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West Germany's chancellor, Helmut Kohl, worked with East Germany's leaders to unify Germany and set elections. Berlin, again, became the capital of reunified Germany. With the Cold War suddenly over, there was no longer a need for the costly and dangerous concentration of military power in the center of Europe. Supported by financial aid from the German government, the Soviets withdrew 340,000 troops from Eastern Germany between 1991 and 1994. Allied troops also withdrew from Berlin. Germany's role as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will change because of the lessened need for Allied force to balance Soviet force. Germany's military will not exceed 370,000 men and Germany will remain a non-nuclear power. Although some nations are concerned about a strong unified Germany, Germany's unification will possibly be a stabilizing factor in Europe. Economic security and cooperation are the major goals for collective security in a democratic Europe. West Germany's democratic government took the lead in reunification, making the deutschemark the official currency for both regions. The transition to democratic government and market economy offers hope for a better future for a reunified Germany. In 1989, the Germans and other Eastern Europeans traded the security of Socialist control for political and economic freedom. Success is likely because of West Germany's democracy and stable political parties. Non-democratic parties have had little support in the eastern area. The German party system and political and economic institutions are flexible and stable. It is probable that Germany will be a trading state with a balance of interests and a limited military, rather than a military superpower posing a threat to its neighbors.
The West German Basic Law was a provisional constitution until reunification. According to Article 23, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) applied for membership in the West German federation under the decentralized federal system. The West German representative democracy is the main influence in this reunification. State parliaments are elected every four years. The first unified parliamentary election in the new states under the multiparty system was held on October 14, 1990. A very significant concern for unified Germany is the impact of the sixteen million East Germans who have no real democratic experience. How should the new government deal with people who collaborated with or were integral parts of the past Communist regime? Is there to be compensation for property confiscated by the Communists? Many questions remain to be answered.
Integrating a prosperous West Germany with a backward economy in the East is a challenge. East Germans resent perceived treatment as "poor cousins" in reunified Germany. West Germans resent the high cost in taxes of modernizing East Germany. Some of the most controversial issues include environmental pollution and updating antiquated infrastructure, especially transportation and communication in East Germany. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union took machinery, equipment, and large quotas from farms and factories in Soviet satellite countries. This tight control of the political and economic activities resulted in the poor quality, lack of initiative, and low standard of living that now must be dealt with by a unified democratic Germany. Billions of deutschemarks are pouring into the rebuilding of East Germany.
The economy of former East Germany is in the process of changing form an outdated Communist-controlled command economy to an open market economy. Many companies cannot be made competitive in the western economy. Privatization of East Germany's industry is in progress. At the same time, the movement away from a socialist economy, which subsidized an individual's income, rent, utilities, food and health care, is causing disruption and demands attention. People must find and keep their own jobs and pay more for basic necessities. For the first time East Germans are paying property taxes and a share in their health care costs.
The realities of unification are harsh. Even though unified Germany is the biggest, strongest, and richest country in Western Europe, the economic complications are equally great because of the effects of Communist rule. Gone are the guaranteed employment and artificially low prices for housing and food. These securities have been replaced by unfamiliar competition, inflation, neglect, and pollution. East Germans feel that progress has been too slow because West Germans resent footing the bill with increased taxes (approximately 50 percent of a worker's salary). The capitalist promises of the market economy are out of reach for most Easterners. Housing prices are high as are the prices for other goods.
Reunification increased the population of Germany by one-fourth and enlarged its geography by more than one-third. The new Germany, a key global economic center, is the largest state in Western Europe, with seventy-eight million people. To some, it appears that the entire Eastern culture is dominated by the West.
Lloyd, James H. (ed) Comparing Nations: Case Studies. Los Angeles: West Publishing, 1999. (pp. 132-134)
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In 1988, Gorbachev gave his approval for change not only in the Soviet Union but in Eastern Europe. He allowed Communist-ruled nations freedom to go their own ways without Soviet interference. However, he never expected such drastic changes. Events in Eastern Europe prompted several Soviet republics to demand change, even independence. Hostility between various ethnic, nationalist, and separatist groups could no longer be suppressed. Ethnic strife involved Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Uzbeks, Tadzhiks, Turkmen, Kazaks, and others. Nationalism was on the rise. It was in the Soviet interest not to be permanent policemen of Eastern Europe, but to tend to its own problems. Gorbachev's glasnost allowed the media to cover events openly, which encouraged ideas of freedom. Gorbachev's plans for perestroika were overshadowed by other events. Some reforms were struggling, such as privatization of property. The old state-owned economy was threatened. In 1987, the principle of two-candidate elections was introduced. Gorbachev called for the creation of a new Soviet Parliament, which first met in 1989. He eliminated the Communist Party's guarantee of unopposed leadership. In 1990, Gorbachev became the first president of the newly restructured Soviet government. With the multiethnic makeup of the Soviet Union (92 nationalities and 112 different languages) and its central power diminished, nationalist movements emerged. Between 1988 and 1990, Georgia, Latvia, Estonia, Moldavia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania all called for independence.
Leader of the largest and most influential of the Soviet states, Russian president Boris Yeltsin had become a major player in Soviet affairs. Even working with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev faced opposition from the army, the government, the KGB, and the military, all of whom worried over their own loss of power with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In August, 1991, on the eve of signing the Union Treaty giving more power to the Republics, Gorbachev was kidnapped in a short-lived coup. Boris Yeltsin defied the instigators by defending the Russian Parliament building and arresting the unorganized and unsupported coup leaders. Yeltsin became a national hero. Power quickly moved to the governments of the individual republics. Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania became independent. By December 25, 1991, Gorbachev had resigned as president and had quit the Communist Party. As other republics demanded independence, the economic situation deteriorated. The Soviet Union ceased to exist. In its place, the Commonwealth of Independent States was formed. Economic problems, ethnic conflict, and Gorbachev's plan to shift power from the Communist Party to an elected chief executive and legislature had destabilized Communist power. Gorbachev's efforts to reform the Soviet system ultimately contributed to its demise. The Revolution of 1991 ended Communist Party rule, and brought down the symbolic hammer and sickle.
Nationalism swept across the Soviet Union in the early l990s, shaking the very foundation of this enormous region. Even though the Soviet Union collapsed quietly&emdash;for the most part, without war&emdash;this transition has been profoundly difficult for the resulting fifteen independent countries. By 1991, nationalist movements throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet republics began to break up the multiethnic union. Gorbachev's reforms had released the iron grip of the Communist Party. Ethnic and nationalist problems threatened to tear some of the new states apart. Even though serious problems continue as these countries are in transition, the people have chosen freedom over Communist security. The challenges are very difficult and unprecedented. Much of the strife is based on ethnic and cultural differences. Historically, efforts to "Russify" the various nationalities were met with low-level resistance, but the recent changes have brought a resurgence of nationalism among non-Russians. Old ethnic hatreds have resurfaced, as have resentment of previous Russian domination. Russians living in non-Russian states are discriminated against, as are other minority groups in the new states. In finding and establishing a new national identities apart from the Soviet Union, insecurities have led to racial and ethnic problems. Even Russian President Boris Yeltsin has struggled with reforms. In 1993, hard-line parliamentary delegates tried to depose Yeltsin and end reform&emdash;without success, however. Since 1991, communism has been discredited for the most part. The transition from authoritarian rule to the new idea of democracy is very complex and unpredictable. Democratic-style toleration hardly exists because it has not been part of the Russian tradition.
Lloyd, James H. (ed) Comparing Nations: Case Studies. Los Angeles: West Publishing, 1999. (pp. 128-132)
HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS
10.9 Students analyze the international developments in the post-World World War II world.
For additional information see the California Department of Education web site at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf
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