Reunification: Recreating A United Germany 1989-90 Flashcards
What was Willy Brandt policy towards the GDR known as?
Ostpolitik
When was the Basic Treaty signed?
1972
What did the Basic Treaty do?
Confirmed division between two legal states and led economic cooperation between the two nations.
What doctrine did the Basic Treaty end?
Hallstein Doctrine of 1955
When did Honecker (Leader GDR) visit the FRG the then-leader Kohl?
1987
When did Mikhail Gorbachev become leader of the USSR?
1985
What two policies did Gorbachev introduce which attempted to improve relations with the west?
Glasnost (Openness) and Perestroika (Reconstruction)
What did Gorbachev's new policies mean for the GDR economically?
Declining economic situation - massive subsidies they paid to maintain the living condition for people in the country
How much money did the GDR borrow from the FRG in the early 1980s?
DM1.95 billion
What did Honecker do to ease pressure growing in the GDR?
Greater number of East Germans to visit relatives in the FRG
When was there a massive increase in East Germans taking advantage of these relaxed visitation laws by Honecker?
1986-88
How many applications from essential workers to emigrate did the FRG receive by 1988?
100,000s of applications
How much did the number of East Germans allowed to migrate increase by in 1988?
By 18,500 to 30,000
In the first few months of 1989 how many people had emigrated to the FRG?
48,000 people
By how much did the number of East Germans allowed to visit relatives increase by from 1987-88?
From 5 million to 6.2 million
Why did the FRG not support the mass emigration of people from the GDR to the FRG?
Depletion - lead to repression and negative impacts on GDR population.
Increasingly expensive to house the number of migrants coming from the GDR
What did the GDR not introduce like many other communist nations such as Poland, USSR, and Hungary?
Greater political freedoms and would not introduce freedom of speech
When did Hungary remove the barbed wire fortifications along its border with Austria?
2nd May 1989
What did the opening of the Austro-Hungarian border do?
New route to the west and for people to flee to the FRG through Austria
How many East Germans travelled to Hungary to go on holiday in 1989?
10,000s
When did the Hungarian government announce they would not stamp passports for those crossing the border into Austria?
9th August 1989
Where did East German's head to once they crossed the border into Austria?
FRG embassies in Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, and East Berlin to attempt to gain official papers to move to the FRG
What did the FRG do in response to the 1000s of East Germans crossing the border and heading for FRG embassies?
Closed its embassies to dissuade GDR citizens from seeking refuge.
How many GDR citizens on the 20th August 1989 crossed the Austrian border illegally?
500
How many GDR citizens arrived in West Germany by August 1989? What percentage of East Germans on holiday in Hungary was this?
20,000
10% of the estimated 200,000 East Germans
How many East Germans died trying to swim the Danube between Czechoslovakia and Hungary?
10
When was Honecker taken ill? What did this mean?
21 August until late September 1989 could not maintain his iron grip on power
By October 1989 how many people took part in weekly protests in the GDR?
320,000 people
When did Honecker return to power? What did he argue?
25 September, argued people leaving the GDR were traitors and were not welcome in East Germany
How many people were involved in the riot in Dresden 1989? How long did the riot last?
October 1989, 3-hour riot involving 10,000 people
Why did the Dresden riot of 1989 occur?
Honecker allowed 14,000 camped in the FRG embassy in Prague to migrate to the FRG
Who visited the GDR to mark the 40th anniversary of its creation?
Gorbachev came to deliver a speech and was met by huge applause from the FDJ; spoke of reform.
What did Gorbachev's visit spark in Leipzig two days later 9th October 1989?
70,000 people gathered to protest against the communist rule in the GDR.
How large had protests reached in Leipzig by the 17th October 1989?
100,000
What did the protest in Leipzig achieve in 1989?
SED sacked Honecker and replaced him with Egon Krenz
What did Krenz announce upon his appointment?
Introduced reforms and hoped he could create a country that East Germans would be pleased to live in
What did the SED refuse to accept following Krenz's appointment?
Affected their control of the country, and refused to accept the legislation of opposition groups that had formed since September 1989.
By November 1989 how many Germans took to the streets to protest about the GDR?
750,000 East Germans
When were the protest in Berlin? What did they call for?
4th November 1989 - political freedom, legislation of opposition groups, and unrestricted travel
What was the response of the SED to the protests in Berlin on the 9th November 1989?
Gunter Schabowski of SED announced anyone with a passport would have greater travel rights. Came into force 'immediately'
When was the barrier between East and West Berlin raised?
11.20 pm 9th November, Border guards at Bornholmer Bridge decided to lift the barriers.
What was the USSR's reaction to people attacking the Berlin Wall?
1.5 million Soviet troops in the GDR remained in their barracks, upholding Gorbachev's promise of not defending unpopular communist states.
When did political parties in the GDR reassert themselves?
13th November 1989, would oppose the SED
What did the SED do after 13th November in an attempt to showing a willingness to change?
Renamed themselves the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) under then leadership of Hans Modrow and Gregor Gysi
By the 16th November 1989 (one week after fall of Berlin Wall) how many East Germans left for the FRG?
17,000
When did Helmut Kohl announce his Ten Point Plan?
28th November 1989
How were Kohl and the FRG caught off guard by the fall of the Berlin Wall?
Thousands leaving the GDR started calling for re-unification of the East and the West.
What did Kohl's Ten Point Plan outline?
Moving towards a confederate state linking the two Germanys, then moving towards full reunification within 5-10 years.
Immediate assistance for the GDR to stabilise the country and reduce numbers leaving for the West.
What speech did Kohl deliver to the Bundestag on the 28th November 1989?
'regain Germany's national unity' - first chancellor in 30 years to call for reunification
Why were Great powers worried about a unified Germany?
USSR - reunified Germany's membership in NATO
British - enlarged Germany at the centre of Europe
France - Fourth Reich
Who suggested that the GDR become a separate state of the European Union, to avoid unification?
President of European Commission, Jacques Delors
When were the protests in Leipzig calling for reunification? How many attended?
11th December 1989 - 300,000 people
When did Kohl visit Dresden? How many people welcomed him?
19th December 1989 - 100,000 people welcomed Kohl
How did Honecker cripple the GDR?
Focused on maintaining the welfare state which led to spiralling debt.
Lacked access to raw materials and was mainly agricultural
Huge proportion of budget went on defence and had an expensive bureaucracy
What was life expectancy of men and women in the GDR compared to the FRG by 1989?
2 1/2 years lower for men and 7 years lower for women compared to in the FRG
What project did the GDR waste valuable funding on?
Spent DM1 billion on trying to create the world's largest microchip but it failed
How did Gorbachev's policies from 1985 worsen the situation in the GDR?
Pressured Honecker to match his economic reforms in the GDR.
By October 1989 how much was estimated export values needed to increase in order to stabilise the GDR's debt?
DDM9 million, require investment the country did not have
Who became the leader of the GDR in December 1989?
Hans Modrow following the resignation of Egon Krenz
What did Modrow promise the people of the GDR?
Economic and environmental problems to be tackled immediately and new relationship with Western Europe
When was the Stasi (GDR secret police) headquarters in Berlin stormed? What did this mean for the GDR?
15th January 1990 - citizens of the GDR no longer scared of the regime, one pillar that held up the communist had been removed.
What did Modrow do in an act of desperation to preserve the GDR? When?
Announced elections for 18th March 1990
Who won the March 1990 elections? What did they promote?
CDU-led coalition called 'Alliance for Germany' future of the GDR lay in reunification with the FRG
How many seats did the 'Alliance for Germany' win in the March 1990 election?
192 out of the 400 seats
How many seats did the SED (PDS) win in the March 1990 election?
66 seats
What did the SPD promote? How many seats did they win at the March 1990 election?
88 seats - slow down the reunification process so it could be carried out in a more organised fashion, as haste could damage the FRG's economy
Who was the leader of the 'Alliance for Germany'
Lothar de Maizière
How East German Marks could be converted into West German marks at an exchange rate of what after March 1990 elections?
DDM 4000 into West German Marks (DM) at an exchange rate of 1:1
What was the actual exchange rate ratio in April 1990 for East German marks to West German marks?
1:4
What affect did Kohl and Maizière monetary conversion scheme have on the GDR?
Meltdown of GDR economy and unemployment rose and living standards dropped.
Not used to FRG prices for goods and paying for other amenities such as, healthcare, education and some consumer goods
Rush to buy FRG consumer goods - market for GDR good dried up causing further economic ruin in the East
What did the economic collapse of the GDR mean for reunification?
Date for reunification had to be moved forward much to the chagrin of the Four Powers.
When did the GDR cease to exist and Germany unified?
Midnight between 2nd-3rd October 1990
When was German reunification discussed by the Four Powers?
11th December 1989 at the Allied Control Council
Why did the US feel it had no choice but to agree to the demand of reunification by Kohl?
Worried the FRG might leave NATO if demands not met - US's influence in region reduced.
Worried about SPD leader, Oskar Lafontaine being critical of NATO, and should Kohl's reunification fail, Lafontaine could win the election and then pull the FRG out of NATO anyway.
What did Gorbachev tell Kohl in February 1990?
Up to the German people to decide about unification and the USSR would not get involved.
What was the name of the talks that started after Gorbachev acknowledged a unified Germany in NATO?
Two plus Four negotiations
When did the Two plus Four negotiations take place?
March 1990
Why were the USSR and the other Allied powers forced to concede unification anyway in 1990?
Article 23 of FRG's constitution stated reunification could take place if the GDR accepted unification under terms and laws of the FRG; the GDR requested unification
When did economic unification take place between GDR and FRG?
July 1990
When did Gorbachev tell the USA that he would accept a reunified Germany as a member of NATO?
May 1990
What did Kohl and Gorbachev meet to agree upon following the 'Two plus Four negotiations'?
Withdrawal of soviet troops from the GDR, the eastern border of the country, and the size of the German army.
What was the name of treaty that finally unified Germany?
Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
When was the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany signed? Who by?
12th September 1990 - Four Allied Powers, FRG, and GDR
