Inner unity / Reconstruction of the former East Germany

The legacy of the GDR’s centrally planned economy continued to have an effect long after German reunification. The Aufbau Ost investment and infrastructure programme was thus implemented in 1991 which was intended to offset the economic and social consequences of the deep crisis. Its aim was to harmonise East and West German social and economic conditions which were of great significance for the creation of an inner unity in the formerly divided country.

German Unity

The Peaceful Revolution of Autumn 1989 paved the way for the first and last democratic parliamentary elections in the GDR in which a majority voted for the advocates of rapid reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany. German reunification did not, however, just concern the two German states between which the reunification treaty was concluded. Reunification was made possible by the consent of the victorious powers of World War 2 which was given in the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.

Currency, economic and social union

The state treaty on currency, economic and social union between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic came into effect on 1st July 1990. With this treaty, the GDR took on the economic and social system of the Federal Republic. The currency, economic and social union was the requirement for state reunification on 3rd October 1990 and can therefore be understood as “Reunification before Reunification”.

Election of the East German parliament (Volkskammer)

The election for the East German parliament in 1990 was the last election for the parliament and the only election which conformed to democratic principles. It took place on 18th March 1990. A majority voted for parties which stood for democracy, a social market economy and rapid reunification.

Peaceful Revolution

Until 1989, the organs of state power (police and intelligence services) had succeeded in suppressing the opposition movement in the GDR through the persecution and imprisonment of dissidents. In the summer of 1990, the protests against the dictatorship in the GDR became larger and larger and ultimately forced the non-violent and peaceful collapse of the dictatorship and the set the route to democratic parliamentary elections.

Monday demonstrations

More and more people began to gather in East German cities for peaceful demonstrations in the Autumn of 1989. These initially took place under the liberal motto of “We are the people” – and later under the nationalistic motto of “We are one people”.

Honecker‘s state visit to the Federal Republic

A GDR head of state visited the Federal Republic for the first time in the history of the divided country in 1987. The five-day visit attracted worldwide attention and highlighted the contrasts in German policy. The GDR declared the division of the country and the existence of two German states to be the solution of the German question and peaceful co-existence the order of the day. The Federal Republic, on the other hand, emphasised the unity of the nation and the reunification clause in the West German constitution.

Opposition and escape in the GDR

Individuals and smaller groups have opposed and protested against the GDR since its foundation. The regime deployed the secret police and the judicial system to suppress all calls for opposition. New oppositional peace and environmental groups and citizens‘ initiatives emerged repeatedly in the GDR despite all the risks. This growing opposition was the precondition for the Peaceful Revolution which ended in the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989 and the subsequent demise of the GDR.

Treaty concerning the basis of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (Grundlagenvertrag)

The Treaty concerning the basis of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (The Basic Treaty), which redefined relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, was concluded on 21^st December 1972. The treaty is one of a series of treaties with Warsaw Pact states and was a domestic bone of contention which centred on the question of German reunification.

Treaties with the Warsaw Pact states (Ostverträge)

The treaties with Warsaw Pact states comprise a series of nine treaties and agreements which were concluded by the Federal Republic with Eastern Bloc states at the beginning of the 1970s. They were the result of the policy of détente pursued from 1969 under the motto of change through rapprochement in which the Federal Republic realigned their Eastern policy. Occasionally, these treaties are known as treaties renouncing the use of force due to the agreements on the mutual renunciation of force that they contain.

Popular uprising

A popular uprising in the entire GDR developed on 17th June 1953 out of protests by construction workers in East Berlin. Around one million people demonstrated in several hundred towns, municipalities and plants against the political and economic situation in the GDR and for free elections and German unity. More than 50 people lost their lives during the suppression of the uprising. In the Federal Republic, the 17th of July was initially a public holiday, “German Unity Day”. In 1963, the Federal President Heinrich Lübke declared it a “National Day of Remembrance for the German People”; it remained a day of remembrance even after German reunification.

Thomas Mann and emigration

The winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Thomas Mann, gave his first brief radio address to the German people in October 1940. From his American exile, he addressed his “German listeners” via the British BBC to confront them with national socialist crimes and encourage them to resist the regime.

Nuremberg Laws

The Reichstag passed the “Nuremberg Laws” on 15th September 1935. They were the result of antisemitic and racist discrimination and policies of deprivation of rights and formed the legal basis for exceptional legal position of Jews in the Reich.

Establishment of the “Führer’s dictatorship”

With the death of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg on 2nd October 1934, the offices of Reich Chancellor and Reich President were amalgamated on the basis of a law passed the previous day. Adolf Hitler, who had been appointed Chancellor by Hindenburg on 30th January 1933, was henceforth not only the head of the government and “Führer” of the only legal party but also the head of state and at the same time supreme commander of the Reichswehr. This seizure of power (die Machtergreifung) completed the usurpation of the office of the Reich President at an institutional level. The National Socialists had abolished democracy in Germany and established a dictatorship within a year and a half.

Women’s suffrage

Women in Germany were entitled to vote and be elected on 19th January 1919 across the Reich, in other words they were able to cast their votes in a parliamentary election and themselves be elected to the Reichstag for the first time. Political participation in the form of suffrage had been closed to them until then.

Weimar (Revolution & Constitution)

October reforms

Constitutional changes came into effect on 28th October 1918 with which the parliamentary system of government was formally introduced in the German Empire and the constitutional system abolished. The Reich Chancellor was henceforth dependent on the confidence of the parliament, the Reichstag. This democratisation of the system of government turned the German Empire into a parliamentary monarchy, comparable with the kingdoms of Belgium, Great Britain or the Netherlands.

Duden

The doctorate holder, grammar school teacher and lexicographer Konrad Duden first published the spelling dictionary of the German language which is named after him on 7th July 1880. The “Duden” made a major contribution to the development of uniform spelling in German-speaking countries.

Foundation of the German Empire (Reichsgründung)

The proclamation of the German Empire on 18th January 1871 – in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles – laid the foundation for the German national state. Otto von Bismarck, who had recognised the thrust of the national idea, played a key role in founding the Empire. The so-called “Wars of Unification” created the basis for the constitution of the German Empire in the form of a Lesser German Solution excluding Austria. Formally, the newly created German Empire was a federation of the princes and free cities, i.e. a federal state – which was actually dominated by Prussia. It was a constitutional monarchy with authoritarian and democratic constitutional elements.

Revolution

The “German Revolution” of 1848/49 was part of a pan-European year of revolution. It began with bloody uprisings, led to the election of a pan-German national assembly and to the formulation of a liberal constitution– and failed due to inner contradictions and the military resistance of the “old powers”. The revolution was of immense significance for the history of German democracy despite its failure. For the first time, freedom and equality had been codified as guiding principles of the German state and social order. The Frankfurt Constitution (Paulskirchenverfassung) of 1849 became an important model for the German constitutions of 1919 and 1949.

The early industrial phase

A dynamic economic upturn began towards the middle of the 19th century with the construction of the railways. The area of the German Customs Union, founded in 1834, became the third largest industrial power in the world. The growing together of the economy laid the foundations for political union. At the same time, industrialisation led to population growth, urbanisation, mass poverty and serious social problems.

The Hambach Festival and the formation of the German nationalist movement

A political mass demonstration took place from 27th to 30th May 1832 in the castle ruins in Hambach in the Palatinate with more than 20,000 people. The participants came from different social classes and different nations. It was both a national “Festival of the Germans” and a European festival. Under the black-red-gold flag, which stood for the idea of freedom and unity, speakers struck a liberal, democratic and republican note. Their aims were the national unity of Germany and political reforms, especially freedom of the press, of opinion and assembly. Equality for women or the creation of a confederated republican Europe were also demanded. The Hambach Festival was one of the most important events in the history of German democracy.

The Wartburg Festival and the politicisation of students

On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig and in remembrance of the 300th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, more than 500 students met in Wartburg Castle near Eisenach, which had been Martin Luthers’ refuge and was regarded as a German national icon. The protest rally was directed against reactionary politics and demanded a national state with its own constitution. The representatives of the old order reacted with repressive measures but were unable to stop the spread of these revolutionary ideas which included liberal but also radical positions.

Political liberalism in the spirit of the Restoration

The monarchies of Russia, Prussia and Austria joined together on 26th September 1815 to form an alliance which was intended to secure the European order set up at the Vienna Congress and fend off liberal aspirations.

The German Confederation and the beginnings of the constitutional parliamentary state

The upheavals as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleonic hegemony changed Europe permanently. At the end of the Napoleonic era, the international issues between the European powers involved in the war on the one hand and overall inner-German organisation on the other needed to be solved. The fundamental question was whether further development would take a restorative or progressive form.

The end of the Empire

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic era brought revolutionary developments. It marked a major turning point for German-speaking Central Europe. The demise of the Holy Roman Empire saw the beginning of state reorganisation, the results of which remained conserved in principle up to the unification of the Reich in 1871.

American and French Revolutions

The American Revolution fundamentally influenced constitutional history. Influenced by Enlightenment thinking, freedom, equality and the right to life and the pursuit of happiness were declared to be fundamental rights. The anchoring of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in public law was also new. The French Revolution marks important political and social turning points in European history. It contributed to deep changes in power- and socio-political changes across all of Europe. The declaration of human and civil rights and the demand for freedom, equality and fraternity had a permanent effect on almost all European states.