on duty at Spandau Prison. When it was knocked down he saved a piece of it, which I still have to this day and will pass on to my daughter. Great video, mate 👍
I was there after the jail closed with the Royal Irish Rangers. They built a supermarket on the site after the jail was razed to the ground. The British Troops nicknamed named the new supermarket ´Hess-co’s’ 😁
@@GlamorousTitanic21 In my Regiment there were many of the older guys that had mounted Guard at Spandau. They explained to me that With the British Regiments he was free to walk around the prison grounds. He would often approach the Sentries and speak to them, ask them for a cigarette, chocolate etc. They were forbidden from any interaction with him other than to politely decline his request and tell him to speak to the Orderly Officer. They had to report any interaction with him. If you did give him a cigarette for example, he would directly report you to the Guard Commander and you’d be on a charge. If he felt your uniform was not correct or you appeared to be lazy whilst in guard then he’d also report you. I’m sorry I missed the opportunity though. There is a really good podcast called Cold War Conversations and they did an interview with guys who had guarded him. It’s worth looking for. I hope this answers your question a bit 😊 All the best, Ian
I remember an interview with a former East-German who'd been in the GDR 's youth-organization FDJ. He'd also been in the Hitler Youth and the drums they used for their marches and so on were the same as the HJ had used. He also said that both organizations had a lot in common.
Because it is totalitarian socialism, the absorption of the individual, the person, into a complex system organized by the State. From childhood to the old age
@@SK-yh5ls about 30 students of my 9 grade. That time Latvia was a part of USSR, my history teacher used to serve with Soviet paratroopers at his draft time and he shared his 1st hands experients about after WW2 revolts in GDR and others where his troops were deployed. This video is very close to my teacher stories
@@SK-yh5ls 1970x were my school years in Latvia and Estonia. I have very good memory about that time. In remote villages kids found many ww2 artifacts that time
While the Nazi regime did exercise a significant degree of control over the German economy, it did not completely nationalize industries or fully centralize economic decision-making. Instead, the Nazi regime relied on a mixture of government direction and private enterprise, with the state playing a key role in coordinating economic activity and mobilizing resources for the war effort. Businesses were expected to cooperate with government policies, but were also allowed to operate relatively independently in many cases. However, it is important to note that this level of control was significantly greater than what was present in other capitalist economies of the time, and it can be said that Nazi Germany had a highly controlled, interventionist economy.
The Nazis desired an economy that was privately and being state planned. So they privatised industries and set up large conglomerates at the hands of their allies and controlled those companies through them.
Do you have a few examples of businesses being allowed to operate independently of the regimes agenda? Since you claim there are many cases of this. Being able to choose between toasters and tanks is not independence if there is a gun to your head.
@Mesimarch Can you name any large or even medium-sized businesses in the US or the UK that refused to contribute to the war effort during WWII and weren't compelled to or just outright nationalized? Even the ostensibly capitalist countries adopted centralized state planning of the economy and expected everyone and every enterprise to do their patriotic duty and put country before profit, so it's hard to say that ANY participant in WWII had a truly free market and "non-coercive" type of economy as an economic libertarian might describe it. The big corporations in Nazi Germany were independent in that they were privately owned, kept their own profits, and could in theory still succeed or fail based on their own merits. They also didn't so much have a "gun to their head" as their interests were largely the same as those of the state. The Nazis solidified their power largely by currying favor with the wealthy and powerful, quickly eliminating the more vociferous anti-capitalist "socialist" elements of National Socialism in the Night of the Long Knives and assuaging the fears of the economic powers that be - the bankers, the industrialists, etc. that nothing was going to fundamentally change and that on the contrary anybody who played ball with the regime would do quite well for themselves. Is that free market capitalism? No, but it's certainly closer to it than nationalization and socialism as practiced in states like the USSR is. And it seems to be the end result of capitalism whenever it's practiced under an authoritarian regime.
@@bobsnow6242 That's all fine, but I'm not sure where the comparison of 1930s Germany and the west in war economy during the 1940s is relevant to my question. It's not fair either because if you were a business leader in the west you could have refused and continued your life. In Nazi Germany you would potentially be sent to prison, concentration camps or otherwise be made an example of and ostracized from society. It was a totalitarian regime after all. That is the fundamental difference. Do I think that nationalization and coercion in a democracy is a good thing? No, it's contradictory to basic freedoms. My question still stands because I'm curious. I'm not trying to get someone in some gotcha moment. I'm asking because of the claims of the OP. Which businesses were allowed to operate independently of the regimes agenda and could refuse without severe repercussions if they refused when the state came knocking? He claimed there are many cases of this. Just give me two or three.
The term privatization was cointed in the 1930s to describe hitler's economic policies when Germany went against the mainstream of nationalizations Germany under hitler was a state capitalist economy with private cartels and monopolies endorsed
It was funny how East-Germans looked at Nazi-Germany. In 1990 (after the fall of the Wall) I visited Colditz where my father as a Dutch KNIL-officer was held as a prisoner of war in 1940 - 1942. I was led around the castle and the museum together with children and teachers of a local school. It was 'funny' to see how these children identified themselves with the Allied POW's and not with the Germanmilitary guards...
The NSDAP was never a socialist party, in fact it got a lot of support from business leaders precisely because it was anti-socialist, anti-communist (of course) and anti-organized labor. The socialist bit was explained by noting that unlike traditional (real) socialism the productive effort was harnessed for the benefit of the nation which was the embodiment of the people -- its a variation on the "what's good for business is good for the country" notion. One of the international sales pitches the Nazis made was that they were anti-communist. This tied in with their anti-semitic policy because it regarded communism as a "Jewish ideology", part of the great Jewish plot to take over the world (etc etc etc). The anti-communist line was helpful after the end of the war because local Nazi officials, the backbone of the party being small traders, low level officials and the like, fled to the west, became 'deNazified' and formed the core of the civil administration in the west. The need to confront Russia meant that Germany was rapidly rehabilitated after the war, it was needed as a core part of NATO, and its interesting to see how the excesses of the past were transferred to the leadership and then the notion that "they're just as bad" was introduced. This is a huge subject that's largely covered by interpretations rather than contemporary sources. As people who were from that era die off you can actually witness history being rewritten in real time.
On the argument "muh Hitler hated socialists": Marxist Socialists are not National Socialists. Thats like saying because two capitalist nations have a war neither are capitalist. Hitler believed Marxist Socialists were the wrong type of Socialist because they weren't Nationalists. He also believed Capitalism and Bolshevism was working together under the Jew. He believed Capitalism creates class conflict which the Jew exploits by implementing a Marxist INTERNATIONAL Socialist regime that destroys race. If you did read Mein Kampf then you would understand Hitler believed the race was the Nation, so to destroy the race would be to destroy the Nation as well. That is why he hated Communists. Not because they were Socialists, but because they were Jewish (in his mind). And no, they were not Capitalist. The 'private sector' was under tight state regulation if the private sector did not answer directly what the state wanted then they would be Nationalised. And factories were never even ran by the employer. If you read any primary source content from factor workers then you would know that they were nationalised in all but name under the National Socialist regime.
Yes, I hate so much that the Nazis get labeled as “socialist” because of the name despite the fact they were literally supported by the capitalist class, which has against its interest the establishment of socialism! It’s so bizarre how people think history is so simple 😑 The first people murdered by the Nazis were the socialists and labor organizers!!
Had a teacher who was imprisoned by secret police (Stasi) in Berlin höhenschönhausen for just being in the „Peace movement“. My grandfather searched After the Fall of the wall for his Stasi-file. But it was not everything Bad they often say they had a good healthcare System and absolutely no one was unemployed. Free kindergartens ect but the companies had their own „combat Units“ and shit like that. And the environmental policy was a disaster.
@@ComradeGamesIn in the Gdr they were from the conpanies itself now its more like you have to find a place for your kid and pay for it. But i really don‘t know because i dont have kids ^^
My father visited family members "beyond the Iron Curtain", he explained to me how they reached 0% unemployment. He witnessed a road being renovated every week, the same road mind you. Workers in the front would remove bricks and workers in the back would place them back. Sure this helps against weeds, but it's hopelessly unnecessary work.
Good video 😊 The politics and internal workings of the GDR is interesting to me. I always got the impression GDR was both a thorn in the side of the USSR, but also a useful intelligence asset due to its border and East Berlin.
It's a bit more complicated than this in my view. The Nazi's were indeed basically Fascists under a different name, and not Socialists under a different name. The word Socialist was in fact a later addition to the partyname (originally it was DAP and not NSDAP) as in the 1920s Socialism was the big political wave in Germany at the time, SPD and KPD combined easily taking 40% of the vote, so the Nazi party wanted to grab most of that electorate. Economically, though the state held control over markets, the Nazi's and Fascist Italy were the first modern states where Privatization was policy for large chunks of the economy. Germany had seen a period of increasing the public sector. So whatever was planned in the Nazi 'planned economy' it was not nearly on the scale as it was in Soviet Russia, and perhaps more in line of other Western European countries at the time, but I'm not sure about that. So, this opportunistic meme that once in a while gets round on the net that "Nazi's were just a specific kind of socialists" is BS. (not directed at you, Stefan)
Fascism is socialist, read about the socialisation of the factories made by Mussolini and Nicola Bombacci. Fascism is anti capitalist and it’s a socialist non Marxist ideology. Mussolini itself said multiple times that communism is state capitalism and that he is doing real socialism (the socialisation of the factories)
Q:Why did the army of the German Democraric Republic look very similar to the Wehrmacht? A:This is not because of socialism, but an interesting political strategy by the East Germans. They wanted to be seen as the "true germany" following the division of the country, and therefore instilled more "German" elements into their society. This was done to contrast with the west, which often adopted American cultures and ideas. For example, the outfit and traditions of the Bundeswehr were a lot like the US army, while the NVA was seen sort of as a modern Wehrmacht, in both uniform and traditions.
They used the term "fascism" instead of "nazism" not only in the GDR but in the USSR and all Eastern Bloc countries as well, for the same reason described in the video.
Wonderfully done ! I really appreciated the insight into soviet centric historical views and it's influence upon society. The omissions and contradictions of this practice are glaring .
What soviet centric historical views? Seriously, is there any such thing of any significance in the West? There is no movement for the recreation of a Soviet-style society. And ideological bias is common in historians of any country.
@@fifteen8 It does seem to me there was an effort in the nations of Eastern Europe to academically control the historical narrative by the Soviets. Much of the same as the west does to this day.. The Soviets were very successful at this . Unclear on some of your other points ,but my view is certainly a product of Shaping as well
@@toriidawdy8456 Thanks for your honest, self-aware response. I interpreted "soviet centric historical views and it's influence upon society" to imply that there is an ongoing influence. I think it's obvious that the Soviet Union, its society and government have been thoroughly discredited and even demonized, especially since its collapse. Nonetheless, all nations and historians are biased, with varying degrees of inaccuracy and propaganda in their narratives.
Fascinating! Thanks I would like you to do more of these “ideological” topics in the future as they are key to understanding what happened and why it happened
@HistoryHustle I am working on a book about the Interwar period. History of Europe (1919-1939). Your channel has become one of my "every-day-habits". Thank you.
Nazi Germany was capitalist. This is very well documented. Planned economy does not equal socialism if the means of production are not managed and owned by the workers. Fascism aligns with capitalism because it maintains private ownership of the few over the labor power of workers and means of production.
@@Ironhardt Nazi Germany was not socialist. I'm from Germany myself, and I know the history. It's like this meme "socialism is when government does stuff". The Nazis had way too many connections to big corporations, and overlaps. They totally had free hands, as long they didn't bother the Nazis. Plus the general strike was abolished, unions destroyed. And under socialism the means of production have to be totally socialized (therefore worker ownership plays a huge role). Socialism is supposed to end class struggle, and a way to leave the capitalist society so that there aren't any class differences anymore. The Nazis never had this in mind, neither they ever bothered to pursue anything like that. The Nazis had just lust for politics of conquest, destruction and a perverted picture of a "ideal society" in mind, which was also pretty contradictory. Socialism is about to transform the whole society in a human way - not about discrimination, or Killing people you don't like. Hitler had a neo-germanic Empire in mind, Just Like Duche in Italy with a neon Roman empire. Nothing about their ideology or Economy was "socialist" in the slightest. Many capitalist and of the bourgeoisie had excellent relationships to the Nazis, even looked up to them. Hitler himself was heavenly inspired hy the british empire and the US, how through colony they wiped out the natives. Which is itself capitalist, and feudalistic. This was pretty much their direction.
Historians under capitalism also have to tell history in line with capitalist doctrine. For example in USA we are taught that slavery was the result of racism, and racism is the core cause of inequality, police violence and so on. No American history teacher is allowed to teach that slavery is the natural end point of capitalist exploitation. And more generally historians under capitalist regimes are definitely not allowed to teach Marxism, class struggle, or even recognize class and its relationship to production. I think what we can agree on is that history is written by the victors, and in the western world today we are taught the myths of hegemonic liberal capitalism.
I mean also right wing historians called Nazism fascism by the 60s-70s. While your reasons for why they used the word are true, i wouldn't want to fully delegitimize that. Ernst Nolte, one of the greatest right wing (democratic dw) german historians called it fascism too
Nazi Germany was a capitalist country, privatization was even coined to describe hitlers economic policies. Many of the companies that existed before the Nazies took over maintained their private ownership of the means of production and operated under the profit motive (Capitalism). There were also numerous companies that collaborated in the holocaust, including several American companies such as IBM. That particular company was responsible for the punch card system used in german censuses to identify persecuted minorities, even operating in the death camps ledger system. There were also german companies that were allowed to continue operating after the war with limited change in executive leadership, such as the coca cola german lead, Max Keith, who became in charge of the entire European division. Krupp, Volkswagen, BMW, Mauser, and more continued to make profits after the war with little in the way of justice. I like your content and am disappointed to see this amount of ignorance. I am not going to post my sources as that got my last comment deleted.
@Soldat Intelectual of course the nazi party was authoritarian and didn't value the private liberty of its citizens. But that is not to say they abolished private property rights, they did keep the economic framework intact while ensuring the private sector worked with national interests.
@Soldat Intelectual capitalism has two defining features, the primacy of profit and the private ownership of the means of production. Crony capitalism is a cop out for forms of capitalism people like you find unflattering. It doesn't need healthy competition, meritocracy, or socioeconomic mobility.
@Soldat Intelectual the companies were not nationalized, this is all a mute point. Also, your holocaust revisionism here is not appropriated. Go to college.
@Soldat Intelectual The first people targeted by the nazis genocide machine were socialists, trade union leaders, and communists. Hitler stole socialist asthetics because they were popular, saying otherwise is a form of holocaust revionism or denial.
@@vexintersect1312 Oxymoronic statement. You cant be regulating the 'private sector' and be authoritarian and have a free market at the same time. Private property was actually abolished in the Reichstag Fire decree and the state didn't work with private sector, the private sector worked with the state or it would face nationalisation. They answered to regulations, price caps, wage caps and if they didn't the National Socialists would walk in and nationalise it. That is not a free market.
East-German/DDR army, Nationale Volksarmee looked a lot like Wehrmacht, although the East German M-56 helmet is different, but it too was inherited from The Third Reich experimental M1944 helmet that wasn't used during The WW II. Paradeübung der NVA 1963: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ykIkX5MiWTc.html
If you ever need pictures of Soviet era military uniforms. Let me know I would be happy to send you pics of my collection which spans the entirety of the Warsaw pact and Yugoslavia.
As an Estonian from soviet era, pretty much aproof what you were sayng and i found same strong similarity from nowdays russia, cultivating same narrative
Not sure I agree that "it's true to a certain degree" 9:03 that the UK and GB intentionally delayed D-Day so as to allow the Soviets to incur more losses. I think TIK's done a video addressing this where he'd said Stalin & Politburo actually asked for a D-Day delay so as not to disrupt their badly needed lendlease supplies (as the Russians would have collapsed in 1943 due to famine) after the Allies informed him they'd need to temporarily suspend lendlease in order to prioritise the invasion. Supplies continued, while smaller invasions were made in Sicily and in mainland Italy.
Grateful for you sharing your knowledge of history. Would appreciate more on the occupation of East Germany. But then again, just appreciate all your lessons of history. Hoping nations will learn from the slaughter of millions and not repeat this disastrous past of world wars. By the way ‘hope’ does differ from wishful thinking.
@@johanvandermeulen9696 my sincere apologies. Yes there have been varying wars throughout modern history that have costed a million+ lives, my previous comment was directed to WW I and WW II. Where their respective deaths were simply insurmountable compared to ‘other wars’ that create death and destruction on a lessor but not acceptable levels. Nations will always justify their wars against other nations and non-nations. My hope is that the spread of nationalistic fervor will not reach the levels of the World Wars. Again my apology for my such a callous statement. I had no intention to offend
@@johanvandermeulen9696 I am deeply sorry but I do not understand your reply. I hope all is well with you and family. I live here in Oxnard California. Just an old guy who takes care of his wife and her mother. Sometimes go out and use a metal detector on the beach when I get a chance. Again hope all is well with you Johan. Take care and God bless
@@edwardheida2919 I thought you were a Dutchman, because Edward Heida is a Dutch name. At least Heida. Edward in Dutch is Eduard. You are a lucky man living in California. Do you swim in the Ocean? I swim here in Amsterdam in the river Amstel, after which Amsterdam is called, and in a branch of the river Y, an other river which is flowing at Amsterdam. Not more than 15 meters because the water in february is very cold. After swimming I make breath - and gymnastic exercises. Swimming pools In do n't tolerate. Bad air and chemical stuff. I got there breath dificulties, nose bleedings, influenza and other unpleasant disorders. I was never in the States. In 2017 I visited Bolivia. Nice country.
George Orwell said "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past" and the Communists knew this long before he wrote 1984. Interesting and as well presented as ever. I always did wonder how East Germany viewed WWII and tried to present it to their people.
@@Autobotmatt428 And fell out of love with Communism very quickly, read "Animal Farm" and you'll read a satire of Communism that Stalin did not like at all!
Nice video, got a little bit more into the politics. Post WWII East Germany must have been a very strange place in which to live. Would like to see more videos on this 👌
It was. I'm from Berlin Germany and I can say you its was not a funny time. The fact that women and men were merly equal and the rent for a appartment was extrem low, shouldn't hide the fact that people were under 24/7 observation and suspects were took away and murdered or find themselves again in a dark cell. The same with people who wanted to flee across the border. The people had few goods due to the planned economy and could only achieve many things with good contacts to the west. Requests for travel or visits to the West were usually turned down and if so, people were observed upon their return. Religion were suppressed, same as were youth cultures such as punks and goths, who were classified as anti-socials. The secret service of the GDR - The Stasi kept files on everyone. Artists could also only publish what the leadership liked. Nevertheless, many East Germans are still supporters of the GDR. Unfortunately, also many young people, similar to National Socialism, many glorify the circumstances and the things that happened and the facts are more relative to those. Germany is when it comes to both ideologies until today very divided. Not in the big citys like Berlin, Hamburg or Munich, but outside of them you can fell it very well under the population of Germany. But it comes more and more to the citys too, because of some politicial parties like the AFD or Die Linke and some other extremes.
@@mammuchan8923 But a lot of east germans enjoyed it. Its the same think like under the nazis, those who benefits from it, defend the system and thier crimes. The main problem are the ideologues in our society, wheter they are left or far right, they use terms like "Workers Unite" or "Or for a Nation of one race and one folk" to use them for thier ideas and to gain controll over you. Anarchists, Communists and Faschists are the same bread of evil as the ones that use us to enrich themselves. In the end the only matter is who gains the controll, but once they in charge they threat you like a slave for thier pervert ideas and goals.
Funnily enough the biggest escape over the Berlin Wall was from West to East in 1988 - see LA Times 1988 ‘East German border guards helped them over the barrier, which divides the city of Berlin into Allied and Communist sectors. Most of the estimated 186 environmentalists who fled to East Berlin ....’
@@rjames3981 Funny, but not surprising to me. The Red Army Faction, called the RAF. A group of West German students.which foundet one of the most dangerous german terror groups, were supported by the GDR with weapons and money. They also received support from Pakistani and Afghan communists. Some members are have traveled to the Middle East in order to obtain an military education there. Between the founding of the GDR in 1949 and the construction of the Wall in 1961, around 2.8 million people fled to the Federal Republic of Germany. That was one of the main reasons why they build the wall. After the wall was built, the so-called escape from the republic was only possible under great danger
05:35 The guy wearing the Stahlhelm is a dead ringer for Hitler. That's just about exactly what he looked like in the field 20 years earlier, before he changed to the style moustache that we know him by today.
it is typical of Communist propaganda to say "The Battle of Britain was only won by the UK because the Nazis were concentrating on the East" when in fact the Nazis were preparing for invasion of Britain and the USSR was its ally in carving up Poland and the Baltic states and left the Soviets unmolested when Stalin attacked Finland. There is also the issue of Italy's invasion of Greece and Hitler assisting Mussolini when he was repulsed and that the UK forces were sent to assist the Greeks. The Soviets did nothing to help either Yugoslavia or Greece, the latter conflict actually delayed Barbarossa by at least two months.
Once again professor Stephan, thank you for presenting a part of history that has not been taught in the traditional school setting. Thank you for sharing your genius
@@johanvandermeulen9696 we don't learn shit in 'the states', there's no wonder we have such a moronic population which thinks Hitler was left-wing and everything that's not Bible-banging jingoism is "duh left". Seriously, even in private school we hardly learned history. There's a joke in the US that we never get past WWII. Everything is rushed so fast and we don't even have that long of a history.
@@johanvandermeulen9696 In the lower grades there is a gradual increase in the amount and complexity of history taught to go with what kids can understand. I would think that would be pretty normal worldwide. In general it begins with what national holidays mean and state history and advances to more nuanced views of national and international history, bringing in current events. In college, you can study much more in specialized aspects of history for a longer time. Posters who say this and that "aren't taught" or "rarely taught" are only speaking for what they personally understood from that particular time. Lower grades are controlled on the local level, although there are various state and national standards these days in a variety of subjects. The lower grades are designed to give a foundation for further pursuit of interests. They are not designed to be a substitute for college courses or studying on your own. These videos are an excellent aid in learning more.
Communists hate other commies the most. It reminds me of a stereotypical catholic calling a baptist a devil-worshipper. Hitler was socialist. Thanks for making this point clear.
USSR: the Allies allowed the Nazis beat us up longer by postponing invasions in the west. Poland: oh yeah? Where were you furring our uprisings?... USSR: 😅
@@zoranbogdanovic1971 Involved may not be the right word, but since my mother was working in the "Urania" (see Wikipedia for infos) and since i was often there too i had the chance to have some nice talkings with politicians from Germany and Russia too. I was also in the eyes of the Stasi, since i was system critical and started to be so more and more public. I know that once my father had talkings with the Stasi, because of relatives in Denmark and because we were also travelling to western countries through the hungarian route. We had some privileges because we were rich and not system critical and some of my relatives had some political influence. Luck was on my and our side, because the system collapsed before i was old enough for the Stasi to saw me as a threat.
Most shocking thing is east germany is now conservative sometimes even far right. Also skinheads originated from here. You would think being under communist rule you would find this in west Germany but no
Interesting. The GDR adopted many of the Prussian/Wehrmacht traditions. The way they marched and even their uniforms were similar to the previous versions.
When a one-time East German was asked about life in Eastern Germany after the war, his response was, along with the atrocities, they had ransacked it. "By the time they were finished," said the East German, "all we had left were a few potatoes and Walter Ulbricht."
East Germans regained freedom, but had to painfully readjust to losing free health care, their jobs, and any other benefits of the GDR. Must have been tough to deal with.
If you look at the amazing political activity in 1989/1990, the goal was not reunification per se, but a better, democratic DDR as a sovereign state. That was brought short by a lot of West German political pressure. And what happened after with Treuhand, the erasure of DDR architecture, like Palast der Republic, the inequalities between East and West that exist to this day: reunification could have been so much more than it has turned out to be. And of course, the damage inflicted to East Germans in the 1990s and beyond is immeasurable.
I grew up in Hungary, that was a very few places where East and West Germans could meet. The difference between them was astonishing, literally within a few decades they looked completely different. The East Germans looked like impoverished East Europeans, while the West Germans looked like Americans.
The East Germans looked like the Olympic Champion figure skater Katarina Witt and soccer star Michael Ballack, while the West Germans were fat and overweight?
‘Care free’? Baader-Meinhof? RAF? Contrast with Olympic Gold medalist below Rosemarie "Rosi" Ackermann (née Witschas; born 4 April 1952) is a German (DDR) former high jumper. On 26 August 1977 in Berlin, she became the first female high jumper to clear a height of 2 metres.
@@rjames3981 I am telling you my own experiences that I've seen with my own eyes. Obviously there are other variables here, but it was obvious for all of us in Hungary which system we preferred, based on how the same Germans looked like in different political environments.
What has always puzzled me, was East Germany's claim, that they all lived in a Democracy. Was this an example of sick communist humour, or a gross misinterpritation of the English language ?
It's kinda strange. North Korea is officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. With democratis they want to show the world they are democratic.
It’s because in socialist logic The State = The People, they are synonymous. It’s also with power of synonyms that the definition of socialism can be state/people/public/community/group/workers/union/society control of the means of production.
One was National Socialist, the other International Socialist. Essentially both socialist, so the transition in the GDR was easier to communism that it was for West Germany to adopt democracy and a free market
@@damonmelendez856 well they were International but still Patriotic like with the Soviet Union, i guess it's cause Nationalism makes it more chauvinistic against other nations while an International socialist union with patriotism which each different republic is the Communist one
Hi, Stefan, I agree partially, but, I must say for first time, I desagree as well. First I agree absolutely that, in general, marxist historians ignore the primacy of ideological factors in nazism, from Führerprinzip to racism or the differences of nazism and fascism.. Ok. And it is true, without doubt, that GDR was a totalitarian state, not like III Reich but totalitarian. But...First: The communist history is a caricature of marxism method. Le 18 Brumaire de Louis Bonaparte or The origen of private propierty, family and state are very far,.VERY FAR..from soviet history, E.P. Thomsom, Gordon Childe, are very far. Ig is not fair to mix great masters of the History with totalitarian propaganda of USSR. Marxism is a method in History. Two: links of nazism and nazi state.with great capital were very real. The bigger german enterprises won a lot of money with the war of agression and the looting of capital and ressources,.with forced work,.with elimination of trade unions. I am from Spain. From.1939 to 1959 Franco followed the Autarquia, the fascist economic model,.the state was the ruler of economy, but the great capital was the profiteur. It is possible capitalism with a monopolistic system under state rule. It is another way of capitalism, without concurrency, without workers's rights.
yeah denying the capitalist nature of the 3rd reich is just silly, theres no basis for it unless you follow an idealistic idea of capitalism which never applies to the real world
Imagine being born in East Germany in the early 20th Century; Kaiser then republic then dictatorship then communist separation then democracy and reunification. Sure tried every which way before becoming civilised eh?
The Allies were stupid to allow Germany to remain as a concept after Potsdam. They should have created five or six separate states. Say the Soviets could have all Berlin in a People's Republic of Brandenberg. Bavaria another in the south, with Hanover and something on the Baltic with another along the Rhine and a couple of statelets in the French occupation zone.
My mother grew up in Communist era Poland. A couple of times she visited East Germany. According to her, East Germans treated communism like a religion and that Marx and Engels where gods to them.
Great video. Very interesting 👌 A fascinating book about the DDR was written in the late 1990s by Markus Wolf with Anne McElvoy. ‘The man without a face’ Memoirs of a spymaster. It’s details the operations carried out by both sides during the Cold War told (from a DDR perspective). Told by the man who effectively ran the DDR foreign intelligence service from 1950-85 (Markus Wolf) Carlos the Jackel, The Berlin Wall, spy’s in the West German government and the ‘underground’ war being fought etc
I disagree with your point on Marxist historians including politics into their interpretations. The idea that non-communist historians aren’t influenced by their own political bias is completely unrealistic. Essentially all historians do this - with some being more honest about it than others
I am from Slovakia, and in 2023 our pro-Putin so-called Social Democrats and pro-Putin neo-nazis remind me a lot of this brown-red (or as I call it excrement-hemoroid) GDR regime ideology.
It's not only historical but also psychological. The majority of early DDR leadership had been political prisoners or targeted by the Gestapo during the nazi era, up to and including Erich Honecker.
Years ago I was fortunate to take a course given by the late Tony Judt. He focused many of his lectures on the history of communist parties in Europe, mostly those of France and Italy. I do remember him emphasizing that the one of the ways the communists in the DDR legitimized themselves was by saying, 'we are not them", meaning the West German government, and that they were the heirs to all the previous German governments. The DDR saw itself as something completely new.
Another wonderful explanation of that ( political history ) matters through this magnificent video... Sir Stefan, besides your wide knowledge about history , you also have essential & sufficient knowledge about politicians & political events which created historical events....manipulation of historical events are processing everywhere... while researching through knowledge of several primary historical records + several secondary historical records and gathering them besides neutrality, reasonable respectively researching....history must be nearby to past truth
If I may suggest a video expanding on the topic of Land-Lease impact of the Soviet War effort. I'm sure there are available figures to compare the amount from the USA, Great Britain compared to the Soviets' own. Maybe that would help history better evaluating it, and not overlooking it as much. Thank you.
Considering most of east germanys policies were essentially copied from nazi germany I think it shows very well what would have happened to the german economy if hitler had not tried to colonize eastern europe. Hitler used a war economy to get out of the great depression so unless you got some states to occupy you will need a war to make it work in the long run. East germany was plagued by constant shortages. Also I must say: for as flawed as the marxist view on history is it does hold up surprisingly well. But then again similar thing could be said for the nazi view on history.
No offense, but you are rather partisan in your presentation, constantly implying that the view of the other side is somehow wrong and misguided for being so different from the way that we are taught about these issues. I respect that you have your own personal opinion regarding the validity of the Eastern Bloc perspective, but if you are going to constantly make hints at the facts that to they were under some kind of delusion, it would be good if you actually also took the time to explain what their errors were.
I've known some children of east germans who escaped the wall and basically from most of what I hear is that many east germans speak romantically about the reich as the good old days because they mostly escaped allied bombing and attacks then had to endure the soviet union, which had quite a bone to pick with the germans after the horrors of the eastern front.
the name national socialism has nothing to do with marxist economics. it was an appropriation of the term to make the party more popular. in fact, the nazis were not influenced by socialism at all.
One thing many people forget about appeasement before WWII by the western powers is that the borders set up by those powers after WWI were, in many cases, arbitrary. The nation states set up were often remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. What has always interested me us that one often hears the names of regions in central Europe that have long histories but are not nation states today. What we have also seen is that some of these have broken up. Some were peaceful, others not. I wonder how the Marxist historians would have weaved this into their narrative.
Bismarck would have seen the flaws in DDR logic. He didn't trust Russians because he e said 'they don't trust themselves.' Marxism appeals to authoritative regimes. Stalin wrote the update of Marxism-Leninism. What could anyone expect?
Nazi Germany did not have a socialist economy. While Germany certainly had a planned economy, it was not the same kind of structure as the USSR (or later soviet bloc states). The war economy of Nazi Germany was closer in organization to the US economy at the same time. The Nazi party respected the private property rights of business owners, and allowed the owners to profit from their ventures. The USSR did not have property rights (or really, they had very limited property rights). There were no businessmen, who had rights over the factories or land. Factories were owned by the state, and were managed by an employee of the state. No singular individual had rights over a given piece of land or factory. So the factory managers did not get to collect any excess profits from their factory. All of those went to the state itself. This is the most important distinction between the socialist economy and the capitalist economy. So Germany still had a class of businessmen, many of whom became very wealthy after the war. A few of those companies are still around today. The only reason the Nazi's called themselves 'socialists' is because they were extremely cynical and wanted to attract the support of the working class. However, Hitler made it very clear to the businessmen that he would not enact any socialist or social democratic reforms.
