German Reunification

Following the Second World War, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, managed by the USA, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. In 1949, the USA, Britain, and France merged their zones into one unit, which became known as the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Meanwhile, the Soviet Union set up a socialist system in East Germany, known as the German Democratic Republic.

For half a century, East and West Germany were politically, culturally, and economically divided. No one expected that one day, there would be a reunified Germany. But, in a few swift months between 1989 and 1990, that is exactly what happened. Read on to find out more about how and why.

Fig. 1 - Map of divided East and West Germany.

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998. He was the principal architect of German reunification, presenting a 10-point plan to reunify Germany just days after the fall of the Berlin Wall

Fig. 2 - Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Kohl had long been an advocate of Ostpolitik. For example, he hosted the first-ever visit from an East German head of state within West Germany when he met with Eric Honecker in 1987.

German Reunification Timeline

Here is a timeline summarising the key dates involved in German reunification.

German Reunification: Longer-Term Causes

Why did the german reunification happen? Let's have a look:

'The Gorbachev Factor'

Mikhail Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR from 1985 to 1991 and became President of the Soviet Union in 1990. Unlike his predecessors, Gorbachev refused to use military force to stop eastern European countries from abandoning the USSR's political system.

East German economic issues

East Germany's economy suffered due to the global commodity price rises in the 1970s.

Furthermore, a reduction in profits from Soviet crude oil meant that East Germany's hard currency debts started to rise. After Poland went bankrupt in 1982, the West responded by imposing a credit boycott on all Eastern bloc countries which only made the matter far worse.

These economic hardships meant that many in East Germany were keen to enjoy the benefits of West Germany's welfare state.

The opening of Hungary's border

The Hungarian government removed a section of Hungary's border with Austria in 1989 to allow its citizens to travel to the West. This was the first opening of the Iron Curtain in Europe since the end of the Second World War. By the end of September 1989, more than 30,000 East Germans had escaped to the West via Hungary.

German Reunification: Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall happened by accident when Politburo member and press spokesman Guenter Schabowski made a speech at a press conference on 9 November 1989 that he hadn't prepared for. He mistakenly announced that the Berlin Wall was open for travel to the West immediately. Hearing the news, citizens from East Germany jubilantly stormed through the wall while the patrol guards watched, unsure of what to do.

Fig. 3 - East and West Germans celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.

Iconic images of East Germans and West Germans celebrating on top of the wall at the Brandenburg Gate were broadcast on televisions all over the world. Although the Soviet Union continued to exist, these images were a powerful sign of the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

The fall of the Berlin Wall acted as a catalyst for German Reunification. 3000 people emigrated daily from East Germany to West Germany in the first month of the wall coming down.

The Events to 3 October 1990

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, events leading to reunification started to move along swiftly. On 28 November 1989, Kohl presented a 10-point programme to reunite Germany.

The leaders of East and West met in Brandenburg on 22 December 1989 to celebrate together the opening of the Brandenburg Gate.

The next key event was a meeting in Ottowa, USA, on 13 February. The meeting was held between the foreign ministers of the USA, the USSR, Britain, France, and the two Germanies. Many countries at the time were anxious about the resurgence of the country that had played such a major role in two world wars. Under the "two plus four" plan decided at this meeting, the two Germanies would settle their internal unification by themselves. However, their role on the world stage and security arrangements would be agreed in negotiation with the four allied powers.

After the first free elections in East Germany were held on 18 March 1990, the two governments agreed to unify under Article 23 of West German Basic Law. Effectively, this meant that East Germany ceased to exist, and the five states within East Germany applied to enter the West German Constitution.

On 18 May, the leaders of West and East Germany signed a treaty agreeing to the creation of a single German economy. This came into effect on 1 July. Part of the agreement was that the Federal Republic's Central Bank would take control of the collapsing East German economy. Kohl also successfully negotiated that the D-mark would be the currency of this new economic union rather than East Germany's Ost-mark, which was very fragile at the time.

One of the biggest obstacles to reunification had been the Soviet Union. They were unwilling to allow a reunited Germany to make its own security arrangements or have the freedom to make its own alliances. In particular, they were worried about Germany becoming a NATO member. There were two key reasons for this concern:

1. A united Germany had once before devastated the Soviet Union's territory. A reunited Germany might one day have the power to repeat this.
2. NATO was a threat to the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. Any increase in NATO's power or membership was to the detriment of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet President, Gorbachev, put his concerns this way in a summit with the USA:

Therefore, one of the biggest breakthroughs of the reunification process came when negotiations between Chancellor Kohl and President Gorbachev resulted in an agreement on 16 July in Moscow. The newly reunited Germany would be able to decide 'freely and independently' which alliances and economic blocs to belong to. This meant that Germany was free to join NATO. In exchange, Kohl promised that the army of the new Germany would be cut to 370,000 and that Germany would have no nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons.

On 1 October, the Four Powers signed a document in New York to relinquish their rights to Berlin and Germany. Two days later, on 3 October Germany unified once more.

German Reunification Day

Every year, on 3 October, Germans celebrate German Reunification Day as a public holiday. In their own language, it is known as "The Day of German Unity" ("Tag der Deutschen Einheit").

Celebrations in Germany on 3 October include a ceremony and festival in a different host city each year. However, most towns and cities also host their own celebrations. At the end of the night, there is often a large firework display in the host city.

Effects of German Reunification

There were many effects of Germany's reunification, including several problems. This means that reunification remains a controversial topic in Germany.

Economic Impacts

Merging the two Germanies had several adverse economic impacts:

• East Germany's economy went into a large slump immediately after unification. Within a year, unemployment rates in the former east had soared to 3 million and industrial production in the former East halved.
• Western Germany initially benefited from workers moving from East to West. However, the government had to pay huge subsidies using Western funding to the former East to prop up its economy, an estimated DM350 billion in the first three years alone, and continued funding ever since.
• To this day, unemployment is higher in the former east, wages are lower and the economic output of the East is a third lower than Germany as a whole.⁵

Political and Cultural Impacts

Although Germany became officially one united country in 1990, the former East and West zones retain distinctive differences.

• There is such a profound divide between the two areas that to this day people refer to Ost and West Deutschland (East and West Germany).
• Right-wing extremism gained traction in the former east as economic hardships pushed people to the political edges.
• Many young people moved from East to West to take advantage of better opportunities.
• "Ostalgie" (East German nostalgia) - a widespread feeling that things had been better before reunification, and a longing to return to their distinctive way of life.