Collapse of the GDR

Question 1

What were the psychological differences within united Germany?

Answer 1

• West Germans thought of the East as completely backward
• East Germans saw the West as greedily Capitalist

Question 2

At the time of reunification, what percentage of houses had one outdoor toilet?

Answer 2

33%

Question 3

At the time of reunification, what percentage of housing lacked central heating?

Answer 3

60%

Question 4

How much did reunification cost and what did this cause?

Answer 4

• 4 trillion euros
• slower economic growth in the Eurozone

Question 5

Who was Helmut Kohl?

Answer 5

Chancellor of the FRG 1982-98

Question 6

What was Kohl concerned with?

Answer 6

The movement of people from East to West, wanting monetary assistance to improve conditions in the GDR

Question 7

What did Kohl put forward in November 1989?

Answer 7

A 10 point plan

Question 8

What did Kohl’s 10 point plan propose?

Answer 8

A federal system for Germany within a decade

Question 9

What were the 5 key points of Kohl’s plan? (SHEDD)

Answer 9

Self determination
Humanitarian aid
European discussion
Democracy
Disarmament

Question 10

What was the impact of Kohl’s 10 point plan?

Answer 10

Became the architect of reunification, using the FRG’s economic strength to his advantage and supplying hope through diplomacy and campaigns

Question 11

Who was Egon Krenz?

Answer 11

Head of Security, seen as the natural heir to Honecker’s leadership

Question 12

Who persuaded Krenz to make his move for leadership?

Answer 12

Schabowski

Question 13

Why did Gorbachev not interfere in the Governmental collapse of the GDR?

Answer 13

He saw it as an internal issue for the GDR to solve

Question 14

How did Honecker attempt to preserve the SED’s dominance in his removal?

Answer 14

Voted for his own removal and proposed Krenz as his successor

Question 15

What were Krenz’s 4 measures to appease protesters?

Answer 15

1. Relaxed travel restrictions
2. Met with New Forum and Church leaders
3. Anti-FRG propaganda campaign
4. Removed SED figures associated with Honecker

Question 16

Which figures were removed by Krenz due to their ties with Honecker? (2)

Answer 16

• Hager (Major of Leipzig)
• Margot Honecker

Question 17

What problems faced the SED following the collapse of the Berlin Wall? (3)

Answer 17

• 1/5 million visitors to the FRG in November 1989 remained
• party corruption became known
• 70,000 people left in Jan 1990

Question 18

How did the SED react to impending collapse in 1989-90? (2)

Answer 18

• Volkskammer amended constitution and Krenz stepped down
• Stasi began shredding evidence

Question 19

Who became de facto leader of the GDR in 1989-90?

Answer 19

Hans Modrow

Question 20

What caused internal division within the SED toward the end of the GDR?

Answer 20

Promise of free party elections and de-censorship

Question 21

What aimed to replace the Politburo in the
GDR?

Answer 21

Council of Ministers containing opposition members

Question 22

How was Honecker’s leadership gerontocratic in 1989?

Answer 22

He was 77, with gall bladder cancer and was increasingly absent from public life, refusing to adapt to reforms within the Eastern Bloc

Question 23

What did Honecker support which highlighted his gerontocracy and unwilling to reform?

Answer 23

Tianenman square massacre

Question 24

What were 3 economic problems in the GDR in the 1980s?

Answer 24

• overstaffing in industries and services
• slower industrial growth
• shortages of luxuries and consumer items

Question 25

What were 3 attempted solutions to economic problems in the GDR in the 1980s?

Answer 25

- reductions in public spending - sold political prisoners too and took loans from the FRG - production of new technologies

Question 26

What was the cost of maintenance and modification of the Berlin Wall enough to do?

Answer 26

Pay all the gas and electricity bills in the GDR

Question 27

What were 2 major economic drains in the GDR?

Answer 27

- The Berlin Wall - The Stasi

Question 28

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answer 28

9th November 1989

Question 29

What began the events of 9/11/1989?

Answer 29

Schabowski misreads an order from Krenz at a foreign press conference, falsely announcing the new laws on freedom of movement will take immediate effect

Question 30

What happened following Schabowski's announcement on 9/11/1989?

Answer 30

FRG news displayed the news and people on both sides gathered at the border

Question 31

When was the border in Berlin fully opened and why?

Answer 31

11pm, the guards lacked orders and couldn't restrain the volumes of people

Question 32

When did the border between Hungary and Austria open?

Answer 32

May 1989

Question 33

Why was Hungary dangerous for the SED? (2)

Answer 33

- one of the first Eastern Bloc countries to reform - popular holiday destination for GDR citizens

Question 34

Which were the main 2 countries GDR citizens escaped through?

Answer 34

Hungary and Czechoslovakia

Question 35

What did GDR citizens receive when they reached the FRG?

Answer 35

West German passports

Question 36

Why was emigration in the 1980s economically damaging?

Answer 36

75% of those who left were under 40 and well qualified professional

Question 37

How many East German people left between November 1989 and January 1990?

Answer 37

250,000

Question 38

What did younger SED members begin to demand in the 1980s?

Answer 38

Soviet-style reforms to prevent emigration and instability

Question 39

When was the Leipzig uprising?

Answer 39

9th October 1989

Question 40

Where did Leipzig protestors gather and how many were there?

Answer 40

- St Nikolai church - 70,000

Question 41

Why were Stasi troops and blood supplies put on alert in the Leipzig uprising?

Answer 41

People weren't sure whether Honecker would react with violence

Question 42

Why didn't Honecker not react with violence to the Leipzig uprising?

Answer 42

He was questioning the loyalty of his troops and the protestors gave no justification for violence

Question 43

What did the lack of intervention in the Leipzig uprising cause?

Answer 43

Similar demonstrations in Dresden and Berlin

Question 44

What 2 things did the Leipzig uprising demonstrate?

Answer 44

- SED leadership was failing - Soviet forces would not support the SED

Question 45

How much did the GDR's debt to capitalist countries increase between 1970-89?

Answer 45

2.2 - 46 billion

Question 46

Why did the GDR require imports?

Answer 46

To maintain living standards

Question 47

What did GDR exports of oil to the West mean?

Answer 47

Its people had to use inefficient brown coal

Question 48

How did corruption in the SED impact the economy in the 1980s?

Answer 48

Most of SED leadership did not know about the extent of the economic situation, including the economic minister, causing inefficient responses to the economic crisis

Question 49

Why did Gorbachev not increase financial support to the GDR?

Answer 49

National debt (of the GDR)

Question 50

When did Gorbachev come to power?

Answer 50

1985

Question 51

Why did the USSR decrease support of the GDR?

Answer 51

The financial drain of the Cold War began to outweigh the advantages of maintaining a military presence in the Eastern Bloc

Question 52

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Answer 52

The USSR's pledge to protect countries threatened by Westernisation

Question 53

How did Gorbachev decrease support of the GDR (2)

Answer 53

- abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine - developed relations between the FRG and USSR

Question 54

What did the Protestant Church become int he 1980s?

Answer 54

A focal point for opposition

Question 55

What was the Kirche von Unten?

Answer 55

The church from below

Question 56

When was the Kirche von Unten created?

Answer 56

Summer 1987

Question 57

What did growing dissidence within the Church present?

Answer 57

Young Christians rejecting the caution of church leaders

Question 58

What were 2 successes of health and welfare in the GDR in the 1980s?

Answer 58

- well funded and secure - public satisfaction prevented opposition

Question 59

What were 3 failures of health and welfare in the GDR in the 1980s?

Answer 59

- heavy industry caused health issues and put strain on the system - economic decline caused decreasing funding - aging population

Question 60

What was the state of consumer goods in the 1980s in the GDR?

Answer 60

Second economy flourished involving bribery, state produced goods were mostly exported and had unstable availability

Question 61

Why did the SED claim the GDR did not need to be reformed?

Answer 61

It was economically superior to the rest of the Eastern Bloc

Question 62

How did the SED react to withdrawn USSR support using the media?

Answer 62

Used propaganda to suggest socio-economic problems in the USSR and censored Soviet media

Question 63

Why did dissident groups not call for reunification?

Answer 63

They thought it was too unrealistic

Question 64

What did dissident groups call for in the GDR in the 1980s?

Answer 64

Peace

Question 65

Which dissident group in the GDR pursued peace in the 1980s?

Answer 65

Initiative for Peace and Human Rights

Question 66

Roughly when was the reunification process?

Answer 66

March to October 1990

Question 67

What happened on the 1st July 1990?

Answer 67

Currency reunion

Question 68

What happened on the 31st August 1990?

Answer 68

Unification treaty signed agreeing the states of the GDR would become states of the FRG

Question 69

Which countries signed the 2 plus 4 treaties?

Answer 69

USA, UK, USSR, France, GDR and FRG

Question 70

When was the settlement allowing reunification signed and where?

Answer 70

Moscow, 12/09/1990

Question 71

What was the first term of the 2 plus 4 treaty of reunification?

Answer 71

Borders of Germany recognised as those of the 2 existing German states

Question 72

What was the second term of the 2 plus 4 treaty of reunification?

Answer 72

4 power status in Berlin ended 2nd October

Question 73

What was the third term of the 2 plus 4 treaty of reunification?

Answer 73

United Germany would join NATO provided NATO troops were not stationed in the East

Question 74

What was the fourth term of the 2 plus 4 treaty of reunification?

Answer 74

The Russian army would withdraw troops from the East by 1994

Question 75

When did reunification go ahead formally?

Answer 75

3rd October 1990

Question 76

Views of the GDR - Funder

Answer 76

'just Germans who had Communism for 40 years and went backwards' 'an experiment and it failed'

Question 77

Surveillance state - German media

Answer 77

'the most perfected surveillance state of all time'

Question 78

What was the ratio of Stasi officer or informer to person?

Answer 78

1 for every 63 people

Question 79

Mielke - Funder

Answer 79

'an invisible man'

Question 80

The Stasi - Funder

Answer 80

'the shield and sword of the Communist party'

Question 81

The role of the Stasi - Funder

Answer 81

'its broader remit was to protect the party from its people'

Question 82

Cultural difficulties of reunification - Funder

Answer 82

'it only took forty years to create two very different kinds of Germans'

Question 83

Views of the West - Funder

Answer 83

'the Western disease of shallow materialism'