Description

The stories of nationalisms are often told like
archetypal fairy-tales. There are the heroes (members
of some national elite), the foes (the alien or
feudal oppressors), and the maidens to be won (the
various peoples). After the happy end, and a happy
end there usually is, the heroes and
their wives live happily in their little house called
nation.
The story told here is somewhat different. The plan
to create a separate nation in the German Democratic
Republic (GDR) between 1970 and 1989 failed; there is
no new nation.
This book traces the development and the propagation
of the GDR nation, through education materials and
archive sources, from before 1970 until state's end
in 1990. Primary sources are textbooks for
'Staatsbürgerkunde' (lit. State s Citizens Education)
as well as for History lessons.
'A Nation Under Construction' provides a unique
insight in a failed nationalisation project. Students
of communist societies, especially their education
systems, will find this book a helpful case study in
propaganda - however unsuccessful it turned out to be.