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German reunification

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recent History

   The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German
   Democratic Republic (East Germany)
   Enlarge
   The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German
   Democratic Republic (East Germany)

   German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) took place on October
   3, 1990, when the areas of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR,
   in English commonly called "East Germany") were incorporated into the
   Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, in English commonly called "West
   Germany").

   After the GDR's first free elections on 18 March 1990, negotiations
   between the GDR and FRG culminated in a Unification Treaty, whilst
   negotiations between the GDR and FRG and the four occupying powers
   produced the so-called " Two Plus Four Treaty" granting full
   independence to a unified German state.

   The reunified Germany remained a member of the European Community
   (later the European Union) and NATO. There is debate as to whether the
   events of 1990 should be properly referred to as a "reunification" or a
   "unification". Proponents of the former use the term in contrast with
   the initial unification of Germany in 1871. Popular parlance is deeply
   impacted by the 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall ( GDR border system)
   and the physical reunification of the city of Berlin (itself divided
   only since 1961). Others, however, argue that 1990 represented a
   "unification" of two German states into a larger entity which, in its
   resulting form, had never before existed (see History of Germany). For
   political and diplomatic reasons, West German politicians carefully
   avoided the term "reunification" during the run-up to what Germans
   frequently refer to as die Wende. The most common term in German is
   "Deutsche Einheit" or "German unity"; German unity is the term that
   Hans-Dietrich Genscher used in front of international journalists to
   correct them when they asked him about "reunification" in 1990.

   After 1990, the term "die Wende" became more common. The term generally
   refers to the events that led up to the actual reunification; in its
   usual context, this term loosely translates to "the turnaround",
   without any further meaning. When referring to the events surrounding
   the German reunification, however, it carries the cultural connotation
   of the time and the events in the GDR that brought about this
   "turnaround" in German history.

Background

   After the end of World War II in Europe, Germany had been divided into
   four occupation zones. The old capital of Germany, Berlin, as the seat
   of the Allied Control Council, was itself subdivided into four
   occupation zones. Although the intent was for the occupying powers to
   govern Germany together, the advent of Cold War tension caused the
   French, British and American zones to be formed into the Federal
   Republic of Germany (and West Berlin) in 1949, excluding the Soviet
   zone which then formed the German Democratic Republic (including East
   Berlin) the same year. Additionally, in accordance with the terms of
   the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the provinces of eastern
   Pomerania and Silesia, as well as the southern half of East Prussia,
   were annexed by Poland and the northern half of East Prussia (now known
   as the Kaliningrad Oblast) was annexed by the Soviet Union.

   The resulting expulsions of Germans in the east resulted in the death
   of between 500,000 and 2 million civilians. In the West the U.S. gave
   in to French demands in 1947 for the coal-fields of the German state of
   the Saar. It was made into a protectorate of France. In 1955 France
   under pressure from the West German government agreed to hold a
   referendum which led to a reunification with West Germany in 1957.
   France however retained control of the Saar coal-fields until 1981. The
   Allied plans to internationalize or let France annex the Ruhr area,
   Germany's main industrial centre, were finally dropped in mid 1947 due
   to the emerging Cold War and the resulting change in U.S. occupation
   policy in Germany.
   Occupied Germany in 1945
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   Occupied Germany in 1945

   The FRG and the GDR both made competing claims to be the legitimate
   legal successors of the German Reich. However, the GDR changed its
   position at a later point, stating that Germany had ceased to exist in
   1945 and that both the FRG and the GDR were newly-created states.

   The 1952 Stalin Note proposed German reunification and superpower
   disengagement from Central Europe but Britain, France, and the United
   States rejected the offer. Another proposal by Stalin involved the
   reunification of Germany within the borders of December 31, 1937 under
   the condition that Germany joined the Warsaw Pact ( Eastern Bloc).

   From 1949 onwards, the Federal Republic of Germany developed into a
   western capitalist country with a "social market economy" and a
   democratic parliamentary government. Prolonged economic growth starting
   in the 1950s fuelled a 30-year "economic miracle" ( Wirtschaftswunder).
   Across the border, the German Democratic Republic, under the control of
   the Socialist Unity Party (SED), established an authoritarian
   government with a Soviet-style command economy. While the GDR became
   the richest, most advanced country in the Eastern bloc, many of its
   citizens still looked to the West for political freedoms and economic
   prosperity. The flight of growing numbers of East Germans to
   non-communist countries via West Berlin led to East Germany erecting
   the GDR border system (of which the Berlin Wall was a part) in 1961 to
   prevent any further exodus.

   The government of West Germany and its NATO allies at first did not
   recognize the German Democratic Republic or the People's Republic of
   Poland, per the Hallstein Doctrine. Relations between East Germany and
   West Germany remained icy until the Western chancellor Willy Brandt
   launched a highly controversial rapprochement with East Germany (
   Ostpolitik) in the 1970s.

The end of the division (“Die Wende”)

   In the mid- 1980s, German reunification was widely regarded within both
   East and West Germany as unattainable. However, after significant
   political changes in the Soviet Union, the prospect of reunification
   suddenly arose. The advent of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
   in 1985 caused waves of reform to propagate throughout the Eastern
   bloc, presenting an opportunity for change in the GDR.

   Starting in February 1989, Poland's Solidarity movement held Roundtable
   Talks with communist leaders in Poland leading to the first
   non-communist prime minister in the Eastern Bloc since the 1940's, with
   no repercussions from the Soviet Union. This paved the way for further
   democratization in the region, including the opening of borders.

   In August 1989, Hungary's reformist government removed its border
   restrictions with Austria — the first breach in the so-called " Iron
   Curtain". In September 1989, more than 13,000 East Germans managed to
   escape to the West through Hungary. Thousands of East Germans also
   tried to reach the West by staging sit-ins at West German diplomatic
   facilities in other East European capitals, especially in Prague,
   Czechoslovakia. The GDR subsequently announced that it would provide
   special trains to carry these refugees to West Germany, claiming it was
   expelling "irresponsible antisocial traitors and criminals." Meanwhile,
   mass demonstrations against the East German government began at home,
   most prominently the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig.

   On 6–7 October, 1989, Gorbachev visited East Germany to mark the 40th
   anniversary of the German Democratic Republic, and urged the East
   German leadership to accept change. Long-time East German leader Erich
   Honecker remained opposed to any internal reform, with speculation that
   the government was planning a violent crackdown on the growing
   demonstrations. However, the intransigent Honecker was ousted by his
   own politburo on October 18, and replaced by Egon Krenz. More
   resignations followed when the entire East German cabinet stepped down
   on November 7. The travel restrictions for East Germans were
   subsequently removed by the new leadership on November 9, 1989, and
   many people immediately went to the Wall where the border guards opened
   access points and allowed them through. Emboldened, many Germans on
   both sides began to tear down sections of the Wall itself, leading to
   one of the most enduring news stories of the 20th century.
   Germans dancing on the Berlin Wall.
   Enlarge
   Germans dancing on the Berlin Wall.

   On November 28, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl outlined a 10-point
   plan for the peaceful unification of the two Germanies based on free
   elections in East Germany and a unification of their two economies. In
   December, the East German Volkskammer eliminated the SED monopoly on
   power, and the entire Politbüro and Central Committee – including Krenz
   – resigned. The SED changed its name to the Party of Democratic
   Socialism (PDS) and the formation and growth of numerous political
   groups and parties marked the end of the communist system. Prime
   Minister Hans Modrow headed a caretaker government which shared power
   with the new, democratically oriented parties. On December 7, 1989,
   agreement was reached to hold free elections in May 1990 and rewrite
   the East German constitution. On January 28, all the parties agreed to
   advance the elections to March 18, primarily because of an erosion of
   state authority and because the East German exodus was continuing
   apace; more than 117,000 left in January and February 1990.

   In early February 1990, the Modrow government's proposal for a unified,
   neutral German state was rejected by Chancellor Kohl, who affirmed that
   a unified Germany must be a member of NATO. Finally, on March 18, 1990,
   the first and only free elections in the history of the GDR were held,
   producing a government whose major mandate was to negotiate an end to
   itself and its state. As one East German ideologist had noted in 1989,
   "Poland would remain Poland even if communism fell, but without
   communism East Germany has no reason to exist."

   Under Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière, East Germany negotiated with
   West Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and the
   Soviet Union the preconditions for a German reunification. Due to
   Soviet objections to East Germany being absorbed into the NATO
   alliance, an agreement was reached which allowed a reunified Germany to
   remain a part of NATO on the condition that NATO troops were not to be
   stationed in East German territory. In addition to allaying Soviet
   concerns, Chancellor Kohl was able to convince the leaders of the
   United Kingdom and France that a unified Germany would represent no
   threat to its neighbors by tying German reunification with the tighter
   integration of Germany into the European Union.

   Parallel to the multilateral negotiations, bilateral negotiations
   between the East and West German governments led to the signing on 18
   May of an agreement for an intermediate step, an Economic, Social and
   Currency Union, which entered into force on 1 July. On 23 August the
   Volkskammer approved the proposed 3 October accession to the FRG. The
   Einigungsvertrag (Unification Treaty) was signed on August 31, 1990 by
   representatives of East and West Germany. On September 12, 1990 the
   Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (also known as
   the "Two Plus Four Treaty") was signed and officially reestablished the
   sovereignty of both German states.

Reunification

   Germany was officially reunified on October 3, 1990 when the six
   reestablished federal states ( Bundesländer) of East Germany–
   Brandenburg, Berlin (formed by uniting the two halves of the formerly
   divided city), Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and
   Thuringia–formally joined the Federal Republic of Germany (West
   Germany), choosing one of two options implemented in the West German
   constitution ( Grundgesetz). As these five newly-founded German states
   formally joined the Federal Republic in accordance with the
   (then-existing) Article 23, the area in which the Grundgesetz (basic
   law) served as the constitution was simply extended to include them.
   The alternative would have been for East Germany to join as a whole
   along the lines of a formal union between two German states that then
   would have had to, amongst other things, create a new constitution for
   the newly established country. Though the option chosen clearly was
   simpler, it is and has been responsible for sentiments in the East of
   being "occupied" or "annexed" by the old Federal Republic.

   To facilitate this process and to reassure other countries, some
   changes were made to the " Basic Law" (constitution). Article 146 was
   amended so that Article 23 of the current constitution could be used
   for reunification. Then, once the five " reestablished federal states"
   in East Germany had joined, the Basic Law was amended again to indicate
   that there were no other parts of Germany, which existed outside of the
   unified territory, that had not acceded. However, the constitution can
   be amended again at some future date and it still permits the adoption
   of another constitution by the German people at some time in the
   future.

   On November 14, 1990, the German government signed a treaty with
   Poland, finalizing Germany's boundaries as permanent along the
   Oder-Neisse line, and thus, renouncing any claims to Silesia, Farther
   Pomerania, Gdańsk (Danzig), and territories of the former province of
   East Prussia. The following month, the first all-German free elections
   since 1932 were held, resulting in an increased majority for the
   coalition government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Effects of reunification

   Throughout former East Germany, abandoned military installations pose
   problems and opportunities. Nedlitz Caserne, near Potsdam, as seen in
   August 2002, is being redeveloped.
   Enlarge
   Throughout former East Germany, abandoned military installations pose
   problems and opportunities. Nedlitz Caserne, near Potsdam, as seen in
   August 2002, is being redeveloped.

   The cost of reunification came to be a heavy burden to the German
   economy, having contributed negatively to Germany’s almost stagnating
   economic growth in recent years. The total costs of reunification are
   estimated to amount to over €1.5 trillion, according to the Free
   University of Berlin. The primary reason for the hefty price tag was
   the weak East German economy, especially as it stood in comparison to
   West Germany; further, the exchange rate between the East German and
   West German currency was artificially inflated, largely for political
   reasons, with West Germany footing the bill. In spite of West Germany's
   large investments, many East German businesses collapsed in the face of
   West German and European competition. Even today, the German government
   still allocates over €10 billion to the development of the formerly
   East German states. During the 1980s, the capitalist economy of West
   Germany prospered, while the communist economy of East Germany
   declined; subsequently, providing goods and services to East Germany
   strained the resources of the West. Uncompetitive industries formerly
   supported by the East German government were to be privatized, often
   resulting in their stripping or complete dissolution.

   As a consequence of the reunification, most of the former GDR has been
   de-industrialised, causing an unemployment rate of up to 25% in some
   parts of the country. Thousands of former East Germans continue to
   migrate to western Germany to find jobs, resulting in the loss of
   significant parts of the eastern work force, especially highly skilled
   workers and women, who have shown themselves to be significantly more
   willing to move.

   According to the German Bundesbank (Central bank), the cause of many
   problems in the German economy are actually rooted in reunification,
   rather than the introduction of the Euro currency in 2002, as suggested
   by many economists .
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification"
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