The Façade of Unity: Genia Nobel, Johannes König, and GDR Propaganda about China, 1949–57

This article focuses on Genia Nobel (1912–99) and Johannes König (1903–66), two of the foremost China experts in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) in the 1950s. As a case study of the construction of international socialist relations, this article examines how they imported knowledge about China while navigating Stalinist Cold War politics within East Germany's ruling party, the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands). Through a close examination of Nobel and König's publications in this period, this article argues that much East German propaganda about China was actually Chinese propaganda repurposed in East Germany. Reprinting, paraphrasing, and translating Chinese propaganda was a safe way to harmonize new GDR and PRC (People's Republic of China) political values, facilitating other kinds of exchange. This article reveals the mechanics behind the façade of unity that was essential to building foreign relationships and assuring the GDR's survival. It also suggests that this unity was a co-creation. SED cadres’ enthusiastic adoption of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) propaganda is evidence of Chinese soft power operating in the Eastern Bloc: the PRC successfully deployed cultural assets to promote its political values through powers of attraction, advancing its interests abroad.