THE CRISIS YEAR 1953
AND THE COLD WAR IN EUROPE


 
Photos: Landesbildstelle Berlin

An International Conference
10-12 November 1996

Venue: Kulturhaus Altes Rathaus Potsdam, Am Alten Markt

Organizers:
Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung (ZZF)
Cold War International History Project (Wilson Center, Washington, DC)
The National Security Archive (Washington, DC)

In cooperation with:
The Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University (Philadelphia)
Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politsche Bildung (Potsdam)

With financial support from:
The Open Society Institute and the Soros Foundations (New York)
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Chicago)
The Smith Richardson Foundation (Westport, CT)
Volkswagen Stiftung (Hannover)

Languages: Simultaneous translation: English & German & Russian

 10 November 1996

17.00
Opening and welcoming remarks

Christoph KLESSMANN (ZZF)

William TAUBMAN (Woodrow Wilson Center)

Thomas S. BLANTON/ Malcolm BYRNE (National Security Archive)

17.30
Key Note Address

Egon BAHR (Bonn)
The Year 1953 in Germany and Its Consequences for German Politics

To be followed by a reception at the Kulturzentrum Altes Rathaus, Potsdam

 11 November 1996

9:30-12.00
Session I : Origins and Consequences of the June 1953 Uprising in East Germany: Recent Research and Debate (Roundtable)

Chair: Christoph KLESSMANN (ZZF)

Panelists:

Gerhard BEIER (Kronberg)
"On the Role of the East Berlin Construction Workers”

Torsten DIEDRICH (MGFA Potsdam)
Militarization as Cause of the Crisis and the Suppression of the Uprising by the Armed Forces”

Ruud van DIJK (Ohio University)
The German Question Dropped, Revisited and Frozen. The Kremlin, the East Germans and the GDR, 1952-1953”

Manfred HAGEN (Göttingen University)
Long-term Consequences of the June Uprising on Population and Party”

Monika KAISER (ZZF Potsdam)
The SED Leadership and the Crisis of the Stalinist System”

Ilko-Sascha KOWALCZUK (Humboldt University, Berlin)
“June 17 in Recent Research: Social Classes and Political Actors”

Helmut MÜLLER-ENBERGS (Federal Commission for the Records of the former GDR State Security, Berlin)
“The Stasi and June 17, 1953”


12.00-13.00
LUNCH


13.00-15:45
Session II A: New Evidence on the “Beria Affair”

Chair: William TAUBMAN (Amherst College)

Panelists:
Lew BEZYMENSKI (Moscow)

Mark KRAMER (Harvard University)
“New Evidence on the Beria Question”

Vojtech MASTNY (Wilson Center)
“Missed Opportunities After Stalin’s Death”

Gerhard WETTIG (BIOST Cologne)
“Did Beria Seek Agreement on Germany”

Vladislav ZUBOK (NSA)
“The Succession Struggle and Soviet Policy on Germany”

Commentators:
Amy KNIGHT (SAIS)

Elke SCHERSTJANOI (IfZ Potsdam)


15:45-16:15
BREAK


16:15-19:00
Session II B: Soviet ‘Deutschlandpolitik’ Before and After the June Uprising

Chair: Alexander O. CHUBARIAN (Institute of Universal History)

Participants:
Alexei FILITOV (Institute for Universal History, Moscow/KWI, Essen)
Victor GORBAROV (CWIHP)
“New Russian Evidence from the Russian Military Archives”

Hope HARRISON (Lafayette College)
“Soviet Deutschlandpolitik before and after June 17, 1953”

Sergej Vladimirovich MIRONENKO (State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow)

Faina NOVIK (Russian Academy of Sciences)
“Soviet Policy Towards the GDR After June 17, 1953”

Leonid RESHIN (Moscow)
“The Events of June 17 in the GDR as Reflected in the Moscow Archives”

Zoia Constantinovna VODOPIANOVA (Storage Center for Contemporary Documentation, Moscow)

Commentator: Jochen LAUFER (ZZF)


  12 November 1996

9.00-11:45
Session III: Stalin’s Death and East Central Europe

Chair: Malcolm BYRNE (The National Security Archive)

Panelists:
Leo GLUCHOWSKI (Toronto University)
“The Events in Poland in 1953”

Andras B. HEGEDUS (Institute for the History of the 1956 Revolution, Budapest)
“The Impact of Stalin’s Death in Hungary”

Wanda JARZABEK (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
“New Polish Evidence on the 1953 Uprising in the GDR”

Mihai RETEGAN (University of Bucharest)
“Stalin’s Death and the Romanian Response”

Commentators:
Andrzej PACZKOWSKI (Warsaw)

Jan FOITZIK (IfZ Berlin)


11:45-13.00
LUNCH


13.00-16.00
Session IV: The West and the 1953 Uprising

Chair: James G. HERSHBERG (CWIHP)

Panelists:
Richard IMMERMAN (Temple University, Philadelphia)
“‘Chance for Peace?' The Initial U.S. Response to Stalin’s Death”

Gary BRUCE (McGill University)
“The MfS, the West and the June 17 Uprising”

Klaus LARRES
“Great Britain and the June 1953 Uprising”

Michael LEMKE
"Adenauer and June 17, 1953"

Bernd STÖVER (U. Potsdam)
"American Discussions and Political Strategies after the Uprising"

Commentators:
Robert BOWIE (Washington)

Christian F. OSTERMANN (The National Security Archive)


16.00-16.30
BREAK


16.30-19.00
Session V: The Legacies and Historical Significance of the 1953 Uprising (Roundtable)

Chair: Jürgen KOCKA (Free University Berlin)

Panelists:
Mary FULBROOK (University College, London)

Manfred GÖRTEMAKER (Potsdam University)

Stefan HEYM (Berlin)

György LITVAN (Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Budapest)

Wilfried LOTH (KWI Essen)

Hans MISSELWITZ (Bandenburg State Agency for Political Education, Potsdam)

Edgar WOLFRUM (Free University Berlin)


End of Conference

 13 November 1996

Workshop on Archival Situation and Research in Progress on Contemporary German and Eastern European History (optional)

Venue: ZZF, Potsdam

For information about the Conference, contact Christian Ostermann at the National Security Archive:  chrisost@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu


The National Security Archive,
The Gelman Library, George Washington University
2130 H Street, NW, Suite 701, Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994-7000 / Fax: 202-994-7005
Internet: nsarchiv@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu