1949 1989

China-GDR Relations from 1949 to 1989

This book provides an in-depth and very lively analysis of relations between China and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1949 to 1989. It is the first and only comprehensive and detailed analysis of East German-Chinese ties and interactions in English. Chinese-East German relations, which over the decades have experienced some "highs" but many more "lows". " Low points came to the fore in the early 1960s when the Soviet Union ordered its vassal state in East Berlin to treat its former socialist comrade and brother-in-arms in Beijing as an adversary and even an enemy. In fact, the "Sino-Soviet split" ensured that until the late 1980s East Berlin and Beijing were more likely to talk about each other than to talk to each other. The second revised and extended edition of the book draws on a wealth of East German archival material. These include documents and reports from the archives of the GDR's ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED), the notorious East German Ministry of State Security (Stasi), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Together with extensive secondary literature and almost everything that was ever written about China in East German newspapers from the 1950s to 1990, this book examines selected issues and areas of East German and Chinese domestic and foreign policy, placing policies and interactions in their historical context. It offers very detailed and well-documented insights into the following aspects: 1. the bilateral "honeymoon period" from 1949 to the late 1950s, during which both sides supported and applauded each other's oppressive domestic economic policies, including Mao's Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution; 2. the 1960s, when the "Sino-Soviet split" determined the quality and level of bilateral interactions and tensions; 3. the 1970s, when Beijing replaced socialist comradeship with East Berlin with trade and aid from the US and Germany; and 4. the resumption of bilateral relations in the 1980s. The 1970s, when Beijing replaced socialist comradeship with East Berlin with trade and aid from the US and West Germany; and 4. The resumption of Sino-German relations in the 1980s and the subsequent period up to the Tiananmen Square protests and the collapse of the GDR in 1989. The book will appeal to historians, political scientists and international relations scholars, as well as policymakers and diplomats interested in this under-researched area.

Annual Energy Review

German Design 1949-1989

The fertile dual evolution of design under socialism and capitalism in postwar Germany The cheap, colorful plastic designs of East Germany pitted against the cool functionalism of West German design: German Design 1949-1989: Two Countries, One Historydoes away with such clichés. More than 30 years after German reunification, it presents a comprehensive overview of German design history of the postwar period for the first time ever. With over 300 illustrations and numerous examples from the fields of design--fashion, furniture, graphics, automobile, industrial and interiors--the book shows how design featured in daily life on both sides of the Wall, the important part it played in the reconstruction process and how it served as a propaganda tool during the Cold War. Key objects and protagonists--from Dieter Rams or Otl Aicher in the West to Rudolf Horn or Renate Müller in the East--are presented alongside formative factors such as the Bauhaus legacy and important institutions such as the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Ulm. The exceptional case of the division of Germany allows a unique comparative perspective on the role design played in promoting socialism and capitalism. While in the Federal Republic to the West, it became a generator of the export economy and the "Made in Germany" brand, in the East it was intended to fuel the socialist planned economy and affordability for broad sections of the population was key. While the book highlights the different realities of East and West, the many cross references that connected design in both are also examined. It impressively illustrates the many facets of German design history in the postwar period: from the domestic sphere to global politics, from industrial products to design's role as a tool of protest that foreshadowed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.