German reunification

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This article is about the 1990 German reunification. For the 1871 German Empire, see Unification of Germany.

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

German reunification (German: 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 (and the rest of the inner German border) 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.

1 Reunification
2 Effects of reunification
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] 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 "new 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.

[edit] Effects of reunification

Throughout former East Germany, abandoned Soviet 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 to be one-to-one-unit, 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 every year. 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.^[1]