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.