In 1987, highly respected German historian Sebastian Haffner wrote in his book, “Von Bismarck zu Hitler”:
“What could a reunification of both German states, the way they have developed in 40 years and are now, possibly look like? Strangely, imagination fails there. A reunification of the kind that one of the two German states would disappear and blend into the other one is barely imaginable. Obviously, this would require a war, and a reunification of such kind could under today’s circumstances only undergo in a mass grave. But a reunification, in which both German states, the way they are and have become, would be merged into one working state, is not imaginable, not even theoretically.”
By this time, Germans on both side of the border had put up with the fact that there would be no reunification. The ease in West-Eastern relations had made life bearable for West Berliners, as they were allowed to visit East Germany and East Berlin for day trips, and deals were made that ensured West Berlin got supplies from the surrounding areas. Damocles’ Sword had disappeared, a total lock-up of the city as in 1948 was unlikely. Ronald Reagan’s visit in West Berlin on 12th June 1987, where he stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and said: “Come here to this gate! Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” was considered a nice gesture, but nobody believed it would happen.
The cracks in the Iron Curtain that appeared in 1989 shocked the whole world. It was known that East Germany suffered from severe economic problems, but the conservative West German Kohl administration had granted generous loans to the GDR in the course of the 1980s. But the East German government retained its cold, conservative bearing, which even ignored the impulses of Gorbachev’s policy of Glasnost and Perestroika, while nearly every other country of the East Bloc had adopted political reforms. Consequently, in the summer of 1989, masses of refugees arrived in West Germany, at first via Hungary, which had opened its border to Austria (already an incredible development in itself), and hundreds of people fled to the West German embassies in Budapest, Warsaw, East Berlin and Prague.
Then, Eastern Germany experienced civil unrest. It emerged from the traditional weekly peace prayers in the Nicolai Church in Leipzig. In September 1989, they were extended to include demonstrations after the prayers. These Monday Demonstrations went through the country like a wildfire and by November, they took place in every big East German city. Over a million East German citizens marched through the streets shouting a simple parole: “We are the people”.
The East German government was caught by surprise. It believed that the protests would die down if they presented its leader, Erich Honecker, as the scapegoat and deposed him, which they did on 18th October 1989. The new leader, Egon Krenz however did not possess any kind of credibility among the people, and so the protests went on.
(Continued in next post)
“What could a reunification of both German states, the way they have developed in 40 years and are now, possibly look like? Strangely, imagination fails there. A reunification of the kind that one of the two German states would disappear and blend into the other one is barely imaginable. Obviously, this would require a war, and a reunification of such kind could under today’s circumstances only undergo in a mass grave. But a reunification, in which both German states, the way they are and have become, would be merged into one working state, is not imaginable, not even theoretically.”
By this time, Germans on both side of the border had put up with the fact that there would be no reunification. The ease in West-Eastern relations had made life bearable for West Berliners, as they were allowed to visit East Germany and East Berlin for day trips, and deals were made that ensured West Berlin got supplies from the surrounding areas. Damocles’ Sword had disappeared, a total lock-up of the city as in 1948 was unlikely. Ronald Reagan’s visit in West Berlin on 12th June 1987, where he stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and said: “Come here to this gate! Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” was considered a nice gesture, but nobody believed it would happen.
The cracks in the Iron Curtain that appeared in 1989 shocked the whole world. It was known that East Germany suffered from severe economic problems, but the conservative West German Kohl administration had granted generous loans to the GDR in the course of the 1980s. But the East German government retained its cold, conservative bearing, which even ignored the impulses of Gorbachev’s policy of Glasnost and Perestroika, while nearly every other country of the East Bloc had adopted political reforms. Consequently, in the summer of 1989, masses of refugees arrived in West Germany, at first via Hungary, which had opened its border to Austria (already an incredible development in itself), and hundreds of people fled to the West German embassies in Budapest, Warsaw, East Berlin and Prague.
Then, Eastern Germany experienced civil unrest. It emerged from the traditional weekly peace prayers in the Nicolai Church in Leipzig. In September 1989, they were extended to include demonstrations after the prayers. These Monday Demonstrations went through the country like a wildfire and by November, they took place in every big East German city. Over a million East German citizens marched through the streets shouting a simple parole: “We are the people”.
The East German government was caught by surprise. It believed that the protests would die down if they presented its leader, Erich Honecker, as the scapegoat and deposed him, which they did on 18th October 1989. The new leader, Egon Krenz however did not possess any kind of credibility among the people, and so the protests went on.
(Continued in next post)
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