Protest Surveys: Polarizing Peace? Peace rallies on the first anniversary of the Ukraine war 2023

Since 2003, researchers associated with the Institute for the Study of Protest and Social Movements (Institut für Protest- und Bewegungsforschung, ipb, http://protestinstitut.eu) have conducted surveys at demonstrations. This study is part of this ongoing series. The aim of the study is to gain insights into the composition and attitudes of participants at two peace demonstrations held on the first anniversary of the Russian war against Ukraine in 2023. The study focuses particularly on participants’ views regarding the war and the German government’s response to it, as well as on their socio-demographic characteristics and political attitudes. The demonstrations took place on 24 February 2023 in Berlin. According to newspaper reports, around 10,000 people participated in the rally in solidarity with Ukraine (hereafter Solidarity Rally), organized by the Zentrum Liberale Moderne [Center for Liberal Modernity], a political think tank, in cooperation with Vitsche, a Ukrainian diaspora organization. In contrast, approximately 400 people attended the rally organized by the Friedenskoordination Berlin [Peace Coordination Berlin], the Berlin section of the traditional German peace movement (hereafter Peace Rally). The questionnaire consisted of 46 questions. It was available in two languages: German and English. In order to allow for comparison with earlier protest surveys, the questionnaire relied on questions used in earlier questionnaires at peace protests and on the ipb base questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of the following groups of questions: • Motivation: open question about the motivation to take part in the demonstration • Protest mobilization: knowledge about the demonstration, mobilization network • Political activity: Membership in civil society organizations, past protest activity, forms of action • Political attitudes: evaluation of democracy, trust in institutions, self-placement on the political spectrum, party affiliation, voting tendency • Sociodemographic questions: gender, year of birth, education, occupation