The Role of the Masses in the Collapse of the GDR (New Perspectives in German Political Studies)

This book examines the role of the masses in the collapse of the East German regime and state in 1989 in the northern district of Schwerin. It shows the extent to which citizens of the GDR dictatorship were instrumental in their state's demise. The 'bottom-up' approach employed, in contrast to the study of power wielding elites and 'opposition', explores the shift in mood and behaviour of citizens which brought about the internal collapse of the state.

JONATHAN GRIX is a Lecturer at the Institute for German Studies, Birmingham. His recent publications include, East Germany: Continuity and Change, with Paul Cooke (1999), and the following articles, Civil Society in East Germany pre and post-1989 (1999), The German Democratic Republic, with Julie Smith (1999), and Competing Approaches to the Collapse of the GDR: 'Top-Down' vs 'Bottom -Up' (1998).