LIVING WITH THE WALL

As the miles of concrete and barbed wire were finally molded into place along West Berlin's perimeter, it was only natural that Walter Ulbricht and the SED should have spoken as though their country had just won a decisive victory over its adversaries. By all accounts, the Berlin Wall proved to be an effective East German fait accompli, and for the first time ever, Ulbricht's Party regime found itself assured the workforce that it needed to stabilize the GDR's troubled economy. The Wall ‘clarified’ the options of the East German population practically to the point of eliminating them entirely.

But was it really the case that this ambiguous tribute to East German sovereignty could be counted upon to solve the social and political ills that had tormented the SED since its accession to power? In this matter, it is helpful to remind ourselves just how deep the sources of these dilemmas lay. For beyond the fact that Ulbricht's regime lacked the legitimacy necessary to govern the GDR effectively, there was still a sense in which East Germany was something markedly less than the state its leaders wished it to be.