Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Propagandayı Yıkmak: ‘Duvar Hakkında Bilmeniz Gerekenler’ Broşürü Üzerine Bir Vaka Çalışması

Year 2023, Volume: 9 Issue: 3, 655 - 669, 30.11.2023
https://doi.org/10.31592/aeusbed.1119921

Abstract

Çağdaş tarih, düşmanın saçma sözcükleri olarak algılandıkları için kendi zamanlarında yeterince ilgi gösterilmemiş, ama kayda değer Soğuk Savaş broşürleriyle doludur. Bunlar, ulusal arşivlerin derinliklerinde gizli döküman olarak sınıflandırılmamış olmalarına rağmen, daha popüler materyallerin yanında önemli görülmeyip veya ciddiye alınmayıp çalışılmamışlardır. Bu çalışma, bazı broşürlerin uluslararası propaganda çalışmalarındaki tarihsel öneminin sadece bir zamanlar onları düşman ürünü olarak etiketleyen fikirler ortadan kalktığında anlaşılabileceğine dair genel bir inançtan yola çıkarak, bu doğrultudaki materyallerinin yeniden keşfedilmesini desteklemektedir. Bu amaçla, bu çalışma, Berlin Duvarı hakkında İngilizce yazılan ilk resmi Doğu Alman broşür örneklerinden olan Duvar Hakkında Bilmeniz Gerekenler broşürü üzerine nitel bir vaka çalışması sunmaktadır. Broşür, duvarın inşasından sonra Berlin'deki durum hakkında uluslararası toplumu bilgilendirmek için resmi Doğu Almanya perspektifinden yazılmıştı; ancak Batı ülkelerinde yaşayan İngilizce konuşan hedef gruplar arasında popüler bir anlayış yaratmayı başaramadı. Broşürün iyi hazırlanmış ifade biçimi veya yaygın eleştirilere verdiği yanıtlar aracılığıyla insanları Doğu Alman davası lehine ikna etme potansiyeline sahip olmasına rağmen, amacına ulaşma konusunda bazı dezavantajları vardı. Bu bağlam içerisinde, bu makale, broşürün Batı'daki İngilizce konuşan hedef gruplar arasında Berlin Duvarı'nın inşasını neden haklı gösteremediğini sorgulamaktadır. Bu şekilde, makale, kayda değer ancak az çalışılmış bu propaganda materyaline odaklanıyor ve duvarın propaganda yoluyla zayıflaması veya güçlendirilmesinden ziyade, duvarın inşasını ve yıkılmasını inceleme eğiliminde olan Berlin Duvarı ile ilgili literatürdeki boşluğu dolmayı amaçlıyor.

References

  • Bytwerk, R. L. (1999). The failure of the propaganda of the German Democratic Republic, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 85(4), pp. 400-416. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00335639909384271 in 16.05.2022.
  • Chronik der Mauer, (2001). Chronicle 1961. Retrieved from https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/en/chronicle/_year1961/_month6/?month=6&year=1961&opennid=180294&moc=1 in 15.05.2022.
  • Coy, J. P. (2011). A brief history of Germany. New York: Facts on File.
  • Defrance, C. (2020). The Berlin Wall representing the Cold War. Retrieved from http://ehne.fr/en/node/12403 in 15.05.2022.
  • Encyclopedia Britannica, (2020) Berlin crisis of 1961. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Berlin-crisis-of-1961 in 15.05.2022.
  • Garthoff, R. L. (1994). Looking back: The Cold War in retrospect. The Brookings Review, 12(3), pp. 10-13. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/20080484 in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (1998). Introduction by Wilhelm Pieck. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/ddr10.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2001). What you should know about the wall. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/wall.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2009a). On the 13th. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/schlugs13.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2009b). Argument nr. 55. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/argu61.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2010), GDR Review (august 1984) — pages 1-6. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/gdrreview8-1984.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • Harrison, H. M. (2011). New evidence on the building of the Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/new-evidence-the-building-the-berlin-wall in 15.05.2022.
  • Hillaker, L. E. (2014). Half of the picture: Representations of East Germany in GDR Review, 1958-1989, Unpublished Master Thesis, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States of America.
  • History, (2010). Berlin Wall built. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/berlin-wall-built in 15.05.2022.
  • Hohensee, N. (2018). The Berlin Wall as a political symbol. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/architecture-design/late-modernismpost-modernism/a/the-berlin-wall-as-a-political-symbol-edit in 15.05.2022.
  • Kempe, F. (2011). Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the most dangerous place on earth. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
  • Koehn, J. (2001). East Germans pressured Soviets to build Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/east-germans-pressured-soviets-to-build-berlin-wall in 15.05.2022.
  • Lacey, K. (2015). The wall of words: Radio and the construction of the Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-projects/listening-to-the-world-bbc-monitoring-collection-ahrc-research-network/academic-papers in 15.05.2022.
  • Long, K. (1961, August 14). Demonstrators defy armed policemen, The Guardian, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34867183/correspondent-describes-situation-in in 15.05.2022.
  • Miegel, M. (2002). Die deformierte gesellschaft: Wie die Deutschen ihre wirklichkeit verdrängen. Berlin: Propyläen Verlag.
  • Newspapers.com, (1961, August 13). Red troops seal off E. Berlin from West. The Boston Sunday Globe, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34867000/east-german-police-close-the-border in 16.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (1961, August 18). East Germany recruits youth, builds ‘Berlin Wall’, The Akron Beacon Journal, p. 2. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34867206/east-germany-begins-construction-on-the in 15.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (1961, November 20). Reds add tank traps to Berlin Wall. St. Cloud Times, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47033228/communists-strengthen-berlin-wall-with in 16.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (1962, August 10). Heartbreak wall. The Cincinnati Enquirer, p. 19. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47033250/opinion-the-berlin-wall-also-known-as in 15.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (2020). Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall in 15.05.2022.
  • Reid, A. (2021), Construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961: Through the papers. Retrieved from https://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/blog/berlin-wall-construction in 17.02.2022.
  • Ross, C. (2004). East Germans and the Berlin Wall: Popular opinion and social change before and after the border closure of august 1961. Journal of Contemporary History, 39(1), 25-43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3180668 in 15.05.2022.
  • Rottman, G. (2008). The Berlin Wall and the intra-German border 1961-89. New York: Osprey Publishing.
  • Schlosser, N. J. (2008). The Berlin radio war: Broadcasting in Cold War Berlin and the shaping of political culture in divided Germany, 1945-1961. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Maryland, United States of America.
  • Shield, E. J. (1961, August 19). Reds raise Berlin Wall, The Windsor Star, p. 5. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34868105/article-describing-the-separation-of in 15.05.2022.
  • Steury, D. P. (2011). Bitter measures: Intelligence and action in the Berlin crisis, 1961. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/cold-war/1961-berlin-crisis/overview/bitter-measures.pdf in 15.05.2022.
  • Time, (1961, September 1). Berlin: Guns at the wall. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,939811,00.html in 15.05.2022.
  • Thomas, K. (1963, August 12). Why escape?... Woman tells her story as Berlin Wall nears 2nd anniversary, Tallahassee Democrat, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47033283/women-tells-her-story-of-escaping-east in 15.05.2022.
  • US Department of State Office of the Historian. (2008). The Berlin crisis, 1958–1961. Retrieved from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/berlin-crises in 15.05.2022.

Tearing Down Propaganda: A Case Study on the ‘What You Should Know About the Wall’ Brochure

Year 2023, Volume: 9 Issue: 3, 655 - 669, 30.11.2023
https://doi.org/10.31592/aeusbed.1119921

Abstract

Contemporary history is full of remarkable Cold War brochures which were not given considerable attention at their times due to the perception of them as the ridiculous words of enemy. Although they were not classified documents in the depths of national archives, they were not seen significant or worth to be taken seriously to be studied along with more popular materials. This study supports the re-discovery of such propaganda materials with a general belief that the historical significance of some materials may only be realized in the study of international propaganda when the ideas that once labelled them as the products of the enemy have disappeared. With this aim, this study presents a qualitative case study on the What You Should Know About the Wall brochure, which was an early example of the official East German brochures about the Berlin Wall in English. It was published to inform the international community about the situation in Berlin after the construction of the wall from the official East German perspective. Nevertheless, it was not possible for this brochure to create a popular understanding among the English-speaking target groups who live in the Western countries. Even though the brochure had potential of persuading its target groups in favour of the East German causes through its well-prepared turn of expression or responses to common critiques, there were certain disadvantages for its achieving this purpose. In this context, this article questions why this brochure was not able to justify the construction of the Berlin Wall among the English-speaking target groups in the West. In this way, it focuses on this remarkable but understudied propaganda material and addresses the gap in the literature on the Berlin Wall which tends to study the building and collapse of the wall, rather than its weakening or strengthening through propaganda.

References

  • Bytwerk, R. L. (1999). The failure of the propaganda of the German Democratic Republic, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 85(4), pp. 400-416. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00335639909384271 in 16.05.2022.
  • Chronik der Mauer, (2001). Chronicle 1961. Retrieved from https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/en/chronicle/_year1961/_month6/?month=6&year=1961&opennid=180294&moc=1 in 15.05.2022.
  • Coy, J. P. (2011). A brief history of Germany. New York: Facts on File.
  • Defrance, C. (2020). The Berlin Wall representing the Cold War. Retrieved from http://ehne.fr/en/node/12403 in 15.05.2022.
  • Encyclopedia Britannica, (2020) Berlin crisis of 1961. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Berlin-crisis-of-1961 in 15.05.2022.
  • Garthoff, R. L. (1994). Looking back: The Cold War in retrospect. The Brookings Review, 12(3), pp. 10-13. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/20080484 in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (1998). Introduction by Wilhelm Pieck. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/ddr10.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2001). What you should know about the wall. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/wall.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2009a). On the 13th. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/schlugs13.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2009b). Argument nr. 55. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/argu61.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • German Propaganda Archive (2010), GDR Review (august 1984) — pages 1-6. Retrieved from https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/gdrreview8-1984.htm in 15.05.2022.
  • Harrison, H. M. (2011). New evidence on the building of the Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/new-evidence-the-building-the-berlin-wall in 15.05.2022.
  • Hillaker, L. E. (2014). Half of the picture: Representations of East Germany in GDR Review, 1958-1989, Unpublished Master Thesis, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States of America.
  • History, (2010). Berlin Wall built. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/berlin-wall-built in 15.05.2022.
  • Hohensee, N. (2018). The Berlin Wall as a political symbol. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/architecture-design/late-modernismpost-modernism/a/the-berlin-wall-as-a-political-symbol-edit in 15.05.2022.
  • Kempe, F. (2011). Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the most dangerous place on earth. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
  • Koehn, J. (2001). East Germans pressured Soviets to build Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/east-germans-pressured-soviets-to-build-berlin-wall in 15.05.2022.
  • Lacey, K. (2015). The wall of words: Radio and the construction of the Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-projects/listening-to-the-world-bbc-monitoring-collection-ahrc-research-network/academic-papers in 15.05.2022.
  • Long, K. (1961, August 14). Demonstrators defy armed policemen, The Guardian, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34867183/correspondent-describes-situation-in in 15.05.2022.
  • Miegel, M. (2002). Die deformierte gesellschaft: Wie die Deutschen ihre wirklichkeit verdrängen. Berlin: Propyläen Verlag.
  • Newspapers.com, (1961, August 13). Red troops seal off E. Berlin from West. The Boston Sunday Globe, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34867000/east-german-police-close-the-border in 16.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (1961, August 18). East Germany recruits youth, builds ‘Berlin Wall’, The Akron Beacon Journal, p. 2. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34867206/east-germany-begins-construction-on-the in 15.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (1961, November 20). Reds add tank traps to Berlin Wall. St. Cloud Times, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47033228/communists-strengthen-berlin-wall-with in 16.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (1962, August 10). Heartbreak wall. The Cincinnati Enquirer, p. 19. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47033250/opinion-the-berlin-wall-also-known-as in 15.05.2022.
  • Newspapers.com, (2020). Berlin Wall. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall in 15.05.2022.
  • Reid, A. (2021), Construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961: Through the papers. Retrieved from https://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/blog/berlin-wall-construction in 17.02.2022.
  • Ross, C. (2004). East Germans and the Berlin Wall: Popular opinion and social change before and after the border closure of august 1961. Journal of Contemporary History, 39(1), 25-43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3180668 in 15.05.2022.
  • Rottman, G. (2008). The Berlin Wall and the intra-German border 1961-89. New York: Osprey Publishing.
  • Schlosser, N. J. (2008). The Berlin radio war: Broadcasting in Cold War Berlin and the shaping of political culture in divided Germany, 1945-1961. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Maryland, United States of America.
  • Shield, E. J. (1961, August 19). Reds raise Berlin Wall, The Windsor Star, p. 5. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34868105/article-describing-the-separation-of in 15.05.2022.
  • Steury, D. P. (2011). Bitter measures: Intelligence and action in the Berlin crisis, 1961. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/cold-war/1961-berlin-crisis/overview/bitter-measures.pdf in 15.05.2022.
  • Time, (1961, September 1). Berlin: Guns at the wall. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,939811,00.html in 15.05.2022.
  • Thomas, K. (1963, August 12). Why escape?... Woman tells her story as Berlin Wall nears 2nd anniversary, Tallahassee Democrat, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47033283/women-tells-her-story-of-escaping-east in 15.05.2022.
  • US Department of State Office of the Historian. (2008). The Berlin crisis, 1958–1961. Retrieved from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/berlin-crises in 15.05.2022.
There are 34 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Muhterem Akgüden 0000-0003-0090-5232

Publication Date November 30, 2023
Submission Date May 23, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 9 Issue: 3

Cite

APA Akgüden, M. (2023). Tearing Down Propaganda: A Case Study on the ‘What You Should Know About the Wall’ Brochure. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 9(3), 655-669. https://doi.org/10.31592/aeusbed.1119921