History of Germany
The Growth of Prussian power in the 19th century supported by Germany nationalism led to the formation of the German empire in 1871 under the chancellorship of Otto von Bismarck. Although dogmatic in several respects, the empire gradually permitted the growth of political parties and Bismarck was credited with passing the most advanced social welfare legislation of the age. Dynamic development of military power however contributed to astriction on the continent. The weak European balance of power broke down in 1914 and World War I and its aftermath including the Treaty of Versailles led to the collapse of the German empire.
Ups and Downs of Fascism
During the period of 1919-33, the Weimar Republic made an attempt to establish a peaceful liberal democratic regime in Germany. There were many factors that contributed in destruction of this government; it was severely handicapped and the government eventually doomed by economic problems and the inherent weakness of the Weimar state. The boom of the early 1920s, the world recession of the 1930s and the social unrest stemming from the draconian conditions of the Versailles Treaty worked to destroy the Weimar government from inside and out.
In such a condition, the National Socialist Party or the Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler stressed nationalist themes and promised to put the unemployed back to work. The party blamed many of Germany's ills on alleged Jewish conspiracies. By 1930, the Nazi was supported by thousands of people. In fact , in January 1933, Hitler was asked to form a government as Reich Chancellor. After President Paul von Hindenburg died in 1934 , Hitler joined that office as well. Once in power Hitler and his party first deteriorated then abolished democratic institutions and opposition parties. The Nazi leadership attempted to remove or subjugate the Jewish population in Germany and later on in the occupied countries forced emigration and ultimately genocide. Hitler restored Germany's economic and military strength but his ambitions led Germany into World War II. But the war proved fatal for Germany as it is resulted in the destruction of its political and economic infrastructures led to its partition and left a humiliating legacy.
After Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8 1945, the three major forces of the world: the United States the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R. possessed the country and assumed responsibility for its administration. The commanders-in-chief exercised supreme authority in their respective zones and acted in concert on questions affecting the whole country. France was later given a distinct area of occupation.
Although the United States the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union agreed at Potsdam in August 1945, they even tried to implement a broad program of decentralization and thus, treating Germany as a single economic unit with some central administrative departments, but all these plans failed. The major blow came in 1948 when the Soviets quit from the Four Power governing bodies and blockaded Berlin. Until May 1949 West Berlin was kept supplied only by an Allied airlift.
Political advancement In West Germany
The two forces, United States and the United Kingdom, then progressed to form a nucleus for a future German government by forming a central Economic Council for their two zones. The program later provided for a West German constituent assembly an occupation statute governing relations between the Allies and the German authorities and the political and economic merger of the French with the British and American zones.
The constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Basic Law, was promulgated on May.23, 1949. Interestingly, on September 20, 1949, the first federal government was formed by Konrad Adenauer. The next day the occupation statute came into force granting powers of self- government with certain exceptions.
The F.R.G. then moved to attain complete sovereignty and association with its European neighbors and the Atlantic community. The London and Paris agreements of 1954 restored full sovereignty to the F.R.G. in May 1955 and opened the way for German membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Western European Union (WEU).
The three Western Allies retained occupation powers in Berlin and certain responsibilities for Germany as a whole. Under the new arrangements the Allies stationed troops within the F.R.G. for NATO defense pursuant to stationing and status-of-forces agreements. With the exception of 45 000 French troops Allied forces were under NATO's joint defense command.
However, the political life in the F.R.G. was significantly stable and orderly. The Adenauer era was followed by a brief period under Ludwig Erhard who in turn was replaced by Kurt Georg Kiesinger. Significantly, all the governments that were formed between 1949 and 1966 were established by the united caucus of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) either alone or in coalition with the smaller Free Democratic Party (FDP). As a part of historical step, Kiesinger's 1966-69, formed a "Grand Coalition" that included the F.R.G.'s two largest parties CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In the 1969, election the SPD--headed by Willy Brandt--gained enough votes to form a coalition government with the FDP. Chancellor Brandt remained head of government until May 1974 when he resigned after a senior member of his staff was uncovered as a spy for the East German intelligence service.
Finance Minister Helmut Schmidt (SPD), served as Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, and also formed a government and received the unanimous support of coalition members. Hans-Dietrich Genscher a leading FDP official became Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Schmidt a strong supporter of the European Community (EC) and the Atlantic alliance emphasized his commitment to "the political unification of Europe in partnership with the U.S.A."
In January 1987, the Kohl-Genscher government was returned to office but the FDP and the Greens gained at the expense of the larger parties. Kohl's CDU and its Bavarian sister party the CSU slipped from 48.8% of the vote in 1983 to 44.3%. The SPD fell to 37%; long-time SPD Chairman Brandt subsequently resigned in April 1987 and was succeeded by Hans-Jochen Vogel. The FDP's share rose from 7% to 9.1% its best showing since 1980. The Greens' share rose to 8.3% from their 1983 share of 5.6%.
Political advancement in East Germany
In the Soviet zone, the major political party, Social Democratic Party, was forced to merge with the Communist Party in 1946 to form a new party the Socialist Unity Party (SED). The October 1946 elections resulted in coalition governments in the five Land (state) parliaments with the SED as the undisputed leader.
With in a period of time, a series of people's congresses were called between1948 and early 1949 by the SED. Under Soviet direction a constitution was drafted on May 30 1949 and adopted on October 7 which was celebrated as the day when the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed. The People's Chamber (Volkskammer)--the lower house of the G.D.R. parliament--and an upper house--the States Chamber (Laenderkammer)--were created. (The Laenderkammer was abolished in 1958.) On October 11 1949, the two houses elected Wilhelm Pieck as President and a SED government was set up. Significantly, the G.D.R was recognized by the Soviet Union and its East European allies, interestingly, it remained largely unrecognized by non-communist countries until 1972-73.
The G.D.R. established the structures of a single-party centralized communist state. On July 23 1952 the traditional Laender were abolished and in their place 14 Bezirke (districts) were established. Effectively all government control was in the hands of the SED and almost all important government positions were held by SED members.
The National Front was an umbrella organization nominally consisting of the SED four other political parties controlled and directed by the SED and the four principal mass organizations (youth trade unions women and culture). However control was clearly and solely in the hands of the SED. Balloting in G.D.R. elections was not secret. As in other Soviet bloc countries electoral participation was consistently high with nearly unanimous candidate approval.
Internal German relation
The constant infiltration of East Germans to West Germany placed a tremendous stress on F.R.G.-G.D.R. relations in the 1950s. On August 13 1961 the G.D.R. began building a wall through the center of Berlin to divide the city and slow the flood of refugees to a trickle. In fact, at the end of it the Berlin Wall became the symbol of the East's political exhaustion and the separation of Europe.
Chancellor Brandt, in 1969, proclaimed that the F.R.G. would remain firmly rooted in the Atlantic alliance but would intensify efforts to improve relations with Eastern Europe and the G.D.R. The F.R.G. commenced this "Ostpolitik" by negotiating non-aggression treaties with the Soviet Union Poland Czechoslovakia Bulgaria and Hungary.
German Unification
In 1989, tremendous changes took place in the G.D.R, that ultimately led to German unification. The increased number of East Germans moved to the F.R.G. via Hungary after this incident, the Hungarians decided not to use force to stop them. Interestingly, thousands of East Germans also tried to reach the West by staging sit-ins at F.R.G. diplomatic facilities in other East European capitals. The exodus generated demands within the G.D.R. for political change and mass demonstrations in several cities--particularly in Leipzig--continued to grow. On October 7 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the G.D.R. and urged the East German leadership to pursue reform.
On October 18, Egon Krenz replaced Erich Honecker as the latter resigned as head of the SED and as head of state . But then also the exodus continued unabated and pressure for political reform ameliorated. On November 4, a demonstration in East Berlin drew as many as 1 million East Germans. Finally on November 9 the Berlin Wall was opened and East Germans were allowed to travel freely. November 12th is an important day in the German history as thousands poured through the wall into the western sectors of Berlin as the G.D.R. began dismantling.
Significantly, the F.R.G. Chancellor Kohl , on November 28, laid out a 10-point plan for the peaceful unification of the two Germanys based on free elections in the G.D.R. and a unification of their two economies. In December the G.D.R. Volkskammer eliminated the SED monopoly on power and the entire Politburo and Central Committee--including Krenz--resigned. The SED changed its name to the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the formation and growth of numerous political groups and parties marked the end of the communist system. Prime Minister Hans Morrow headed a caretaker government which shared power with the new democratically oriented parties. On December 7 1989 agreement was reached to hold free elections in May 1990 and rewrite the G.D.R. constitution. As a matter of fact, all the parties decided on January 28 and agreed to postponed the elections to March 18, primarily because of an erosion of state authority and because the East German exodus was continuing at a rapid speed.
Another important fact that came in to light was that on Feburary 1990, the Morrow government's proposal for a unified neutral German state was rejected by Chancellor Kohl who assured that a unified Germany must be a member of NATO. Finally on March 18, the first free elections were held in the G.D.R. and a government led by Lothar de Maiziere (CDU) was formed under a policy of expeditious unification with the F.R.G. The freely elected representatives of the Volkskammer held their first session on April 5 and the G.D.R. peacefully evolved from a communist to a democratically elected government. On May 6th, free and secret communal or local elections were held in the G.D.R. and significantly the CDU again won. On July 1, the two Germanys finally got entrance into the economic and monetary union.
The Role of the Four Powers.
Due to the internal growth of German, the four forces of the world--the United States U.K. France and the Soviet Union-- together with the two German states decided and negotiated to end Four Power reserved rights for Berlin and Germany as a whole. On Feburary 13, 1990, these "Two-plus-Four" negotiations were mandated at the Ottawa Open Skies conference. Significantly, the six foreign ministers met four times in the ensuing months in Bonn, Berlin , Paris and Moscow. The Polish Foreign Minister also participated in the part of the Paris meeting that dealt with the Polish-German borders.
Out of all the problems, the major one was to overcome Soviet objections to a united Germany's membership in NATO. This was attained in July when the alliance led by President Bush issued the London Declaration on a transformed NATO. Important to note that President Gorbachev and Chancellor Kohl gradually announced agreement in principle on a united Germany in NATO on July 16th . This cleared the way for the signing in Moscow on September 12 of the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany. In addition to terminating Four Power rights the treaty mandated the withdrawal of all Soviet forces from Germany by the end of 1994 made clear that the current borders were final and definitive and specified the right of a united Germany to belong to NATO. It also provided for the continued presence of British French and American troops in Berlin during the interim period of the Soviet withdrawal. In the treaty the Germans renounced nuclear biological and chemical weapons and stated their intention to reduce German armed forces to 370 000 within 3 to 4 years after the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty signed in Paris on November 19 1990 entered into force.
Finally of the last settlement made the path for unification of the F.R.G. and G.D.R. On October 3, 1930, formal political union occurred with the accession of the five Laender which had been reformed in the G.D.R. On December 2 1990 all-German elections were held for the first time since 1933.
