ABSTRACT
In many respects, “Socialist Germany” is much more perfectly patterned to the model of totalitarian systems than many another state under Soviet rule or influence. Peace movements in the German Democratic Republic face an entirely different environment. In the spring of 1983, the “Peace Appeal of the Austrian Bishops” was published. Most observers agree that peace movements in Europe have acquired a new quality since the end of the 1970s; some authors even speak of a “New Peace Movement” to stress the dissimilarity both in actions and in goals of earlier times. At any rate, many people became concerned about the final outcomes of their government’s national security and armament policies: they suddenly became aware that the old beliefs of a peace in Europe guaranteed through the nuclear stalemate between the big powers has long since been overrun in the course of events.
