Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/265827 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15606
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper exploits the idiosyncratic line of contact separating Allied and Soviet troops within East Germany at the end of WWII to study political resistance in a non-democracy. When Nazi Germany surrendered, 40% of what would become the authoritarian German Democratic Republic was initially under Allied control but was ceded to Soviet control less than two months later. Brief Allied exposure increased protests during the major 1953 uprising. We use novel data on the appointment of local mayors and a retrospective survey to argue that even a "glimpse of freedom" can foster civilian opposition to dictatorship.
Subjects: 
spatial RDD
autocracy
protest
political resistance
East Germany
World War II
JEL: 
F51
H10
N44
P20
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
45.39 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.