East German Cold War Propaganda

After the end of World War II Germany was separated into nation-states. Each nation-state was governed by a different country because officials could not agree on peace terms. The Soviet Union had claimed the eastern portion of the country. In 1947, the "German People's Congress for Unity and Just Peace" met in Berlin. The Congress was to take the demands of all the occupied zones, and create a peace treaty which would enact a centralized German government. In order to have their nation-state properly represented, the Soviets created The German Democratic Republic in 1949 when they officially approved their constitution in May.

A map of occupied Berlin.

Purpose

The purpose of propaganda in the German Democratic Republic was to maintain the Soviet ideology of socialism. Through various forms of propaganda such as posters, pamphlets and speeches the Soviet Union censored the ideas of the allied forces and the outside world from the citizens of Eastern Germany.

Media

Media for East Germany propaganda during the cold war played a very significant role in the persuasion and ideologies of the East German people at this time. The types of media that were most prevalent in their propaganda efforts were posters, pamphlets, tabloids, and speeches.

Posters

Posters during the Cold War focused primarily on depictions of Stalin and his positive effects on East Germany. The information on the posters was used to convince the German people that the institutions of the Soviet Union would perpetuate a peaceful socialist society. Many other posters were used to depict the allied forces in a negative light, this form of propaganda was generated to make the Germans dislike the ally outsiders.

Pamphlets

The German Democratic Republic created pamphlets to promote a socialist and peaceful way of life to those living in Eastern Germany. These pamphlets were dropped in the Federal Territory of East German zones in large "propaganda rockets" and small "metal coconuts", along with "occurrence reports" that documents the times they were sent and 'outside occurrences' to spread their news in an innovative, creative and far reaching way. The "propaganda rockets" allowed for more people to be exposed the information over a large geographic scale.

Tabloids

The German tabloids during the cold war were used as media source to entertain and inform the working class with pictures, articles and news that highlighted the successes of the East German society. East German Cold War Tabloids & Propaganda

Speeches

There were many influential leaders and intellectuals during the Cold War in East Germany. Speeches were made in order to persuade the people to fall in line with the socialist movement and the leaders of the Soviet Union. These speeches, along with the propaganda aforementioned helped to convince the German people that socialism and the German Democratic Republic would remain intact.

References

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] picture link:[8]

  1. ↑ History Channel Online, Cold War, http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war
  2. ↑ The GDR: A State of Peace and Socialism by Erich Honecker, http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/erich1.htm
  3. ↑ Map of Cold War Berlin, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/62055/54542/Map-of-Cold-War-Berlin
  4. ↑ Contra Magazine Tabloids, http://rectoversoblog.com/2010/12/13/propaganda/
  5. ↑ The BIrth of the German Democratic Republic, http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/history/bl gdr.htm
  6. ↑ The Rise and Fall of the German Democratic Republic 1945-1990 by Mike Dennis pgs. 3-4 published in 2000
  7. ↑ Bye Germany, Hello Wall, http://people.usd.edu/~clehmann/HWB/hwb_n/prewall.html
  8. ↑ http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/2010/12/warm-wishes-from-ddr.html
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