Ach so??? More evidence that the problem to Churchill was not whatever form of government the Germans might have had but the Germans themselves?!EUROPE: East German uprising left to go it alone
By Hugh WilliamsonFinancial Times; May 22, 2003
The British government under prime minister Winston Churchill refused to support a pro-democracy uprising by 1m East German workers and farmers in 1953, leaving protesters to face persecution by Soviet Union and East German troops, according to a new book.Instead of offering moral support to the uprising - seen by historians as the forerunner to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 - the British praised the Russians for intervening with tanks to prop up East Germany's communist government, according to Hubertus Knabe, the book's author."Even though the protesters hoped for support from the allies (controlling West Berlin), the British in particular left them to their fate," he told the Financial Times.17 Juni 1953: Ein deutscher Aufstand (17th June 1953: A German Uprising)-published to coincide with ceremonies next month marking the 50th anniversary of the uprising - is the first book to deal in detail with the reaction of western countries to the protesters, who demanded free elections and better living standards. Up to 170 demonstrators were killed by communist troops.The anniversary is set to be alandmark event with accompanying political debates, television documentaries, theatre and musical productions.The exact nature of the uprising remains disputed. The former East German government sought to discredit the protesters' legacy by claiming the uprising was provoked by anti-communists and fascists supported by West Germany.The former West Germany paid lip-service to the protest by declaring its anniversary a public holiday.New documents released since 1989 have enabled "many Germans to really understand 'June 17' for the first time", claimed Mr Knabe, a historian and director of a museum in the former prison for those held by the Stasi (secret police) in east Berlin.British cabinet papers show that London was, in private, determined that the protests should not get out of hand and lead to an East-West military conflict.For this reason, British commanders in control of parts of West Berlin stopped West Berliners crossing the city - the Berlin Wall had yet to be built - to join protesters in the East.Mr Churchill rebuked a British commander who complained to the Soviets over the execution of a West Berliner caught in the East, blocked moves to discuss the uprising in the United Nations, and praised the Russians for acting with "remarkable restraint" in crushing the uprising.In response to calls for early German unification, Selwyn Lloyd, then British foreign minister, asserted in a memo to Mr Churchill that "at the present time a divided Germany" was preferable because it was "more secure". But he insisted that London should not say so in public "due to the possible effect on German public opinion".The US considered providing the protesters with guns, but decided against it.Ahead of the anniversary "the current British government should at least make a self-critical assessment of how it behaved then", Mr Knabe concluded.The British foreign ministry refused to comment.
Note: What I mean by "Churchill" is of course a generalization for many in the British government.