German reunification
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. 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 terms loosely translates to "the turn(around)", without any further meaning. When referring to the events surrounding the German reunification, however, it carries the cultural connotation of the events that brought about this "turn" in German history.
After
the end of World War II in Europe, Germany had been divided into four occupation zones. The old capital of
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 in the borders from 1947, 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.
[ Suggested Post-Surrender Program for Germany ] [ Kindleberger to de Wilde, March 24, 1947; Memoranda, 1947; State Department File; Charles P. Kindleberger Papers ] |
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.
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Inter-German Border Strip at the Berlin Wall |
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.
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."
[ World Book - Events of 1989 ] Meanwhile, mass demonstrations against the East German government began at home, most prominently the
Monday demonstrations in
Leipzig.
On 6â€"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, Honecker was forced to resign on
October 18. 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.
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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 PolitbĂĽro and Central Committee – including leader
Egon 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.
Germany was officially reunified on
October 3,
1990 when the five reestablished federal states (
Bundesländer) of East Germany–
Brandenburg,
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, the FRG made some changes 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.
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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 has been a heavy burden to the
German economy and has contributed to Germany's slowed economic growth in recent years. The costs of reunification are estimated to amount to over €1.5 trillion (statement of Freie Universität Berlin). This is more than the national debt of the German state [
1]. The primary cause of this was the severe weakness of the East German economy, especially vis-Ă -vis the West German economy, combined with (politically motivated)
exchange rates from the
East German mark to the
Deutsche Mark that did not reflect this economic reality, resulting in a very sudden (usually fatal) loss of competitiveness of East German industries, making them collapse within a very short time. Today, there are still special transfers of more than €10 billion every year to "rebuild" the eastern part of Germany. Providing goods and services to East Germany strained the resources of West Germany. Unprofitable industries formerly supported by the East German government had to be privatised.
As a consequence of the reunification, most of the former GDR has been deindustrialised, causing an unemployment rate of about 20%. Since then, hundreds of thousands of former East Germans have continued to migrate to western Germany to find jobs, resulting in the loss of significant portions of population, especially in highly trained professions. It is also thought to be the actual cause of the majority of problems in Germany which are blamed on the changeover to the
euro. The
Bundesbank (Central bank) has always insisted that the economic problems are not a result of the euro, and are structural reforms which Germany itself must sort out by itself
[ Deutsche Bundesbank: Public finances in crisis - the causes and the need for action ].
*
History of Germany since 1945*
Reunification*
Stalin Note - 1952 German reunification proposal
*
Germany's Eastern Burden: The Price of a Failed Reunification*
The End of East Germany*
German Embassy Publication, Infocus: German Unity Day*
The Reunification and Its Aftermath*
Across an Imagined Border A 2002 cross-section trip across former intra-German boundaries.
