The rise and fall of East German leader Erich Honecker (302)

Cold War Conversations

Honecker emerged as an ambitious political player and became the shadowy mastermind behind the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, a crucial moment in twentieth-century history.

Author Nathan Morley brings to life the story of the longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic. Drawing from a wealth of untapped archival sources – and firsthand interviews with Honecker’s lawyers, journalists, and contemporary witnesses – Morley paints a vivid portrait of how an uneducated miner’s son from the Saarland rose to the highest ranks of the German Communist Party.

Having survived a decade of brutality in Nazi prisons, and frequently on the verge of being relegated to obscurity, he managed to overthrow strongman Walter Ulbricht at the height of the Cold War and reigned supreme over the GDR between 1971-1989.

However, by 1980, the Honecker honeymoon was on the wane as a decade of economic and social difficulties blighted the GDR. Then, as tumultuous changes swept through the Soviet bloc, everything in and around him collapsed in 1989. His health, his certainties, his ideology, his apparatus of power, and his beloved SED party.

0:00 Introduction and discussion on the life of Eric Honecker

5:42 Overview of Honecker's early life and family background

13:49 Honecker's return to Germany and the state of the country

19:37 Honecker's post-war life and rise in East German politics

28:01 Honecker's struggle with the exodus of East Germany's population

34:53 Operation Rose: The division of Berlin

44:10 Public perception of Honecker in East Germany

46:05 Intensifying economic struggles in East Germany and Poland

55:26 Honecker's refusal to follow Gorbachev's reforms and health decline

1:01:19 Honecker's extradition and trial in Berlin

1:03:17 Honecker's release and final years in Chile

1:05:29 Honecker's funeral and tributes received

1:06:51 Mention of the book "The Man Who built the Berlin Wall" by Nathan Moreley and podcast extras

1:07:22 Acknowledgement of podcast's financial supporters and closing remarks

Buy the book here https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1549/9781399088824

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Episodes mentioned:

History of East Germany https://coldwarconversations.com/episode284/

Doping of East German athletes https://coldwarconversations.com/episode264/

Polish strikes in 1980 https://coldwarconversations.com/episode152/

Extra episode information https://coldwarconversations.com/episode302/

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Radio GDR

If you are interested in East Germany we can highly recommend our friends over at Radio GDR.

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