Part 15/16:
Despite its undeniable industrial strength—particularly in chemicals, optics, and electronics—East Germany was inherently limited. Its reliance on imported raw materials and energy, coupled with a relatively small domestic market, rendered it vulnerable to external shocks, particularly as energy prices rose and Soviet supplies became unreliable.
Moreover, political repression and the lack of personal freedoms fueled persistent emigration, which increasingly undermined the regime’s legitimacy. The construction of the Berlin Wall temporarily stemmed the tide of defections, but the societal fissures remained.