ABSTRACT
The East German revolution of 1989 suggests that in spite of propaganda, lavish spectacles, U-turns, and convoluted arguments, the SED never found a concept for a GDR-nation sufficiently credible to arouse a stronger sense of attachment than the ethnic German nation, or appealing enough to enable East Germans to resist the attractions of West German capitalism once they were faced with a choice between it and ‘socialism in the colours of the GDR’. It is tempting to assume that in the autumn of 1989 the East German population was motivated by the conviction that they and the citizens of the Federal Republic still formed one nation, and that they rejected their state precisely for this reason. Overall, the potency of ethnic nationalism was seriously underestimated by the SED and the nature of national identity misunderstood. Looking back, several factors explain why none of the SED’s various policies regarding the nation achieved popular acceptance.
