The Initiative for Peace and Human Rights (german: Initiative für Frieden und Menschenrechte, IFM) was the oldest opposition group in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

. It was founded on 24 January 1986 and was independent of the churches and state. On 7 February 1990 it joined with

New Forum New Forum (german: Neues Forum) was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded on 9 September 1989 and was the first independent (non- National Front) political ...

and

Democracy Now ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

to form the electoral

Alliance 90 Alliance 90 () was a political alliance of three non-communist political groups in East Germany. It was formed in February 1990 by the New Forum, Democracy Now and the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights. It received 2.9% of the vote in the 19 ...

and merged with them to form the Alliance 90 party on 21 September 1991.

Before the Peaceful Revolution

The Initiative emerged from a human rights seminar in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

that was planned for 16 November 1985 but was cancelled by the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

state church due to

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maintaining state autho ...

pressure. At first, it had a loose organizational structure and about 30 members. People involved in the IFM included

Bärbel Bohley Bärbel Bohley (24 May 1945 – 11 September 2010) was an East German opposition figure and artist. Biography As an artist, Bohley won prizes from the authorities, including a trip to the Soviet Union. Her opposition to the government did n ...

, Werner Fischer, Peter Grimm,

Ralf Hirsch Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

Gerd Poppe Gerd or GERD may refer to: * Gerd (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname * Gerd (moon), a moon of Saturn * Gerd Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Gastroesophageal reflux disease, a chronic symptom of mucosal damage ...

Ulrike Poppe Ulrike Poppe (original name Ulrike Wick; born 26 January 1953 in Rostock, GDR) was a member of the East German opposition. In 1982 she founded the "Women for Peace" network and in 1985 joined the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights. In 1989 s ...

, Martin Böttger, Wolfgang Templin and Ibrahim Böhme. It cooperated with the churches but was independent from them. The Initiative campaigned for disarmament and demilitarization and was against any kind of authoritarian structure, the glorification of violence and the exclusion of minorities and foreigners. The positions were published, among others, in the illegal magazine ''grenzfall''. In February 1986, a social revolutionary wing led by Thomas Klein and Reinhard Schult split from the Initiative and formed the ''Gruppe Gegenstimmen''. In January 1988, several members of the IFM were arrested in connection with the state-sponsored Liebknecht-

Luxemburg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Memorial March in Berlin and subsequently deported to the West. Ralf Hirsch was expatriated. In November 1988, when the Romanian leader

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

was invited to visit East Germany, civil rights activists organized a Romanian evening in the Gethsemane Church in East Berlin in order to draw attention to the violation of fundamental rights and the catastrophic living standards in Romania. Subsequently, several members of the IFM were placed under house arrest during the Ceauşescu visit. These and other '' Zersetzung'' psychological warfare measures of the Stasi severely hampered the work of the IFM in the subsequent period.

During the Peaceful Revolution

On 11 March 1989, the IFM became the first opposition group to expand across all of East Germany. The Initiative's activity surged during the

Peaceful Revolution The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...

, but its numbers were modest compared to the new opposition forces. The first regular East Germany-wide meeting took place on 28 October 1989. Werner Fischer (Berlin), Gerd Poppe (Berlin) and Thomas Rudolph (

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

) were elected for six months as speakers. The Initiative was part of the

East German Round Table Round table primarily refers to the Central Round Table (''Zentraler Runder Tisch''), a series of meetings during the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany in late-1989 and early-1990. The Round table first convened in East Berlin on 7 December 19 ...

, with two members. Gerd Poppe became a minister without portfolio in the

Hans Modrow Hans Modrow (; born 27 January 1928) is a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. Taking office in the middle of the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the country for much of the winter ...

government on 5 February 1990. On 7 February 1990 it joined with

and

to form the electoral

. In the 18 March

1990 East German general election General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. They were the only free and fair parliamentary elections in the history of the country, and the first free and fair election held in that part of Germany since November 1932. The A ...

, the Alliance scored 2.9% of the vote and received 12 seats in the

Volkskammer __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house w ...

References

External links

Initiative for Peace and Human Rights from ''chronik der wende''
Peaceful Revolution Dissent Organizations of the Revolutions of 1989 Political parties in East Germany Political parties established in 1986 Political parties disestablished in 1990 1986 establishments in East Germany 1990 disestablishments in East Germany {{Germany-party-stub