Chris Doss:
> False. It was lack of consumer goods that created
the
> greatest discontent, at least in the USSR. The
average
> Brehnev-era Soviet person would rarely if ever
> personally experience political oppression.
Chris, I will concede the point regarding the USSR, which I know very little about.
The point is valid for the DDR, however, which I do know about. The Montagsdemonstrationen were initially demonstrations for political freedoms. The stereotype of "Banana Gabi" is a vicious Wessi caricature, though once monetary union occured, it was inevitable that people would start wanting Western goods. Do not however underestimate the sneaky role played by the CDU and the western secret services, and the historical revisionism which paints the Monday demonstrations as a nationalist movement all along.
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