East Berlin June 17, 1953: Stones Against Tanks

Deutche Welle ^ | June 16 2003

[knighthawk]

On June 17, 1953, East German workers took to the streets to protest against hardships instigated by the communist regime. The uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks, but it set the stage for peaceful protests of 1989.

Germany on Tuesday will commemorate the 50th anniversary of street protests that nearly toppled the communist government of East Germany. Stemming from the unrest caused by the government's announcement it would increase working hours for factory employees by 10 percent while simultaneously drastically raising the price of groceries, the demonstrations were bloodily put down with the might of the Soviet Red Army.

In the early 1950s, East Germany's communist government implemented a policy of "expanding socialism according to plan." A combination of expropriating farms in order to create massive industrial-scale farming collectives, stepping up construction of the heavy industry sector and the crushing World War II reparations payments, the East German economy teetered on the brink of collapse.

As austerity measures became the order of the day, the country spiraled into a deep crisis as more and more people left for the relative prosperity of West Germany. In the months leading up to June 17, the supply situation in German Democratic Republic (GDR) had deteriorated significantly. The government ordered drastic savings measures in ways that had an impact on virtually all aspects of life. By spring 1953, close to 30,000 people left East Germany every month.

General strikes

Then came the strikes. During the last days of May and early June, dissatisfied workers began laying down their tools. But the first massive wave of protest came on June 16, as thousands of construction workers protested on Berlin's Stalinallee (today's Karl Marx Allee) against wage cuts, forming a long protest march through East Berlin.

In front of the House of Ministers, 10,000 workers demanded the repeal of the extended working hours and called for a general strike the following day as well as a meeting of all workers. The protests that day were peaceful.

The following day, more than a million people went on strike and took to the streets in more than 700 cities and communities. In addition to the peaceful protests, there were also cases where party offices and jails were stormed and prisoners freed.

What began as an uprising for better wages quickly turned into a protest for freedom, democracy and unity in Germany. The workers called for greater government transparency, a better quality of life, the resignation of the GDR's government, free elections by secret ballot and reunification.

The tense situation escalated further in East Berlin, the epicenter of unrest. The GDR regime lost control of the city and issued an emergency plea to the Russian occupying forces to come to its aid.

Soviet tanks roll

For years, the sequence of events that followed remained hazy. But recently released documents from the GDR show that the Soviets deployed troops in Berlin after they were personally requested to do so by East German Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl and SED Chairman Walter Ulbricht on the night of June 16. The next morning, Soviet tanks rolled into the unarmed crowd of protesters. The troops began firing at the workers on Friedrichstrasse and at Potsdamer Platz, leading to mass chaos.

On June 17, 1953 the situation boiled over as hundreds of thousands protested against the communist regime and its latest austerity measures. Demonstrators called for free elections and better working conditions, which led to running street battles with the East German authorities.

But stone-throwing protestors were no match for tanks. Heavily armed Soviet troops and the state police of the GDR quickly moved to restore order in the city and smash the protests before they could develop into a full-fledged movement.

In the end, the workers paid a high price: 50 deaths, hundreds of injuries and thousands of arrests and prison sentences. For its part, the Socialist Unity Party (SED) suffered mostly cosmetic damage thanks to the tanks and other iron-fisted gestures of support from the Russians. Seen today, the dramatic images of defenseless protesters standing off against massive tanks evoke images of the democracy protests at China's Tiananmen Square, which would follow years later.

During the days following June 17, as many as 10,000 protesters and members of the strike committee were arrested. At least two cases can be proven where people were sentenced to death. More than 1,500 protesters were given lengthy prison sentences. But Walter Ulbricht -- who was a controversial figure in both the Politburo and in Russian government circles -- was able to further consolidate his power.

But the revolt quietly simmered in East Germany for decades to come until the peaceful protests of 1989. That time around the Soviet tanks stayed off the streets and within a year the Berlin Wall fell and East and West Germany were reunited.

[knighthawk]

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