The troubles in East Germany in June 1953 reached a peak on June 17th, when there were mass demonstrations and a General Strike throughout the German Democratic Republic. (G.D.R.). There has been many reasons cited for these protests, but it is perhaps possible to bring them down into two categories. Firstly, the long-term causes. These include the raising of work quotas, and the subsequent reduction of worker income. As well as this was the program of collective farms in the countryside. Going further back than this, it is possible to cite the imposition of Stalinism as a long-term cause. As well as this there is the economic and social change in East Germany at the time.

For the short term however, it would be useful to discuss the winter of 1952/53, during which there was a substantial economic crisis in East Germany. Perhaps added to this is the political crisis in East Germany at the time, which can be seen as a major cause of the working class unrest.

After all of these factors are discussed, a conclusion will be reached as to the reasons for the working class protest.

In his book, "The Two Germanies since 1945", Turner begins to describe the reasons for t

In conclusion, it is probably fairest to say that the working class protests began mainly due to a number of long-term and short-term reasons. However, to amplify on that statement, it is also fair to say that a lot of these causes, both long and shot term can be seen as the fault of the leadership of the GDR. Many of these mistakes were really inherent problems of Stalinism. Collectivisation always lead to decreased productivity. The five-year plans always made outrageous targets that were just not possible to reach with the resources available. Added to this was the changing role of the trade unions, which lead to disputes between the workers and the party as to what role they should play. All in all, the causes, when by themselves, while problems, but not major ones. When added together over time, they lead to demonstrations and a General Strike.

G.W.Snadford, From Hitler to Ulbricht

Another long-term cause is the imposition of Stalinism. The policies and framework of the soviet Model was imposed rapidly on East Germany, mainly because of the Soviet Union was uncertain of the future of East Germany as a Soviet state. They believed that it may just become a neutral area between themselves and the West, or they believed it would become a separate entity in it's own right. By 1949, the Stalinist policies had taken over in East Germany. However, the speedy imposition caused problems. As well as the exodus of the farmers due to the imposition of collectivisation, many independent businesses began to leave the country for the West, as were many leading intellectuals, who could not live with the ideological monopoly the SED tried to impose on East Germany. This drop in population lead to many problems for the GDR. Added to these problems was the need to create an economy for a country that had for a long time been part of a larger, more complete country. By this,!

In the short term however, it is useful to look at the events of the winter, which spanned between 1952/53. There was a major economic crisis during this time, which was only compounded by a broader social crisis. The workers were beginning to become alienated with industry, and the productivity was beginning to fall as a consequence. Added to the industrial problems was a problem in agriculture. The communist party was initially conciliatory to the farmers, but they were now beginning to enforce collectivisation on a larger scale. The response of the farmers was to resist the changes actively. Production went down to the levels were the farmers were producing enough for their own needs and little more. This obviously led to a food shortage, which only served to anger the industrial workers further.

M. MacCauley, The German Democratic Republic Since 1945

All these problems however became more

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Approximate Word count = 1874
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)