The fall of Berlin Wall - Essay Example

The fall of Berlin Wall The aftermath of World War II was the partitioning of Europe among the four superpowers: United s, Britain, France, and U.S.S.R. Eastern Europe was virtually occupied by USSR while Western Europe was occupied by other nations. After German invasion of the Soviet Union and the end of Nazi war, the four nations decided to divide Berlin the capital of Germany into four parts. Thereafter, a Cold War ensued between U.S and Soviet Union leading to the division of Germany into East and West Germany with East Germany under control of USSR and West Germany under the other three superpowers that had united their occupations to form Federal Republic of Germany. A wall was erected to divide the two Germans thus preventing travel or communication with either side of the divide. However, in 1989 after much pressure from civic organizations in East Germany and after an announcement by USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev that “the days of monolithic Soviet Bloc were over” thus relinquishing its hold on former satellite states (Fulbrook 243; Turner 230) the ‘iron curtain’ of Europe came tumbling down. But, it is the announcement of a new travel law at the 40th anniversary celebrations by East Berlin party boss Schabowski that marked the end of Berlin wall. East and West Berliners went to the wall and dismantled it leading to mass emigration to the West from the East Germany. What followed were tremendous economic, social and political reforms leading to the ‘two-plus-four’ talks that saw the unification of the two Germans into one Federal Republic. The aim of this paper is to discuss the major problems that arose from the fall of the wall and how some of these problems could have been avoided. It will also determine who were involved in the ‘two plus four’ negotiations and their interests. By Gorbachev announcing measures aimed at democratization and economic restructuring, there was hope for reform for the East Germans. The Soviet Union had transformed its occupations into communist states and by its non-interventionist stand, it meant East Germany could adopt market economics like West Germany thus improve its economy (Fulbrook 243-247). Meanwhile, Hungary opened its borders with Austria giving way for Easterners to move freely to the West. This led to mass movement of East Germans through Hungary-Austria border and others through Czechoslovakia while still others sought refuge in West Germany embassies in Prague and Warsaw until it reached crisis levels. There was shortage of housing in West Germany plus a strain on its economy. This was also a blow to the East as it lost much of its productive population. At first, German Democratic Republic (GDR) tried to imprison immigrants in Eastern Europe while conducting ‘house arrests’ in GDR to stop them but it did not work. Those who went and came back from the West came with new ideas and view of the world thus pressure began mounting on the government for reforms. This led to peaceful non-violent demonstrations, prayer meetings and discussions by churches. These Leipzig demonstrations were met with violence especially by the Stagi (secret political police) but in the end the SED led by Erich Honecker agreed to dialogue (Fulbrook 245). Honecker instituted few reforms but the GDR citizens were not satisfied. They wanted democratization and free elections. As such, the movement to the West continued and by September, more than 3500 GDR citizens in Hungary were demanding to be allowed to leave for the West (Turner 227). Some went to Warsaw to demand that West Germany embassy to allow them to leave for Federal Republic. Due to pressure by international media, SED allowed those in Prague and Warsaw to travel. However, in early October, it closed borders to GDR leading to unrest. Independent civic organizations such as the New Forum, Democracy Now Democratic Awakening, and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were formed. They were all demanding for free elections and removal of restrictions on travel. To appease the opponents, the Politburo replaced Honecker the SED leader with Egon Krenz. However, this did not deter the public from demanding more radical changes and they had no more confidence in SED. Although Krenz proposed a new travel law, the law did not alter official requirement of official permission to emigrate nor the right to purchase West Germany currency (Turner 233). Another measure to appease them was the resignation of cabinet ministers. On November 9, Schabowski announced new travel law thus opening the Berlin Wall. The party also selected Hans Modrow as the new SED leader and the executive authority now rested on the cabinet. This did not end the pressure by the public to have free elections and an end for self-proclaimed leadership role of SED. The result was dissolution of Politburo and the committee giving rise to the Soviet Union Party (PDS). This marked the end of SED regime. The civic organizations wanted a reform and conservation of GDR but new parties emerged to demand for reunification of Germany. In this case, they would acquire West Germany Deutschmark without leaving East Germany. The opening of Berlin Wall had led to outflow of labor especially professionals like dentists and nurses. Moreover, those left were demoralized by the absence of their colleagues. There was only few labor left to build East Germany economy. GDR also suffered foreign currency debts, plummeting credit rating in international money markets and a stagnating economy. The economy was crumbling thus rapid measures were needed to revive it thus the rising sentiments for unification among the public. The people on streets chanted “We are one people” to demand for unification (Turner 242). Round Table negotiations began under the church forcing parliament to amend the GDR constitution of 1974 to eliminate communist domination documents . More initiatives came from Kohl a West German Chancellor who developed a program for unification. All the political parties agreed on unification issue especially after CDU and alliance for Germany won by a massive margin (48%). This was the party advocating for market economies rather than conservation and reform of GDR. New minister Lothar de Maiziere was chosen and led the talks that followed. However, the anticipation of the unification led to massive unemployment as Comecon trading system became weaker and purchasers shunned away. The negotiations between Bonn and East Berlin were started by Kohl so as to save the East Germany economy which was crumbling. The talks bore fruit in May 1990 when a ‘states treaty’ of economic union was agreed upon. As such, GDR was absorbed economically into the Federal Republic. (Turner 247). What was now remaining was a political union leading to all-Germany election. In February 1990, the former colonizers Americas, British, French, and Soviets began the “two plus four” negotiations to unite Germany. This represented the two German states and the four former occupying powers as mentioned. America, Britain and France wanted the united Germany to join alliances such as NATO but Soviet Union was opposed to this idea. In the end, Russia agreed after being offered 5 billion Marks credit (251). The aim of the three powers was to unite Europe hence achieve European integration which had been hindered by Soviet Union. The unification of Germany thus meant the beginning of this integration. For the East Germany, it was a chance to reform its economy which had been badly affected by communism. West Germany also suffered when East Germans migrated there thus it needed to stabilize the whole Germany for economic prosperity. The agreement was reached in August and ratified in September by the two parliaments and a permanence of Oder-Neisse border with Poland confirmed. (Turner 251). The union was allowed to join an alliance of choice but the preferred choice by other nations was NATO. In October, 3 the five federal states of East Germany joined the federal states of the federal republic thus completing the unification. This led to end of Cold War and collapse of communism as well as uneven social, economic and political profile for the unified Germany. As anticipated, the Schengen Agreement was reached thus dismantling border controls in Europe. A common European currency (EURO) was established thus integrating European countries as envisaged by the ‘two plus four’ negotiators. The fall of the wall of newly United Germany led to many problems such as massive emigration, mass unemployment, crumbling of the East Germany economy and mass protests from the public. Furthermore, the decade that followed unification was that of economic, social and cultural dislocations (Fulbrook 254). Racial prejudice in the Eastern area was prevalent and some Easterners felt like second class citizens. Ideological differences were prevalent with westerners advocating competitive individualism while easterners were community oriented and had great regard for the welfare system. According to Mary there were also controversies regarding works of literature and film and historical interpretations of events (253). Some of these problems could have been avoided if the SED government was transparent in its dealings and had not prevented its citizens from traveling. These young people who are professionals could have traveled to the West freely, gather new ideas and come back home to apply them and revive the economy. Refusing them to travel only gave them the urge to travel and not come back for fear of reprisal thus good brains went to the West. Democratization and free elections would also have saved East Germany all the troubles as it would have given the public the confidence it needed to revive the economy. They would not have agitated for reunification if their well being was catered for. Conclusion The 1989 revolution in East Germany and consequent unification of the two Germanys had great economic, social and political ramifications for the people of Germany and Europe as a whole. Since the Cold War between U.S and Soviet Union, a wall was elected in Berlin thus dividing Germany into East and West Germany. The East was under Soviet Union communism while the West was under Britain, France and America who advocated capitalism and democracy. There was growing tension in East Germany due to oppression by the SED leadership and a growing urge to travel to the West. When opportunity came, East Germans emigrated to the West enmasse leading to crumbling of GDR economy. The only option left was thus to unite Germany and this was effected through the “two plus four” negotiations. The five states of GDR were incorporated into the Federal Republic and the same time European integration was achieved. By putting travel restrictions, SED made its people rise against it leading to a lot of problems such as unemployment which could have been avoided. Works Cited Turner, Henry Ashby Jr. Germany from Partition to Reunification. Yale University Press, 1992. Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise Histrory of Germany. 2ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Read More