Soldiers, Citizens, and the State: East German Army Officers in Post-Unification Germany

摘要

Despite official narratives of a relatively smooth transition, of the merging ofn“those things which belong together,” German unification and the formationnof a new German state has been an uneven project filled with friction and ani-nmosity. While the West German government celebrated the “victory” of unifi-ncation, and stated that all East Germans wanted unification, one group of EastnGermans did not look forward to the dissolution of the GDR: members of thenEast German military, the Nationale Volksarmee (National People’s Army, ornNVA). Disbanded immediately upon unification, the overwhelming majoritynof NVA officers were left unemployed overnight, stripped of their status as offi-ncers and portrayed by the West Germans as the “losers” of the Cold War. Fornthese men, unification was not a joyous, desired event; rather, it representednthe end of their careers, security, status, and the state they had sworn tondefend. As such, the “fall” into democracy for these men was from the startnfraught with uncertainty, disappointment, anomie, and a profound sense of loss.