📢 Glasnost
Soviet newspapers and magazines began printing criticism of the system. East Germans who read Soviet material saw ideas their own state would not allow.
The Peaceful Revolution, 1987-90 » Gorbachev and the Protest Movements
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section A, Investigation A5, Key topic 5
- Who Gorbachev was and what glasnost and perestroika meant
- Why the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine mattered to the GDR
- How church-based peace and environmental groups grew
- Why Honecker refused to reform
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Unlock This CourseA new leader in Moscow
The GDR (East Germany) was a one-party state run by the SED, the Socialist Unity Party. It was a member of the Eastern bloc, the group of communist countries led by the Soviet Union. Its secret police, the Stasi, watched the population. Erich Honecker had led the SED since 1971. For decades the GDR had survived partly because it knew the Soviet Union stood behind it.
In March 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, which made him the leader of the USSR. He believed the Soviet system had to change, because its economy was stuck and falling behind the West.
Key terms:
- Glasnost: Russian for "openness". Gorbachev allowed more open discussion and criticism in newspapers, books and public life.
- Perestroika: Russian for "restructuring". Gorbachev's plan to reform the Soviet economy and the way it was run.
- Brezhnev Doctrine: the idea, stated after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, that the USSR had the right to step in, using force if needed, to protect communist rule in any Eastern bloc country.
The end of the Brezhnev Doctrine
The Eastern bloc governments had always known that Soviet troops could be sent in if they lost control, as they had been in East Germany in 1953 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Soviet troops were still stationed in the GDR in the 1980s.
Gorbachev changed this. He made clear that each Eastern bloc country must solve its own problems and that he would not use force to prop up unpopular governments. This is why historians say the Brezhnev Doctrine ended. Other bloc countries took notice. Hungary and Poland allowed far more reform than the GDR did.
🔄 Perestroika
Gorbachev argued that the old ways had failed and that communist states must change. Many East Germans hoped the GDR would follow.
Honecker refuses to reform
Honecker and the SED leadership did not want to copy Gorbachev. They feared that reform would weaken the Party's control. In April 1987 Kurt Hager, the SED's chief thinker on ideas, was asked about Soviet reforms. He replied that if your neighbour put up new wallpaper, you would not have to do the same. In other words, the GDR did not need to change just because the Soviet Union did.
The state also tried to keep Gorbachev's ideas out:
- In November 1988 the GDR banned Sputnik, a Soviet magazine that was printed in German and carried glasnost articles.
- Some Soviet films were taken off the screens.
This made the situation strange. The GDR had always called the Soviet Union its great example. Now its leaders were banning Soviet material, and many ordinary people and Party members were angry.
Church-based protest groups
The Protestant Church was the one organisation in the GDR that the SED did not fully control, and it was a place where people could meet. Under its roof, small groups grew up, especially in the 1980s.
🕊️ Peace groups
They worried about nuclear weapons and the militarisation of the GDR, including military lessons in schools. Peace prayers were held in churches, such as the Monday peace prayers at the Nikolai Church in Leipzig, which had begun in 1982.
🌿 Environmental groups
They protested about pollution from industry and the secrecy around it. In 1986 the Environmental Library was set up in the Zion Church in East Berlin to collect and share information the state kept quiet.
Gorbachev's glasnost gave these groups hope and a model to point to. In November 1987 the Stasi raided the Environmental Library and arrested some members. After public protests and church support, they were soon released. In January 1988 activists who tried to join an official march with their own banner, a quotation from the revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg about freedom for those who think differently, were arrested, and some were pushed out to the West.
The groups were still small, and the Stasi had informers in them. But they showed that open criticism was growing, and they were the base that bigger protests would later use.
Common mistakes
- Saying Gorbachev wanted to end the GDR. He wanted to reform communism, not destroy it, but his actions weakened the Eastern bloc governments.
- Mixing up glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).
- Saying the protest groups were large. In 1987-88 they were small, and they depended on the Church for protection.
Exam-style question
This is a Paper 2 Section A (a) question. It tests whether you can describe features with accurate detail.
Describe TWO features of EITHER the influence of Gorbachev on the GDR in the late 1980s OR the Stasi. [6 marks]
Model answer
I will describe the influence of Gorbachev. One feature was the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Gorbachev made clear that Eastern bloc countries must solve their own problems and that the USSR would not use force to keep unpopular governments in power. This left the GDR leaders without the Soviet backing they had relied on, as in 1953.
A second feature was glasnost and perestroika, which gave East Germans an example of reform. Honecker's leadership refused to follow it. In 1988 it banned the Soviet magazine Sputnik, which carried glasnost articles. Opposition groups in the churches found hope in Gorbachev's openness while the SED looked out of step with Moscow.
What lifts it to the top level: it gives two clear features, and each one is developed with accurate, specific detail.
Exam tip
Pick the alternative you know best, then give two different features. Back each with two facts, such as a name, a date or an event.
Recap
- Gorbachev led the USSR from 1985 and introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).
- He ended the Brezhnev Doctrine, so Soviet force would not prop up Eastern bloc governments.
- Honecker's leadership refused reform and banned Soviet material such as Sputnik in 1988.
- Church-based peace and environmental groups grew and were encouraged by Gorbachev's example, despite Stasi pressure.