After I had written about the German unification of 1871 (and I wrote about as much as I have below), I found out that on my final exam I was supposed to write about the 1990 unification and had to start all over again.
Moo laid on my notes in support of my efforts. I didn't find that helpful.
The following belongs to me. Please do not reproduce it in any fashion.
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The unification of West and East Germany in 1990 brought back
together the country that had been separated by “die Mauer” and politics. One major positive effect of the
reunification was that Germany was one again and her residents could freely
travel where they wished. Families who had been separated since the Wall was
erected could meet again. Young people, previously grounded at home in the
East, could go out and see the world.
The reunification also brought the positive result of
reuniting intellectuals and professionals with their country as a whole. Before
the Wall was built, the intelligentsia fled the DDR in droves to escape to the
West. With the reunification, Germany’s doctors, scientists, and skilled
workers could work together in an open environment for the good of the whole
country. “Ossies” would now have access to all the resources and information
from the West.
Additionally, unification restored freedom for everyone. The
oppressive Soviet rule and spying were gone. There was freedom to read Western
literature and to have an intense debate. There was freedom of speech without
worrying if one’s neighbor would be reporting on the conversation.
One negative effect of the reunification was that some Germans
still felt that there was a split between East and West Germany; “die Mauer im
Kopf” was a result of perceived cultural differences between the two. East
Germany had become a separate, foreign country during its separation and
isolation and the reunited Germany had to work through this. My colleague
experienced this first hand. She was US exchange student in a former East
German high school in the late 1990s. The school went on a tour to perform a
play at other schools in the former West Germany to promote friendship and
acceptance. At some points they were met rudely by the students they were
visiting, being called “Communists,” even though they were just young children
when Germany was still divided.
Another negative effect of the unification was that East
Germany, with its Soviet control, saw its economy and infrastructure finish
crumbling as the Wall came down. It had been weak before the fall of the Wall
and this event was the final straw. Since the fall of the Wall, the former East
Germany was slow to recover from the weak economy and needed injections of
money from West Germany to help recover; some former West Germans were not too
thrilled about sending the money. Many former East Germans had to learn new
professions as their State-run jobs were gone.
At the time of reunification, neighboring countries were
concerned about the reunification of Germany. Margaret Thatcher, British Prime
Minister, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhack Shamir, among other
European leaders, were concerned about Germany’s unification. They were anxious
that a newly strengthened Germany might return to its history of military
aggression or hostilities toward Jews. This attitude of paranoia was not what
the newly reunited country needed.
Germany’s (re)unification was a happy time for many, but was
not without its struggles. In the short term, there was a feeling of unease and
paranoia, both about the power of a reunited Germany and in the economic
reality of taking on an economy that had crumbled. In the long term, the former
East Germany is still weaker economically and there are some residual feelings
of differences between the two areas. However, Germany, united now under an
“Ossie” Chancellor, Angela Merkel, continues working through these problems.
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