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Dictatorship and demand : the politics of consumerism in East Germany /

Annotation An investigation into the politics of consumerism in East Germany during the years between the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49 and the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Dictatorship and Demand shows how the issue of consumption constituted a crucial battleground in the larger Cold War strug...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Clasificación:Libro Electrónico
Autor principal: Landsman, Mark, 1966-
Formato: Electrónico eBook
Idioma:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2005.
Colección:Harvard historical studies ; 147.
Temas:
Acceso en línea:Texto completo
Descripción
Sumario:Annotation An investigation into the politics of consumerism in East Germany during the years between the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49 and the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Dictatorship and Demand shows how the issue of consumption constituted a crucial battleground in the larger Cold War struggle. Based on research in recently opened East German state and party archives, this book depicts a regime caught between competing pressures. While East Germany's leaders followed a Soviet model, which fetishized productivity in heavy industry and prioritized the production of capital goods over consumer goods, they nevertheless had to contend with the growing allure of consumer abundance in West Germany. The usual difficulties associated with satisfying consumer demand in a socialist economy acquired a uniquely heightened political urgency, as millions of East Germans fled across the open border. A new vision of the East-West conflict emerges, one fought as much with washing machines, televisions, and high fashion as with political propaganda, espionage, and nuclear weapons. Dictatorship and Demand deepens our understanding of the Cold War.
Descripción Física:1 online resource (xii, 296 pages)
Bibliografía:Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-287) and index.
ISBN:0674039920
9780674039926