The unification of Germany in 1990 and its political consequences

The unification of Germany in 1990 marked the resolution of the German question. It was opened since the Second World War, when the victor countries did not reach consensus on the future of their occupation zones of the former aggressor country. The reason for this inadequate situation was the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West. The German question invariably generated bursts of international tension.

It is obvious that the political aspiration of the Presidents of the USSR and the USA, Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush Sr. is noticeable in the unification of Germany. Without the will of these two superpowers, a question of a principled political character could not be resolved. However, the leaders of the largest guarantor countries only considered the proposed options for integration. It should be noted that a special honor - to be awarded the symbolic title of the architect of the united Germany, representing the new most powerful economy of Europe, belongs to the German policy Helmut Kohl. Briefly tell about it.

Chancellor: "German Association"

This is a unique person. He experienced four epochs: the Second World War, the revival of the FRG economy, its dynamic development and, finally, at the turn of the 20th century made its significant contribution as a politician to the unification of Germany (1990). The Chancellor at the level of education received felt the tragedy of a defeated and divided country and believed in its future unification. However, I did not even expect that the integrating process would be launched so dynamically. At least, according to his earlier statements, he believed that the event would happen not in his lifetime.

Kohl as a pro-German politician was creative and principled. His confrontation with Margaret Thatcher, who tried to hamper the process as much as possible, does him credit.

He remembered the Germans as the "Chancellor of German Unity." It was the federal government that became the headquarters of this association, and Kohl soon became the first chancellor of the united Germany. This article aims to highlight the unification of Germany as a process, paying attention to its dynamics and fundamental steps.

The power of the GDR: political bankruptcy

The undemocratic nature of the society, the ineffectiveness of the GDR-led economy of the 90s of the last century became the subject of criticism of many historiographers. Of the economic factors, most often mentioned is the deficit of the state budget of the GDR, as well as the growth of external debt. However, in an even greater degree, the time of the existence of the GDR as a state was considered a stiffening of its political system. The leader of the German Communist Party Erich Honcker and today ironically called "iron Erich".

He, preaching one-man management, was impenetrable for the new. The ideals of communism in him exceeded the aspirations of the Germans. Therefore, the first result of the rise in the GDR of the people's movement was his removal from power on October 17, 1989

At the same time, in view of the mood of the public of the GDR, even the reasonable stabilization steps proposed by his successor Egon Krenz were already ineffective.

Prerequisites for unification

Years of existence of the GDR were numbered. Obviously, the unification of Germany could not take place according to the principles of the obsolete state structure of the GDR. This was manifested in:

• Lag in the transformation of the political system from market requirements, compared with the Soviet model (Gorbachev, perestroika), Polish (multi-party system);
• The actual formation on 12.09.2009 of the unrecognized opposition - the Democracy Today movement;
• Ignoring the main demand of the opposition - national dialogue;
• Attempts to solve the problem of refugees using tourist visas in Germany through Hungary and Austria (the GDR citizens applied to the embassies of the Federal Republic of Germany for political asylum and received it);
• Ignoring the will of the people through a rough manipulation of the results of municipal elections held in May 1989.

A fundamentally new great Germany

It should be noted that in the chronicles the premises are much more fully illuminated than the causes. The unification of Germany in 1990 took place at the behest of the German people, who continued to feel united in the FRG and the GDR. We, of course, do not take into account the statements of certain radical politicians (for that they are politicians). We are not interested in statistics, focusing on the differences in the economies of the GDR and the FRG, much less the "research" of journalists on this topic. We will provide an explanation of this issue in the conclusion of the article.

The main thing is another: the unions were almost all the Germans wanted. Restrained this process is the caution of the winning countries. After all, everyone understood: in Europe there will be a new country-leader. Fortunately, the fears were superfluous: the new Germany at the turn of the 21st century chose the path of the European integration leader, not confrontation.

What did the Germans themselves think about uniting?

In the press of that time, numerous articles cover the unification of Germany in 1990, interviewing many people. Analyzing interviews with the Germans themselves about their attitude to their new state, we can conclude that in their majority they began to call their country in a special way. And her name, sounding in these interviews, did not coincide with the official, inherited from the FRG.

Ordinary people, without speculating, called it only as Great Germany. However, their words did not feel either pride or aggression. They (it felt) spoke briefly, but with all their heart, and in these words there was a will for unity and for the peace of the suffering people, who passed through many trials. These people were ready and working, and live in a united country.

Dynamics of the unification process

Undoubtedly, the destruction of the Berlin Wall, which was the logical continuation of the cancellation on 09.11.1989 by the GDR authorities of a ban on visiting West Berlin, became a symbol that catalyzed the unification of Germany (1990).

In short, this building symbolized the division of the Germans. They from 13.08.1961 were on the perimeter in 165 km the territory of the socialist GDR (the constitutionalized occupation zone of the USSR) from West Berlin was fenced off.

Thus, the socialist rulers blocked the flow of people who dreamed of living in a market society, for the lucky ones who found themselves "on the other side of the Iron Curtain" before the wall had built up a lot - about 2 million people.

Many historians of the new era consider the rubicon not even the unification of Germany in 1990, but the destruction of the Wall.

She inspired horror people of peace. According to the citizens of the GDR, who are striving to get into the "decaying world of West Berlin" and arbitrarily trying to overcome this 5-meter barrage with barbed wire on top and with towers along the perimeter, submachine gunners opened fire. It is sad to write about this, but the history of the existence of this structure is marred by 1,065 deaths of civilians.

Is it surprising that people, over whose heads the submachine-gunners stood for four decades, thus expressed their desire for freedom?

The attitude of guarantor countries towards the integration of German states

The United Kingdom and France, formally understanding the inevitability of German integration, to put it mildly, did not accelerate the unification of Germany (1990). The positions of the countries were reduced to delaying the process.

For example, the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher proposed first to carry out long-term market reforms in the GDR. "The Iron Lady" repeatedly stressed that "the German association is not yet on the agenda." French President Francois Mitterrand was less categorical, although he would have been more comfortable with Germany's engagement with the GDR, as it did with Austria (with another German state).

There were some grounds for the fears of these leaders. After all, the power was restored, which in the beginning and in the middle of the XX century was the initiator of two world wars, which began precisely in Europe.

What were they afraid of? As Karl Marx once wrote, Germany is a "predator wanting to redivide the world's spheres of influence in its favor." However, the Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl eventually managed to convince his neighbors of peaceful disposition and the constructive pro-Helsinki pan-European position of the new German state.

The United States from the very beginning saw that Germany after the unification of 1990 would become the new center of EU integration. This country unreservedly acted as a reliable strategic ally of German integration. The Soviet Union, in turn, also did not create any problems for the realization of the dream of the German people.

Process of association

Normative positions on the unification of Germany were previously developed and approved when signing the Treaty regulating the final settlement of the German question.

The agreement was signed under the formula "4 + 2": Germany, the GDR, the USA, the USSR, Great Britain, France. The very signing took place on 31.08.1990 in the Berlin palace "Unter den Linden". The atmosphere of this event testified to the fact that the most important event in the life of Europe at the end of the 20th century was the unification of Germany (1990).

Photos of the heads of state, as well as those present at the event, show that "the history is being made" within the walls of the castle. Of course, national unity became the leading motive of integration. This was a precedent of uniting within one state two different economies and social state systems.

On the unification agreement

Preliminary from the German states, the signatures on the agreement were put by the Minister of the Interior of West Germany Wolfgang Schaeuble and the State Secretary of the Parliament of the GDR Gunter Krause. The treaty itself was to implement the provisions of Article XXIII of the FRG Constitution by annexing the GDR to the FRG.

On September 12, 1990 in Moscow, the foreign ministers of the guarantor countries signed the Treaty, finally settling this process.

As a result, according to the agreement, at 0 hours 00 minutes on October 14, 1990 the German territory included historical Germany: the territory of East Berlin, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, McLenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg.

Unification of Germany against the background of other events of 1990

A curious thing is history. Her analysis sometimes gives interesting results.

A long period of separation and re-awareness of the paradigm of the state was needed by the Germans before the conceived became a reality. What kind of answer do we get if we ask (meaning not a chronological aspect, but a civilizational one): "Unification of Germany (1990) when was held?"

In the year when the Soviet Union was ruled by the first (and last) President, when the Armenian SSR declared war on the Azerbaijani SSR, when Yugoslavia was established multi-party administration, when the Communist Party (PCJP) was dissolved in Poland. If in Western Europe there were integrating processes, then in the East - differentiating.

Time sped up. The processes of self-restoration of human civilization, which "suffered" by nationalism and communism, began. And it is noteworthy that they began in Europe. Who would have thought, for example, that in the 21st century Germany's foreign policy would become a stabilizing peace factor in Europe?

And yet historians call the European ruby precisely the unification of Germany (1990). The consequences of this event are worldview: previously politically amorphous Europeans finally began to associate themselves with some kind of commonality.

Conclusion

We examined the unification of Germany in 1990, having studied both the interviews with the Germans themselves and the translations of the German press. Unfortunately, the domestic sources of this information are tendentious. An attempt to belittle the role of this association is traced.

For example, the subsequent closure of the GDR-leading electronic enterprise "Robotron" (which, in particular, produces the first PCs) is protruded. At the same time, it is hushed up that its units were purchased by Siemens, which, having equipped them with the newest technologies, raised their competitiveness in the world by an order of magnitude.

Tendentiously ignored and the arrival in East Germany of leading international companies, and the creation of new market structures (for example, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange). Artificially it seems that life on the territory of the GDR ended with the country's entry into the FRG, that people are suppressed and yearn for socialism.

In reality, the reorganization of the entire industrial complex of the GDR was caused by the unification of Germany (1990). Its brief content: instead of chemical, textile industry, metallurgy, working for the socialist camp countries, fine mechanics began to develop (it is common knowledge that Germans are the best engineers in the world), construction industry, optics, automotive industry, food industry. The process was organized in German strictly and clearly. Redundant workers were paid benefits, they were retrained to new specialties. People who approached retirement age, still received a pension.

In concluding this article, we will express our conviction that the unification of Germany in 1990 and its political consequences have not been thoroughly studied and analyzed.