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Charting East Germany's Political Twister
| Article
# : |
17406 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1990 |
3,141 Words |
| Author
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Henry Krish
Henry Krish, professor of political science at the University
of Connecticut, has written a number of works on the German
Democratic Republic, including GDR: The Search for Identity
(1985) and Culture and Politics in the GDR. He is currently
working on a new book on political thinking and changes in the
role of the ruling party in the in the GDR. He is the current
president of the GDR Studies Association of the United States. |
Just as its leadership was preparing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of GDR (German Democratic Republic) statehood, a political storm of unprecedented proportions broke over East Germany. It is a storm that is sweeping away long-established landmarks of central European politics, as it has already swept away much of that very leadership.
The winds of change blowing through East German cities, across the GDR's borders, and into the council chambers of the political leadership have hardly begun to die down. We cannot yet tell whether the flood of citizens fleeing the GDR will level off after having exceeded 203,000 for the year (some having emigrated legally), or how many will return, especially now that barriers to travel have been removed. No one can say what groups and individuals will come to the force within the GDR, just what demands they will make, and what the West German reaction to them will be. Finally, the political future of the new leader of the party and state in East Berlin, Egon Krenz, remains opaque.
Following the nonstop flow of refugees to the West and mass demonstrations by those who stayed, a rapid series of political changes took place. The 44-member cabinet stepped down in early November, and the ruling party's entire Politburo followed suit. A hurriedly convened party congress was held in mid-December. The GDR Volkskammer has passed new travel and election laws and has in an unprecedented secret ballot elected a noncommunist party leader as its speaker. In light of such changes, will Krenz succeed in stabilizing GDR life, or turn out to be a transitional figure, akin perhaps to Karoly Grosz of Hungary?
Moreover,
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