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Call for Freedom: The Legacy of June 17, 1953

2023-06-17 15:13:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

What is the connection between Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the failure of the popular uprising in the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) on June 17, 1953? Strictly speaking, there is no connection. But if you look more broadly, similar motives can be identified, despite all the differences in historical circumstances. Both on the side of the aggressors and their imperialist claims to power, and on the side of the people fighting for freedom and independence.

After World War II, which ended in 1945, there were - broadly - two enemy camps on a global scale: capitalist democracies and communist dictatorships. In the first place, the American and Soviet superpowers. Together with Great Britain and France, they had defeated Nazi Germany.

Call for Freedom: The Legacy of June 17, 1953

Old and new center of power: Moscow

After the military success, the alliance of convenience created against Adolf Hitler fell apart again. The Soviet Union expanded its area of ??power and influence: large parts of Europe became communist. Among them, East Germany, GDR. The center of power of this so-called Eastern bloc was in Moscow, the then Soviet capital, today the Russian capital.

It was at this time that the term cold war was imposed. It was a more or less strained relationship between the American and Soviet superpowers and the countries that supported them. The political and ideological dividing line in Europe ran between a similarly divided Germany and Berlin.

Market economy in the west, planned economy in the east

It was here that the consequences of the duel with weapons and military threats were particularly visible: while the Federal Republic, with its free market economy, materially recovered from the consequences of the war quite quickly, the economy, state-led planning in the GDR resulted in supply shortages, from which many escaped by fleeing to the West.

On June 17, 1953, the situation escalated: after a few isolated protests against growing mismanagement, frustration broke out across East Germany. About a million people took part in the popular uprising, demanding free elections and German reunification. But their cry for freedom was not heard.

Call for Freedom: The Legacy of June 17, 1953

Soviet tanks ended the dream of freedom

Moscow's leaders crushed the popular uprising with their tanks and soldiers stationed in the GDR. More than 100 people died in the street clashes or were subsequently sentenced to death. Many of them have spent years in prison.

Liberation movements in Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968) and Poland (1980) met similar fates. All attempts to break free from Moscow's chains have failed. It was only thanks to the policies of Moscow's communist reformer, Mikhail Gorbachev, that the inhabitants of the Eastern bloc countries regained their courage. In Germany, the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification a year later.

Putin denies Ukraine's right to exist

The Soviet Union, founded in 1917, was also coming to an end. It dissolved in 1991. Among the 15 independent states since then: Ukraine. A country that Russian leader Vladimir Putin denies the right to exist and therefore attacked on February 24, 2022, in violation of international law. Since 2014, the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine was annexed - mostly without violence, but also in violation of international law.

70 years ago, on June 17, 1953, Western democracies, led by the United States of America, hesitated to support the popular uprising in the GDR. The fear of a third world war fought with nuclear weapons was very great. A concern that continues to haunt many people after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Call for Freedom: The Legacy of June 17, 1953

The promise of freedom: NATO and the EU

Despite this, many countries and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have decided to support Ukraine, which is fighting for its freedom and independence, militarily by giving it weapons and politically by offering it the opportunity to member of the European Union. Both are a promise of a better future, which no one can guarantee.

When the people of the GDR rose on June 17, 1953 against the government and at the same time against the Soviet occupying forces, free West Germany was content with moral support. From a geopolitical point of view, at that time there was no other option. The decision-making power belonged to the Soviet Union and the United States. The duel between capitalism and communism was based on the so-called balance of forces.

Delivery of armaments and aid to refugees

By this was meant a military stalemate in which neither side had a realistic prospect of victory. Opinions change in 2023, the second year of the war in Ukraine. That said, the community of Western states this time has not hesitated to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom against the Russian aggressor, supplying it with weapons and welcoming refugees.

Call for Freedom: The Legacy of June 17, 1953

However, conditions are no longer the same as when Europe was politically and economically divided between East and West. Communist dictatorships belong to the past. They were defeated peacefully by freedom-loving people, decades after suppressed popular uprisings in the GDR and elsewhere.

No courage, no freedom or independence

Despite its failure, the popular uprising of June 17, 1953 occupies a special place in history: that of a model for all subsequent attempts to become or remain free and independent. Seventy years later, reunified Germany remembers the tragic end, but above all the courage of the people, through numerous commemorative events and exhibitions. It is quite natural to make the connection with the struggle for freedom in Ukraine./ DW