This book examines the role of the masses in the collapse of the East German regime and state in 1989 in the northern district of Schwerin. It shows the extent to which citizens of the GDR dictatorship were instrumental in their state's demise. The 'bottom-up' approach employed, in contrast to the study of power wielding elites and 'opposition', explores the shift in mood and behaviour of citizens which brought about the internal collapse of the state.