German 1125 Page  From The Holocaust to German Unification German Courses

From Division to Unity
The long way to German unification

Part 1: 1945-1985
May 7 and 9, 1945 Unconditional surrender of German troops. End of World War II, Occupation of Germany: Germany is divided in four zones: US, British, French and Soviet zones
June 20 1948  Soviets close all roads between the Western zones and West-Berlin All supplies of energy and food stopped. 
Until May 12, 1949 West- Berlin is kept supplied by an allied airlift.
October 1949 Establishment of West and East Germany as two independent states: the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) & the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany).
June 17, 1953  First people's uprising in East Germany in protest against their life of bondage. This was savagely put down by Soviet tanks.
January 27, 1956 The GDR joins the Warsaw Pact
October 23, 1956  People’s Uprising in Hungary
August 13, 1961 Berlin Wall was built by East Germany to stem the tide of East Germans fleeing to the West. In July of 1961 alone over 30,000 people had fled from East Germany
June 26, 1963  US President John F. Kennedy visits West Berlin. There he says the famous and funny four words: "Ich bin ein Berliner." He really should have said "Ich bin Berliner."since "ein Berliner" is a jelly-filled donut!
August 21, 1968 Soviet tanks flatten the Prague Spring
June 1971 Erich Honecker becomes new Secretary General of the SED. He introduces the "principle of unity of economic and social policy"
December 21, 1972 Treaty on Intra-German Relations with the following effects:
  • World-wide recognition of the GDR
  • Increase in trade from FRG to GDR had a great effect on economy in the GDR
  • Integration of the GDR in the "community of socialist countries"
October 1974 Changing article 1 & 8 of the constitution (elimination of the reference to one German nation and the prospect of possible German unification
August 1975 GDR signs the final act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (KSZE) in Helsinki.
  • The people demand more freedom of movement, human rights, freedom of expression (especially public criticism) and for political pluralism. 
  • he state reacts with more repression, expulsion, expatriation, social isolation.
  • he birth of a peace movement  was expedited by the expatriation of the musician Wolf Bierman
Part 2: 1985-1994
1985 New General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev. New Soviet policy: Perestroika and Glasnost, which means restructuring and openness.
1988 First demonstration against the East German system in East Berlin. Members of the peace movement "Church from the Grassroots" are arrested. Thousands support them and attend services. Their numbers grow constantly. They demonstrate for human rights, free speech and freedom of the press.
Summer 1989 Young people flee the GDR through Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Between July 15 and 31, GDR refugees crowd into the West German embassies in Budapest and Prague. 
August 24, 1989 Hungary agrees to allow East-German tourists leave and go to West Germany.
September 1989 Hungary opens its border, permitting thousands of people from the GDR to pass through to Austria and from there into West Germany. This encourages more people from East Germany to take to the streets in protest.
September 4, 1989 Many thousands people from East Germany meet in or around the Nicolai Church in Leipzig and demand more freedom. East German Protestant churches become meeting places for demonstrations and centers of opposition.
October 1989 GDR celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding with great pomp and ceremony, while mass demonstrations are held, primarily in Leipzig. The demonstrators shout "We are the people!" (Wir sind das Volk) and "Democracy Now!" (Demokratie jetzt!) Under the pressure of the protests of the people, Erich Honecker, the GDR head of the state, resigns as do the council of Ministers and the SED politburo.
November 8, 1989 An estimated one Million GDR citizens gather in East Berlin and demand major reforms:
  • freedom of speech and press
  • political pluralism and admission of opposition parties to the SED 
  • free elections with many parties
  • greater freedom to travel, especially to the West
November 9, 1989 Günter Schabowski, the spokesman of the East German government announces over stature television that the GDR Council of Ministers decided to "liberalize travel restrictions and travel to the West would be allowed on short notice". When asked whether "short notice" meant "now," or "for any reason, "Schabowski responds in the affirmative without checking first with his superiors. This prompts thousands of people in East Berlin to cross the border on the evening of November 9, 1989 into West-Berlin. The authorities can only watch numbly. The wall is open and becomes meaningless.
November 28, 1989 Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of West Germany, reaches out to GDR and promises, economic help coupled with an insistence on political reform.
March 18, 1990 First free elections (with many parties) in the GDR, the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) wins with over 40% majority. 
July 1, 1990 West Germany promises union of currency and a special economic help.

 
July 15 & 16, 1990 Chancellor Kohl and President Gorbachev hold a crucial meeting during which Gorbachev gives final approval for German unification. The agreement includes: 
  • Soviet troops would be withdrawn from the GDR in the next 3-4 years 
  • All remaining rights of the Allies (US, GB, France, and Soviet Union) would cease 
  • United Germany would gain total sovereignty, especially the right to remain in NATO
October 3, 1990 Signing of the German Unification Treaty. There is only one German state. It is the The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or BRD in German). October 3 is the official day of German unification. It is declared a national holiday in Germany. 
The signing of the Two-plus-Four Treaty [East and West Germany and the four allied forces (Great Britain, France, the US and the Soviet Union)].
1994 Along with British, French and Russian units, U.S. troops are withdrawn from Berlin where they had been stationed since 1945.

The ratification of the Unification Treaty by both parliaments (GDR and FRG) and the Two-plus-Four Treaty marks the termination of the rights and responsibilities of the four victorious powers "with respect to Berlin and Germany as a whole". Germany thus regained complete sovereignty over internal and external affairs which she had lost 45 years previously with the fall of the Nazi dictatorship.

Immediate consequences of unification:

  • All activities of the Stasi (State Security Forces) cease, their leaders are put on trial.
  • State subsidies for athletes, intellectuals, writers, and artists cease.
  •  Germany becomes a central driving force and power in European.
  • Germany becomes the strongest advocate of a faster and more effective European Union.
  • Some GDR rights, such as the unhindered abortion right, are extended for a limited period of time only for East German women

    • This web page was designed by: Dr. Mohamed Esa at McDaniel College
    Send comments and questions to mesa@mcdaniel.edu Thanks!