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The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on 16 June 1953. It turned into a widespread uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day. In Germany, the revolt is often called People's Uprising in East Germany (''Volksaufstand in der DDR'').〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=BStU - Publikationen der Stasi-Unterlagenbehörde - 17. Juni 1953: Volksaufstand in der DDR )〕 In remembrance of it, June 17 used to be a national holiday of West Germany until reunification. The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the ''Volkspolizei''. In spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. Even after 17 June, there were demonstrations in more than 500 towns and villages. ==Background== In July 1952 the second party conference (less important than party congress) of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) took place in East Berlin. In Communist Party General Secretary Walter Ulbricht's words, there was to be the "systematic implementation of Socialism" (''planmäßiger Aufbau des Sozialismus''); it was decided that the process of Sovietization should be intensified and the importance of the state expanded. The party was acting on demands made by Stalin.〔 This meant for example the division of the five ''Länder'' into 14 regions (''Bezirke'') plus East Berlin. This division marked an assault on the remaining middle stratum of the GDR: farmers who owned land, as well as small business owners/tradesmen, who were being forced to give up their independence through raised charges. This decision was made amid the background of the catastrophic economic situation in the country. In the course of the militarisation pushed by Soviet authorities, direct and indirect military expenditures rose and already made up around 11% of the national budget in 1952. Together with reparation payments, this totalled over 20% of the budget. The economic policies of the SED favoured the development of heavy industry at the expense of the production of food and consumer goods, all of which resulted in a severe crisis in supplying the public with goods. Electricity was turned off in factories and public buildings at the onset of darkness every evening (during peak period). The dramatic increase of emigration (Republikflucht, brain drain) in the first half of 1953, already high since the establishment of the GDR, constituted a serious economic and social problem. Another factor that contributed to an already complicated political situation was the high number of political prisoners in the GDR. Suppression of the illegal organisation ''Junge Gemeinde'' (''Young Congregation''), wrongly perceived as the central youth organisation of the evangelical church, played a role here. Numerous trainee pastors were imprisoned (e.g. Johannes Hamel and Fritz Hoffmann). Ecclesiastic recreation centres were closed and taken over by the FDJ (e.g.: Schloss Mansfeld and Huberhaus Wernigerode). High school students who belonged to a church were often expelled by the school authorities, sometimes even shortly before school graduation. Within this complicated background, the decision to raise the work norms (in short the principle 'more work for the same salary') was perceived as a provocation, which would conceivably lead to the deterioration of living standards. The Central Committee decided to address the economic difficulties with a package of changes, which included higher taxes and higher prices, and — most significantly — an increase of the work quotas by 10%.〔Wasserstein, ''Barbarism & Civilization'' page 494.〕 These changes were coming into force by 30 June 1953, Ulbricht's 60th birthday. Issued as a suggestion, it became in effect a direction that was introduced in all the state-owned enterprises (so-called ''volkseigene Betriebe'') and if the new quotas were not met then workers would have to face a reduction of salaries. The decision was taken on 13–14 May 1953, and the Council of Ministers approved it on 28 May. Following Stalin's death in March 1953 and the massive increase in emigration the new Soviet government decided to ease the policies Stalin had demanded. On 4 June 1953, the Soviet government, alarmed at reports of unrest, summoned East German leaders to Moscow. Georgy Malenkov warned them that if policy direction were not corrected immediately, there would be a catastrophe.〔Otto Grotewohl's notes on meetings between the leaders 2 – 4 June 1953; see Ostermann, ''Uprising'' pages 137–138〕 After intense discussion the East German party eased policies and publicly admitted that mistakes had been made. However, according to the historian of East Germany, Manfred Wilke, that admission may have had the unintended effect of inflaming public opinion rather than easing tensions.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Uprising of 1953 in East Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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