German Reunification

Paper Summary:

This paper attempts to help the reader understand the current situation in Germany today by providing an overview of the reunification of East and West Germany, the process that led to the reunification, and the opposing political forces that emerged in response. The paper's format is presented in the form of several subject headings followed by discussion and analysis according to the topic. The focus of the paper is the opposition to the reunification, comprised mainly of Great Britain, France, and Poland. The paper begins with the situation in East Germany in the late 80s, covering the Montagsdemonstrationen organized by Christian Fuehrer, heading on to the "Einigungsvertrag" and the integration of the GDR into Western Germany. This is followed by an analysis of the political concerns evinced by France, Poland, and Great Britain. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.

Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion: Diplomatic Difficulties during the German Reunification Process
The Political Situation in Germany and the USSR during the Late 1980s
Social Insecurities after Perestroika and Glasnost Fail to Save USSR
USSR is Weakened
Early Stage.
Situation in the GDR
Montagsdemonstrationen in East Germany Occurs, First in Leipzig, Then Entire State
Christian Fuehrer
4 September 1989
Massive Exodus of GDR Inhabitants over Hungarian Border in Summer 1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989
On the Road to Unity
Helmut Kohl's Ten-Points Plan to Integrate GDR into West Germany
Reunification of October 3, 1990
The British View of German Reunification
Margaret Thatcher's Concerns
Dominance of Germany Economy in Europe
Balance of Power Disturbed
Militarily Too Powerful Germany Could Threaten Regional Stability
The French View of German Reunification
The Polish View of German Reunification
Poland Demanded that Germany Accept the Oder-Neisse Line as the Official Border
When Helmut Kohl Failed to Include this Line in his Ten Points, It Caused Major Worries on both Polish and German Sides
German Development Following Reunification.
Breakdown of GDR Economy
Obsolete East German Companies were Unable to Compete in a Free Market
Production Costs Too High Due to Too Many Employees
Major Consumer of East German Products, USSR, had Collapsed
Major Change 1:1 for Ostmark to Deutschmark
Exodus
Money Spent on Reunification
Depending on Source, Costs Estimated at 250 Million to 1.5 Billion DM
Temporary State Deficit in Germany was 1.4 Billion DM
Germany Today
The Wall in the Head
The Perspective of the Victim
The Perspective of Accountability
Table 1 - Imports and Exports
Table 2 - GDR Trade with West Germany, 1961-1976 (in millions of Deutsche marks).

From the Paper:

". It happened so quickly that many observers were taken by surprise. The events that ultimately led to the collapse of the former Soviet Union were characterized by half-measures and false starts that created the conditions needed to fuel further social unrest and political discord. According to Niven and Thomaneck, the fact that former GDR leader Erich Honecker's attempt at political crisis management and linguistic "democracy" propaganda had failed became clear in the autumn of 1989, when the working people of Germany reminded him: "We are the people." These authors report that, "Whereas the Polish free trade union Solidarity movement did not in any noticeable way capture the mood of the working people in the GDR, the policy shifts announced by Mikhail Gorbachev after his appointment as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 triggered a new political discourse in East Germany" (57). At the time, Gorbachev recognized that the system of "actually existing socialism" simply could not endure in its existing form, either in the Soviet Union or in the Eastern bloc as a whole (Niven & Thomaneck 57)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bartee, Wayne C. 2000. A time to speak out: The Leipzig citizen protests and the fall of East Germany. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
• Berger, T. 2001. German unification and the Union of Europe. German Politics and Society 19(1):80.
• Conradt, D. P. 2002. Political culture in unified Germany: The first ten years. German Politics and Society 20(2):43.
• Edwards, Vincent, Gennadij Polonsky, Danijel Pucko, Malcolm Warner and Ying Zhu. 2004. Management in transitional economies: From the Berlin Wall to the Great Wall of China. New York: Routledge.
• Germany. 2006. U.S. Government: CIA World Factbook. Retrieved November 11, 2006 from https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gm.html.

More papers on German Reunification:

• Research Paper # 2872 : "The U.S. Response to German Reunification"
• Essay # 64469 : "The Path Towards German Reunification"
• Research Paper # 18646 : "The Events Leading up to German Reunification"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: