German History Paper

Published by Articulate® Engage™ www.articulate.com 1990 Timeline of Events Introduction Event Text Click on the circles below to travel through a 1990 timeline of events that led up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.

1990 January Event Text Despite agreements reached at the Round Table talks that there would be no financial assistance from political parties in the West, the large West German parties helped finance the election campaigns for their newly founded branches in the East. The East German parties that had spearheaded the opposition in the fall were impeded by their vision of a new East German society operating on the basis of unanimity. New Forum and other grassroots political parties were quickly out-financed and left behind in the race for political support. In the first free elections in the East, these parties received only 2.9 percent of the vote.

February 1 Event Text Modrow presented an East German plan for the reunification of Germany, one that called for military neutrality.

Published by Articulate® Engage™ www.articulate.com February 14 Event Text The "two plus four" talks on German reunification began between the foreign ministers of the two Germanys and those of the four major World War II Allies: the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Great Britain. Modrow called for a currency union with the West, and the West pulled back its offer of immediate financial help for the East (in the range of fifteen billion DM). The idea of political reform in the East became less and less of an issue for the citizens, who were now calling for a rapid reunification into a larger, democratic Germany.

March 14 Event Text The first formal meeting of the "two plus four" talks was held in Bonn. The idea of German reunification was met with opposition from some of the country's European neighbors, and the question of a unified Germany joining NATO was discussed, as well as the question of the unified country's military and civil rights.

March 18 Event Text The first free, multi-party elections were held in the GDR. They resulted in a major victory for the Alliance for Germany, a group dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), that had campaigned for a fast unification of the two states according to Article 23 of the West German Basic Law (constitution). The three largest parties of the Federal Republic won a large majority--the CDU alliance (forty-eight percent), the SPD (twenty-two percent) and the Free Democrats (FDP). They took office in the GDR as a Grand Coalition dedicated to unification on West German terms. The rump SED socialist party, the PDS, won only sixteen percent. Lothar de Maiziere (CDU) was chosen by the Volkskammer to be prime minister one month later on April 12.

April 24 Event Text Chancellor Kohl and Prime Minister Maiziere agreed on July 1, 1990, as the date for merging the economies of the two German states and began formal negotiations on the terms of reunification.

May 6 Published by Articulate® Engage™ www.articulate.com Event Text Local elections in the GDR were dominated by the parties of the Grand Coalition; the CDU won thirty-four percent of the vote; the SPD twenty one percent; the PDS fifteen percent.

May Event Text While conducting official talks, Chancellor Kohl and Prime Minister de Maiziere agreed to "the creation of a monetary, economic, and social union" between the two German states.

June 21 Event Text The two corresponding parliaments, the West German Bundestag and the East German Volkskammer, approved the treaty laying out terms for economic and monetary union of the two Germanys.

Published by Articulate® Engage™ www.articulate.com July 1 Event Text The monetary union took effect, with the West German Mark becoming the legal currency for both German states.

East Germans were allowed to exchange the old currency in their bank accounts at a rate of 1:1 for the new Mark, up to a limit, and then the rest at a 2:1 rate.

August 23 Event Text After heated debate, the East German Volkskammer agreed on October 3, 1990, as the date for the reunification of Germany.

August 31 Event Text The two Germanys signed the unification treaty. It was ratified on September 20 by the Bundestag by a vote of 442 to 47 and by the East German Volkskammer by a vote of 229 to 101.

September 9 Event Text Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan visited Berlin. Three years before he had stood at the Brandenburg Gate and cried, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" September 12 Event Text The foreign ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany, the GDR, France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States signed a treaty laying out the "final settlement on Germany." The four Allies' control over Germany, maintained since the end of World War II, finally came to an end, and Germany gained once again "full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs." All of Germany's existing borders were recognized.

Published by Articulate® Engage™ www.articulate.com September 13 Event Text West Germany signed a bilateral treaty with the Soviet Union calling for friendly relations and cooperation. The Soviets agreed to remove all troops from East Germany.

September 24 Event Text East Germany formally withdrew from the Warsaw Pact.

October 1 Event Text In New York, the four Allied powers signed a declaration granting full sovereignty to the new united Germany.

October 3 Event Text After forty-five years of a divided Germany, the GDR and the FRG were unified into a single state. The formal event took place in Berlin and was officially marked by an address by the president of the Federal Republic, Richard von Weizsäcker. This day was now the "Tag der Deutschen Einheit," or the day of German unification.