Sports, Mass Mobilization, and the Everyday Culture of Socialism in East Germany
Johnson, Molly Wilkinson
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/84644
Description
Title
Sports, Mass Mobilization, and the Everyday Culture of Socialism in East Germany
Author(s)
Johnson, Molly Wilkinson
Issue Date
2003
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Peter Fritzsche
Department of Study
History
Discipline
History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
History, European
Language
eng
Abstract
"This dissertation explores how the communist government of East Germany used sports to build socialism. Sports had traditionally enjoyed widespread popularity in Germany, and communist leaders sought to instrumentalize this popularity towards socialist ends. They believed that sports could produce efficient workers and strong defenders of socialism. They also recognized that sports and sports-related events could draw both athletic and non-athletic citizens into the broader public culture of socialism. This study of the everyday experience of sports---where state goals and citizen interest overlapped---illuminates state-society relations, the successes and limitations of the state's mass mobilization drives, and continuity and change between East Germany and previous German states. The dissertation begins with the reconstruction of sports after World War II. Although the East German government claimed to fulfill German traditions, it in fact suppressed these traditions and imported new Soviet structures for sports. The second chapter looks at sports in everyday life. Sports leaders hoped to mobilize all citizens to play sports, particularly because sports promoted paramilitary ability and work productivity. They organized many programs to draw citizens into sports yet encountered challenges as well as successes. The third chapter explores ""voluntary work actions,"" in which citizens helped build sports stadiums and fund sports festivals. This chapter sheds light on the factors that shaped citizen participation in state-initiated voluntary campaigns. The fourth chapter looks at the highpoint of mass mobilization campaigns, the Gymnastics and Sports Festivals held in Leipzig every year. The state's goal was to use the festivals, particularly the sports shows that stood at their center, to embody unity, synchronicity, and collectivity. Although the festivals involved hundreds of thousands of citizens and were among the most memorable elements of East German public culture, their impact on ordinary East German citizens was both positive and negative. The fifth chapter explores elite sports, focusing on the Friedensfahrt cycling race in the 1950s, to analyze how the state used elite sports to win international prestige, to promote socialist spectatorship, to inspire patriotism, and to cultivate socialist athletic heroes."
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.