Nation ohne Volk - A Nation Under Construction

The stories of nationalisms are often told like§archetypal fairy-tales. There are the heroes (members§of some national elite), the foes (the alien or§feudal oppressors), and the maidens to be won (the§various peoples). After the happy end, and a happy§end there usually is, the heroes and§their wives live happily in their little house called§nation.§The story told here is somewhat different. The plan§to create a separate nation in the German Democratic§Republic (GDR) between 1970 and 1989 failed; there is§no new nation.§This book traces the development and the propagation§of the GDR nation, through education materials and§archive sources, from before 1970 until state's end§in 1990. Primary sources are textbooks for§'Staatsbürgerkunde' (lit. State s Citizens Education)§as well as for History lessons. §'A Nation Under Construction' provides a unique§insight in a failed nationalisation project. Students§of communist societies, especially their education§systems, will find this book a helpful case study in§propaganda - however unsuccessful it turned out to be. The stories of nationalisms are often told like archetypal fairy-tales. There are the heroes (members of some national elite), the foes (the alien or feudal oppressors), and the maidens to be won (the various peoples). After the happy end, and a happy end there usually is, the heroes and their wives live happily in their little house called nation. The story told here is somewhat different. The plan to create a separate nation in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) between 1970 and 1989 failed; there is no new nation. This book traces the development and the propagation of the GDR nation, through education materials and archive sources, from before 1970 until state's end in 1990. Primary sources are textbooks for 'Staatsbürgerkunde' (lit. State's Citizens Education) as well as for History lessons. 'A Nation Under Construction' provides a unique insight in a failed nationalisation project. Students of communist societies, especially their education systems, will find this book a helpful case study in propaganda - however unsuccessful it turned out to be.