Peter W. Sperlich Libros

Imagine being forced to adopt an ideology that strips you of your political rights and plunges you into a life of despair and unending shortages. After the Second World War, the people of East Germany endured just such an appalling fate when socialism was forced upon them. Examining the effects of an oppressive and economically incompetent system, Sperlich presents a systematic review of post-war German history, with an emphasis on the founding of a communist state on German soil: the German Democratic Republic. He traces the imposition of communist rule, discussing the suppression of free elections and opposition to the infliction of a dictatorial one-party regime. Sperlich demonstrates how East Germans suffered under the restraints of socialism, and recounts the peaceful revolution of 1989, which led to the reunification of the two German states.

Sperlich examines the ideological foundations of the socialist regime of the former German Democratic Republic. He provides a detailed analysis of the nature of the GDR's legitimating ideology and of the reasons why the ideology ultimately failed to legitimate the regime. The study uses primary source documents extensively as well as the little existing secondary literature.This is part of Sperlich's larger project dealing with the government, society, economy, political participation, and administration of the law and the system of courts of the GDR. This definitive treatment of the GDR provides the background essential to an understanding of all communist systems of the twentieth century. As such, it is vital reading for scholars, students, and other researchers seeking to understand the rise and ultimate collapse of communist systems and, in particular, the decline of the German Democratic Republic.

This book provides a record of the structures, functions, interactions, decisions, and personnel of the East German Social Courts.