Problems of Peace and Socialism

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Problems of Peace and Socialism was the German-language edition of the World Marxist Review (WMR), the theoretical and ideological magazine of the communist and workers' parties of the world. It existed for 32 years until it was discontinued in June 1990. The WMR headquarters was in Prague . The magazine published by Prague publishers Peace and Socialism appeared at its height in 41 languages ​​and had a circulation of half a million copies. It was distributed in 145 countries. There were representatives from 69 communist parties in the Prague office. The main edition appeared in Russian under the title “Problemy Mira i Sozialisma” (Russian: “Проблемы мира и социализма”, English: “Problems of Peace and Socialism”). The other language editions could be edited and changed by the communist parties of the respective countries depending on the party line. In the GDR the magazine was published by Dietz Verlag Berlin .

Changing editors-in-chief

The first editor-in-chief was the Soviet sociologist Alexei Rumyantsev , who held this position until 1964. His successor was GP Frantow , Rector of the Soviet Academy of Social Sciences. In 1986, Alexander M. Subbotin , a leading member of the CPSU, followed. In the final phase, Lubomir Molnar , a Czechoslovak diplomat, headed the editorial team of WMR; he was the first non-Soviet editor.

Political importance

GDR postage stamp from 1973

The magazine was considered the pro-Soviet mouthpiece of the world communist movement. In terms of content, it followed the line of the CPSU and also took part in the twists and turns of the Moscow party line. Parties that did not follow the Moscow position left the Prague editorial office. So z. B. in the Sino-Soviet conflict several communist parties such. B. the Cubas temporarily not the line of the Kremlin. The three countries of the "Beijing Wing" - China, Albania and North Korea - distanced themselves from the Moscow line and did not publish the magazine.

The magazine became an important mouthpiece for Mikhail Gorbachev's reform policy of glasnost and perestroika in the late 1980s . Many of his advisors worked for the international magazine in Prague, such as Gennady Gerasimov , Georgi Schachnasarow , Evgeni Ambartsumow , Anatoli Chernjaew , Georgi Arbatow , Alexander Zipko , Yegor Jakowlew and Ivan Frolow .

In the wake of glasnost, the journalists from the Soviet Union demanded that the magazine be converted into a "pluralistic organ" in which even those who think differently can find a forum. In contrast, the GDR representative in the editorial office, Werner Jarowinsky , " defended the character of the paper as a collective organ of the communist and workers' parties against attempts to turn the magazine into a platform for ideological, pluralistic arguments and discussions. It was important to promote the common struggle and To put peace, disarmament and social progress at the center of reporting and not the inward polemics ".

After the revolutions in 1989 against the communist dictatorships, the editorial staff also adapted to the new era and articles by Zbigniew Brzeziński , Alexander Dubček , Milovan Đilas and Andrei D. Sakharov were also published in the last few months of the publication .

literature

  • Franca Wolff: Glasnost just before the end of broadcasting: The last years of GDR television (1985-1989 / 90), Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2002.
  • Lothar Mertens : Red think tank? The Academy for Social Sciences of the Central Committee of the SED, LitVerlag, Münster 2004.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franca Wolff: Glasnost shortly before the end of broadcasting: The last years of GDR television , chap. 4.4.3: The distancing of the SED leadership from the multinational magazine 'Problems of Peace and Socialism'