No capitalist nation! No capitulation
Poster
1990 (designed and printed)
1990 (designed and printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a campaign poster issued by the 'Aktionsbündnis Vereinigte Linke' ('Action Alliance United Left') for the first and only free parliamentary elections ('Volkskammerwahl') in East Germany (GDR-German Democratic Republic) on the 18th of March 1990. The elections took place between the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany.
The poster depicts a family with the father holding a flag bearing the legend: 'Keine Kapitulation'. There is a word play here. By swapping a letter and inserting one, the slogan changes to 'Kapital Nation'. The text can therefore be translated as 'no capitulation' - no capital nation'.
The Action Alliance was founded out of the 'United Left' and the 'Carnations' for the elections. The left wing parties were apprehensive of monetary and political union with the West German Federal Republic. The Action Alliance was politically further left than the Citizen's Movements and continued to follow Marxist theories. They claimed that reform could be managed within the GDR and resisted 'annexation' to West Germany. With this attitude the Alliance stood alone against the tide of political opinion in favour of reunification.
The poster depicts a family with the father holding a flag bearing the legend: 'Keine Kapitulation'. There is a word play here. By swapping a letter and inserting one, the slogan changes to 'Kapital Nation'. The text can therefore be translated as 'no capitulation' - no capital nation'.
The Action Alliance was founded out of the 'United Left' and the 'Carnations' for the elections. The left wing parties were apprehensive of monetary and political union with the West German Federal Republic. The Action Alliance was politically further left than the Citizen's Movements and continued to follow Marxist theories. They claimed that reform could be managed within the GDR and resisted 'annexation' to West Germany. With this attitude the Alliance stood alone against the tide of political opinion in favour of reunification.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Lithograph printed on paper and coloured by hand with red felt tip pen and red chalk |
| Brief description | Poster, lithograph, 'No capitalist nation! No capitulation', issued by the 'Action Alliance United Left' for their campaign for the first free parliamentary elections in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), GDR, 1990 |
| Physical description | Depicts a family - mother and father and two children. The father holds a sign bearing the poster's main text. The mother waves a flag. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'Keine Kapitulation!
Keine Kapital = Nation!'
Vereinigte Linke Translation 'No capitulation no capital = nation!' |
| Object history | This object is part of a group of graphics inspired by the pro-democracy movement in East Germany in 1989 and 1990, which saw popular demonstrations result in the overthrow of the Communist government, led by Egon Krenz, culminatinng in the free elections of 18 March 1990. All the material, which covers a wide range of the political parties and movements that took part in these events, was gathered by V&A Curator Margaret Timmers in East Berlin in the week preceding these elections. |
| Summary | This is a campaign poster issued by the 'Aktionsbündnis Vereinigte Linke' ('Action Alliance United Left') for the first and only free parliamentary elections ('Volkskammerwahl') in East Germany (GDR-German Democratic Republic) on the 18th of March 1990. The elections took place between the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany. The poster depicts a family with the father holding a flag bearing the legend: 'Keine Kapitulation'. There is a word play here. By swapping a letter and inserting one, the slogan changes to 'Kapital Nation'. The text can therefore be translated as 'no capitulation' - no capital nation'. The Action Alliance was founded out of the 'United Left' and the 'Carnations' for the elections. The left wing parties were apprehensive of monetary and political union with the West German Federal Republic. The Action Alliance was politically further left than the Citizen's Movements and continued to follow Marxist theories. They claimed that reform could be managed within the GDR and resisted 'annexation' to West Germany. With this attitude the Alliance stood alone against the tide of political opinion in favour of reunification. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2081-1990 |
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| Record created | February 23, 2009 |
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