From Holocaust to German Unification

Classnotes and Study Guides:
Part 5: Unification and Germany Today
(Coming to terms with the Past)
for Students in my First Year Seminar: From Holocaust to German Unification
at McDaniel College, compiled by Dr. Mohamed Esa

The election of Mikhail Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had a profound impact on the course of world history, and in particular on German history. His policies of "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring) disturbed the leadership of the GDR and pleased the West. The GDR leaders feared "self scrutiny." Many of them have been in post for more than 30 years and had much to loose from these two policies. For the first time, GDR leaders rejected policies coming from the Soviet Union. I believe that these two policies not only helped bring down the Berlin Wall system but also the entire Communist East block. They definitely gave people in the GDR reason to hope for better times. The Soviet Union could have prevented the collapse of East Germany by force, like they did in Berlin in 1953, in Budapest in 1956, or in Prague in 1968. But they learned a lesson from Afghanistan and other debacles in the Third World. Gorbachev decided that it was in the best interest of Germany and the Soviet Union not to stand in the way of German Unification and to difuse the arm race with the USA. The following dates help you understand the long way to German Unification since Gorbachev became General Secretary in 1985.

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 state run 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.