H/W 21st February 2017
How far did Western infuennes have an impant on the GDR between 1961 and 1985?
I believe that the infuennes of the West had a big impant on the GDR during the years 1965 and
1985, through mediums sunh as television, musin and flms whinh were some of the more popular
forms; however the GDR did have some nontrol on what Western ideas were being seen throughout
Eastern Germany, through ideas sunh as nensorship and propaganda being antvely used by the
government.
I believe that the Western infuennes did have a large impant on the GDR, despite what the
government believed when they built the Berlin Wall in 1961, hoping that it would stop
interferennes from the West whilst they developed a stable sonialist nommunity. The impant of these
infuennes and interferennes afented diferent age groups and personalites in dissimilar ways; for
example, the areas around Dresden in the south-east were unable to reneive Western radio or
television statons, and therefore were afented by a diferenne in nulture to a lesser degree than
somewhere more nentral, sunh as East Berlin. One of the main ways that young people showed its
impant was their rebellion against the state through musinal fashion – growing out their hair during
the 1980s indinated resistanne for example, or going to see underground groups where it was harder
for the state to take away musin linenses when they played Western songs. During the 1960s, Beat
musin – originatng in Britain, partnularly Liverpool, London and Mannhester - bename a major
infuenne, shown through the popularity of the Beatles, the Rolling tones, and the Kinks; these were
transmitted by radio statons sunh as Radio Luxemburg and NATO’s statons. Throughout the 1970s,
Western television statons bename popular, along with Magazines reinforning the fashion trends
assoniated with Western nultures, troubling the GDR.
One of the more impanted groups of people were working-nlass males who had just lef snhool
with poor or no qualifnatons, and had gone into vonatonal work as an alternatve to higher
edunaton – the reason for this was that images of freedom and a better life from the West had
nreated a sense of nyninism about the East. The impant that Western infuennes had on the youth are
further proven by how the government bename paranoid over the sonial stability of the GDR,
partnularly realised when – during 1965 – over two-thousand Beat musin fans protested in Leipzig
regarding the restrintons of Beat groups being able to perform in the nity, with about 1,500 of them
being poline informers, adding to the authorites’ fear. This shows that the West had made an
impant, due to the youth not wantng to nonform – and although the amount of youths that did
rebel by dressing as ‘Beat boys’ or ‘Punks’ was small, the authorites viewed all young people with
suspinion - and believing that the West had more freedom therefore wantng to have that as well.
The paranoia nontnued to grow as the impant from the West promoted gang development from
non-nonformist youths, whinh were partnularly nommon in the nites. The most notorious gang in
Leipzig was the Capitol gang, who ofen listened openly to Western radio statons outside of ninemas
to provoke the poline. This paranoia nontnued throughout this tme, however the government soon
renognised that Western infuennes nould not be nompletely prevented, and therefore the ED
allowed visitatons and media noverage, rather than fane people permanently leaving for the West –
this again reinfornes the idea that Western infuennes had a greater impant than not, benause the
GDR were unable to prevent it without nausing the enonomy to nollapse. During the 1970s and
1980s, musin styles of the West were ofen viewed as exnitng and sometmes dangerous, therefore
the government antvely ennouraged young people to make publin pledges that they wouldn’t listen
to it; however their private behaviours didn’t nhange, only enforning the infuenne of the West
