[PDF] The Way Towards Reunification A Revolution In Germany eBook

Author : Frederik Boesch
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 15 pages
File Size : 35,87 MB
Release : 2006-02-10
Category : History
ISBN : 3638468208

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Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject History of Europe - Newer History, European Unification, grade: 1,3, International University Bremen, course: Social German History, language: English, abstract: The Way towards Reunification – A Revolution in Germany? If you had asked a person on the street 16 years ago how reasonable he thought reunification of Western and Eastern Germany was, he would have probably laughed at you. However, only one year later, at the end of 1989, reunification was all of the sudden back on the agenda and discussed everywhere around the world. Within less than a year the GDR went through its most severe crisis from which it would never recover. Political scientists and historians would not have imagined that the GDR could dissolve so easily and so quickly. Thousands of citizens were fleeing to the West and literally hundreds of thousands were protesting in the streets of Leipzig and Berlin. The regime was internally divided and had no power to withstand the forces that were bringing its end. About a decade and a half later historians are still discussing the events that led to the dissolution of the GDR regime and are divided about the question whether it can be classified as a revolution or not. In my essay I will start out by looking at the weaknesses that the GDR regime had. There had to be a precondition that made the decline of East Germany possible and I will investigate that. Afterwards I will take a look at three different phases that the upheaval in 1989/90 had, namely the flight, the mass protests, and the Round Table talks. At the end of the paper I will discuss arguments in favour and against the notion that the GDR upheaval was a revolution and conclude with my own evaluation. Most of this essay is based on the book Dissolution by Charles S. Mayer (1997) and a chapter from the book The Rush to German Unity written by Konrad H. Jarausch (1994). Please note that I will most of the time refer to an “upheaval” when I describe the events in the GDR in 1989/90. I will try to avoid the term “revolution” in order to not take any position in favour of or against one historical camp or the other. [...]

Author : Henry Ashby Turner
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 37,76 MB
Release : 1992-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780300053470

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A revised edition of "The Two Germanies since 1945" which discussed the partitioning of Germany after World War II and the formation of the two states. This revised text covers unification - the exodus of East Germans to the Federal Republic, breaching of the Berlin Wall and overthrow of communism.

Author : Konrad Hugo Jarausch
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 10,75 MB
Release : 1994
Category : History
ISBN :

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The bringing down of the Berlin Wall is one of the most vivid images and historic events of the late twentieth century. The reunification of Germany has transformed the face of Europe. In one stunning year, two separate states with clashing ideologies, hostile armies, competing economies, and incompatible social systems merged into one. The speed and extent of the reunification was so great that many people are still trying to understand the events. Initial elation has given way to the realities and problems posed in reuniting two such different systems.The Rush to German Unity presents a clear historical reconstruction of the confusing events. It focuses on the dramatic experiences of the East German people but also explores the decisions of the West German elite. Konrad H. Jarausch draws on the rich sources produced by the collapse of the GDR and on the public debate in the FRG. Beginning with vivid media images, the text probes the background of a problem, traces its treatment and resolution and then reflects on its implications.Combining an insider's insights with an outsider's detachment, the interpretation balances the celebratory and the catastrophic views. The unification process was democratic, peaceful and negotiated. But the merger was also bureaucratic, capitalistic and one-sided. Popular pressures and political manipulation combined to create a rush to unity that threatened to escape control. The revolution moved from a civic rising to a national movement and ended up as reconstruction from the outside. An ideal source for general readers and students, The Rush to German Unity explores whether solving the old German problem has merely created new difficulties.

Author : Sophia Khatri
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 25 pages
File Size : 10,56 MB
Release : 2021-03-25
Category : History
ISBN : 3346373835

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Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject History of Germany - Postwar Period, Cold War, grade: 1,0, University of Ghent, language: English, abstract: This paper discusses the classic understanding of the Revolution in East Germany in 1989. The excluding criteria of violence will be challenged upon the revolutionary process. Furthermore, the reasons for the non-violent participation in the protest will be analysed upon a structural-behavioural approach within the Ration Action Theory. This paper examines the term 'Peaceful Revolution' and its outstanding characteristic of peaceful. First, the definition and framework of the Revolution will be discussed. The paper concentrates on the non-violent aspect through a behavioural-rational approach which will be also introduced to the reader. In the second part, the paper will discuss if the process in East-Germany fulfils the conditions of a Revolution. Furthermore, the reasons why people participated in demonstrations in the autumn of 1989, especially why the people choose a non-violent way, will be viewed. The paper follows the research question: Why did the protest in Autumn 1989 in East Germany remain peaceful? How does the Peaceful Revolution challenge the classic definition of Revolution? 1989 became a historically important year for Germany and the whole of Europe: The fall of the Wall on November 9th became a symbol for the self-liberation of East Germans. It marked the end of an authoritarian soviet Era and the reunification of one of the economically strongest nations in Europe. Today 30 years later the Peaceful Revolution is celebrated as a unique spontaneous and non-violent revolution in Germany. The GDR (German Democratic Republic) citizens reached for freedom during the Monday demonstrations in the main cities of Leipzig, Dresden, and East-Berlin after they were oppressed for 40 years by a socialist totalitarian regime. Elementary human rights such as freedom of travel, speech, and information were taken away from them. During one month, October 1989, East Germans started writing history: the dictatorship was peacefully challenged with demonstrations and rallies and then completely swept away. Divided Germany and Europe were gone. October 9th is seen as a milestone in Germany's road to freedom and finally resulted in the Fall of the Wall on November 9th.

Author : Frédéric Bozo
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 41,41 MB
Release : 2016-08-05
Category : History
ISBN : 1317336054

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This book provides a multinational history of German reunification based on empirical work by leading scholars. The reunification of Germany in 1989-90 was one of the most unexpected and momentous events of the twentieth century. Embedded within the wider process of the end of the Cold War, it contributed decisively to the dramatic changes that followed: the end of the division of Europe, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the origins of NATO’s eastward expansion and, not least, the creation of the European Union. Based on the wealth of evidence that has become available from many countries involved, and relying on the most recent historiography, this collection takes into account the complex interaction of multinational processes that were instrumental in shaping German reunification in the pivotal years 1989-90. The volume brings together renowned international scholars whose recent works, based on their research in multiple languages and sources, have contributed significantly to the history of the end of the Cold War and of German reunification. The resulting volume represents an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of a significant chapter in recent history. This book will be of much interest to students of German politics, Cold war history, international and multinational history and IR in general.

Author : Jackie F. Stanmyre
Publisher : Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC
Page : 114 pages
File Size : 19,49 MB
Release : 2018-07-15
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN : 1502635682

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The geography of Germany and the way it has been governed have changed many times since the 1800s. This book explores Otto von Bismarck's role in the formation of the modern German state, the partition of Germany following World War II, and the events surrounding the decline of European communism, including the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. With photographs, maps, sidebars, and fast facts, readers will evaluate the country's numerous border changes and the massive impact they have had on the people who live there.

Author : Reinhard Glöckner
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 110 pages
File Size : 14,45 MB
Release : 2016-05-06
Category :
ISBN : 9781532801624

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Pastor Reinhard Glöckner recounts the process of "die Wende" (literally, the change in direction -- the term former East Germans use to refer to German re-unification) as his city of 70,000 in the northeast corner of East Germany experienced it: peace services, marches, public discussions, elections, and beyond. In March 1990, Glöckner became the first democratically elected mayor of Greifswald in over 50 years. His unique account is an insider's view of the events of 1989-92 and their legal, economic, political, administrative, and occasionally personal repercussions. His reflections on local and regional identity both during and after the 40 years of socialism, and on efforts to re-assert that identity in emerging institutions and policies post-Wende, lend rare insight and valuable specificity to Glöckner's narrative.

Author : Gert-Joachim Glaessner
Publisher : Burns & Oates
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 45,14 MB
Release : 1992
Category : German reunification question (1949-1990)
ISBN :

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The position of Germany following unification has initiated much debate about its future role as a superpower whilst acknowledging the internal difficulties which lie ahead for the former East German states. In order to appreciate the present difficulties, it is crucial to understand the context. Focussing on both the former Federal Republic and the former GDR, the author analyzes major aspects of the unification process.