knowledge test Flashcards
Why was the economy of the east so poor?
- It was a communist closed style economy and despite being one of the best in east Europe
- it was comparatively terrible compared to the west
How much money did the east borrow from the west and what did it show about collapsing?
1.95 million DM, their economy was unsustainable and made the west look even more favourable for immigrants
What did the differing levels of prosperity mean for the east with an example??
Lower standard of living, state provided a very basic amount of poor consumer goods eg the trabant car
What infamous companies did the west benefit from??
Siemens electronics, BMW, Mercedes
What epitomised the easts lack of efficiency?
Their attempt at making the worlds largest microchip
How did economic factors lead to the collapse of the east??
differing levels of prosperity prompted migration who wanted to enjoy the benefits of better quality standards of living and better quality goods
How did a closed style economy limit the easts consumer goods??
No competition or pressure on companies to innovate and improve products
What did the Hungarian government do and when to prompt immigration??
2nd may 1989, removed barbed wire from its borders to allow migration
how many people crossed the Austrian borders illegally and what was the name given to this migration?
500, brain drain
What was introduced on the 9th November and by who, which led to the fall of the wall?
The travel permit by Schabowski
What did the travel permit do for reunification?
- created the first legal passage between the two countries
- unified/ interconnected social aspects of west and east which prompted more migration
How many people migrated from GDR to FRG in November and how many per day after that?
133,000
2000 a day
Why did migration become fairly common after Hungarian border reforms??
- illegal border crossing prompted more German people to do the same
- Honecker issued no repercussions
Why was Honecker a failure in the GDR??
He was too concerned with maintaining the basic standard of living to worry about wider issues
What protest happened in October 1989 and how many people did it attract?
Liebzig protest attracted 320,000 people in opposition to the current political system
What prompted the second protest, where was it and when??
When Honecker returned to office following illness, he acted as though everything was fine
-Berlin in november 1989, attarcted 750,000 people
How did Krenz actions increase the failure of the SED??
- wouldnt allow parties to form
- wouldnt allow free elections
How did the SEDs failures lead to the collapse of the GDR??
Their complacency and oppression of political rights prompted even more migration from the east to the west
How did the overall success of Kohl lead to the collapse of the GDR?
. He integrated east and west socially and politically before it had collapsed, given people even more reason to immigrate.
What did the 10 point plan do to help migrating GDR citizens?
1:1 conversion rate to smooth economic transactions
How did Kohl advertise a unified Germany??
alliance for germany propaganda- people voting for the CDU in the east were voting for a unified germany
How did the alliance for germany contribute to further migration?
unified socio-political aspects of the east and west and compared to Krenz political oppression, politics in the west was much more favourable and meant that people would either migrate or the east should just unify with Kohl as leader
Overall judgement for why the GDR collapsed?
Overall it was the effect of mass migration that led to the collapse of the GDR because it was an increasingly failing political and economical system that offered no chance of positive long term reform, despite Gorbachevs hopes. People in the east wanted to leave to enjoy the prosperity of the west, and the failure of the SED in comparison to the success of Kohl saw many thousands immigrate. Economic factors gave even more wait to the argument that the GDR was to collapse imminently