Office of the Historian

258. Paper Prepared in the Department of State1

Washington, undated

3. EAST GERMAN PEACE MOVEMENT AGAIN PRESSING REGIME

The unofficial peace movement in East Germany is again gearing up to protest against the regime’s militaristic policies and the East-West arms race. Thus far, political trade-offs between the state and the peace activists’ mentor, the Lutheran Church, have kept the movement under control. But with the GDR’s consumer-oriented economy in difficulty, the peace coalition could attract others who are less susceptible to Church guidance.

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The small, dissident peace movement in East Germany is planning new activities for November 7–17 under the slogan “Ten Days of Peace.” The program will build on earlier demonstrations and discussions which were characterized by appeals to pacifism and East-West disarmament. Like the FRG group which partially inspired it, the East German movement consists mainly of alienated youth along with some intellectuals and Lutheran clergy. They view East Germany’s militarism and subservience to the Soviets as a sign of societal decay. Current preparations suggest, however, that the movement’s appeal may now be broadening to include somewhat older individuals.

While any unofficial group activity with political implications is ipso facto disapproved of by the regime, the state and the party have had particular difficulty dealing with the peace movement. Among [Page 786] other concerns, the regime does not want to lose whatever capital it has among FRG leftists by moving too strongly against the activists.

The Lutheran Church, for its part, gives the activists moral support and institutional shelter, but does not want a confrontation with the state, which has been wooing it in an effort to gain greater political legitimacy. The Church’s own interests vis-a-vis the regime dictate that it moderate the more radical tendencies within the movement—which it has so far succeeded in doing. Hence, for the upcoming “Ten Days of Peace,” the Church bowed to the authorities’ demand that the “Swords Into Plowshares” symbol not be distributed as an arm patch, but the Church reserved the right to use the symbol in other ways.

The delicate balance maintained so far could easily be upset if the movement gains adherents less amenable to Church influence. The erosion in East German living standards, heretofore the principal basis of social order, could boost the peace movement’s attractiveness as the only available means for expressing anti-regime discontent.

  1. Source: Reagan Library, Paula J. Dobriansky Files, Germany, Democratic Republic of (1). Confidential. The paper is page 3 of a longer paper that was not found. An unknown hand wrote at the top of the page, “GDR 10/6/82.”↩