How did Germany and Germany achieve reunification?

German unification (German: Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) refers to the unification of Germany by merging the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) at 1990 10.3. 1990 After the first democratic election in the history of East Germany was held in March 18, reunification negotiations between East and West Germany began immediately. Finally, Germany and the four countries that occupied Germany after World War II (the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union) reached a two plus four treaty, which made the unified Germany a completely independent country, and all the privileges of the four occupying countries were abolished. After reunification, Germany stayed in Europe (later the European Union) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Germany has always been a divided country in history. 1870, William I of Prussia unified Germany. But 1945 After World War II, Germany split again and was divided into two countries: East Germany and West Germany. The two countries were reunified in 1990 under the leadership of German Chancellor helmut kohl. [Edit this paragraph] 1945 Since the reunification process, Germany has been in a state of division, and the policy implemented by the German Democratic Republic strictly controls the flow of personnel between the two countries. 1On March 28th, 989, the GDR began to implement new border management regulations, relaxing the control on citizens leaving the country, which directly triggered a certain scale of flight tide. In less than a year, about10,000 East German citizens immigrated to Western Europe through various channels, forming the third wave of East German residents fleeing. 1September 1989, East Germany further relaxed its border management, and West German citizens could even spend the night in East Germany. On the contrary, looser border management has further aroused a wave of protests from East German citizens. Large-scale rallies and demonstrations broke out in cities such as Leipzig, demanding that the East German authorities carry forward democracy, implement reforms, improve goods and services, open overseas travel and relax restrictions on the news media. Adding fuel to the fire 65438+1In late September 1989, the political situation in Czechoslovakia, which belongs to the Eastern European camp, changed. Since the beginning of democratic reform, East Germany has stopped visa-free transportation with Czechoslovakia. At the same time, in order to quell domestic protests, the East German government re-tightened the once-liberalized border control at the beginning of 10, and once again banned West German citizens from entering East Germany. Instead of quelling the wave of protests, this move added fuel to the fire. 1989 17 10 is the 40th anniversary of the National Day of East Germany. Including Leipzig, Dresden, Potsdam, magdeburg, Jena and other major cities in East Germany. Near the National Day celebration in the capital Berlin, more than 7,000 citizens gathered to protest and clashed with the police, and hundreds of people were arrested. Since then, large-scale protests have escalated, and the content of protests has quietly changed. From the initial struggle for freedom of travel and relaxation of press control, it has gradually changed to demand the legalization of opposition organizations, multi-party system and free elections. This nationwide large-scale protest has never appeared in the history of East Germany. Almost at the same time, the political situation in Hungary and Poland changed dramatically, and the two governments announced that they would no longer repatriate East German citizens who fled to China. Political changes 1989 10 10 18 On the 8th, erich honecker, the leader of the German United Socialist Party, announced his resignation for health reasons, and the Central Committee of the United Socialist Party elected egon krenz to succeed honecker. After krenz took office, he immediately announced the implementation of "thorough reform", announced the pardon of all those who fled and participated in demonstrations, and formally contacted the West German government. However, honecker's resignation and new policy did not quell public protests, and demonstrations continued throughout East Germany. With the new leader coming to power, illegal opposition organizations in East Germany began to be allowed to conduct public activities. With the coordination of these opposition organizations, protests have escalated all over the country. 165438+1On October 4th, a parade involving 500,000 people broke out in Berlin, and on June 6th, 500,000 citizens took to the streets in Leipzig. Under strong pressure, the GDR government announced its collective resignation on June 7th165438+1October 8th, and the Political Bureau of the United Socialist Party of Germany resigned collectively. On the same day, a new Political Bureau headed by krenz was elected. On the 9th, East Germany announced that its citizens can apply for passports without declaring special reasons, and East German residents can move freely. Soon, East German residents began to cross the Berlin Wall for West Germany. Since then, the once frightening Berlin Wall has existed in name only, and residents of both Germany can move freely. 165438+1October 13 Gunther Maleuda, Chairman of the German Democratic Peasants' Party of the East German Democratic Party, was elected Chairman of the People's House. /kloc-in 0/7, a coalition government was established in East Germany. Among the 26 cabinet members of the Coalition government, the United Socialist Party only accounts for 15. After the new government came to power, it put forward the idea of establishing diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Germany. 65438+February 1 day, the East German Parliament passed a constitutional amendment, deleting the clause that the family in China is led by the working class and its Marxist-Leninist party; On the 3rd, the German Politburo headed by krenz, who succeeded General Secretary, resigned again, and the special meeting of the Central Committee of the United Socialist Party decided to expel the central leaders including honecker from the Party. On the 7th, East German political parties, including the United Socialist Party, democratic parties and opposition parties, held a round table meeting in Berlin. The meeting decided to establish a new constitution of the GDR, dissolve the secret police force, hold a general election on May 6, 1990, and arrest and investigate the crimes committed by the leaders of the German United Socialist Party, including honecker. On February 8, 65438, the German United Socialist Party held a special meeting, elected a new leader of the party, and announced that it would be renamed the Democratic Socialist Party, implement a multi-party system in Germany, and build democratic socialism. 65438+February 1 1, the GDR government announced the dissolution of the working-class fighting army responsible for defending the Berlin Wall. During Christmas on February 25th, 65438, thousands of residents from West Germany flocked to East Germany to travel. On the 28th, an East German company began to sell the fragments of the Berlin Wall. 1March 990 18, East Germany's general election, East Germany's CDU became the largest party, East Germany's Social Democratic Party became the second largest party, and the Democratic Socialist Party became the third largest party. On April 12, the East German CDU and the East German Social Democratic Party announced a joint cabinet, and the Democratic Socialist Party became the opposition party for the first time. 18 in may, the new government of east Germany signed a national treaty with the federal Republic of Germany, stipulating that the two countries should establish a monetary, economic and social union. 1 in July, the treaty came into effect, the East German mark withdrew from circulation, and the West German mark became the currency of both Germany. On July 6th, Germany began to negotiate the second national treaty, which stipulated the principles, methods and time of German reunification and the political system after reunification. Finally, the second national treaty was signed in August 3 1, 1990, which stipulated that East Germany would restore the five states before the administrative division adjustment of 1952. These five states collectively joined the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance with Article 23 of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Basic Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), and the five states that joined the Federal Republic of Germany implemented a multi-party parliamentary democracy with separation of powers. [Edit this paragraph] German reunification19901KLOC-0/0 On 2 October, the East German government stopped working and the Federal Republic of Germany took over the East German embassies and consulates abroad. 10 year 10 3, the German unification celebration was held in Berlin, and Germany officially announced its reunification. Five states of East Germany-Brandenburg, mecklenburg-Prepper Megna, Saxony, Saxony-anhalt and Thuringia-formally joined the Federal Republic of Germany. At that time, there were two plans for reunification: one was to simply amend the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz) and extend its power to these five states, so as to become one country constitutionally; The second is to regard the unification process as a formal merger of Germany and Germany, to produce a new Germany and rewrite the Constitution. Admittedly, the former is relatively simple, and it is also the way that Germany chose at that time. However, because this method does not regard East Germany as an equivalent sovereign state, East Germany has some feelings of being occupied by the "old federal Republic", or thinks that it is only a subsidiary country of West Germany. [Edit this paragraph] Amending the Constitution In order to make reunification smoother and reassure other countries, the Federal Republic of Germany made some amendments to the Basic Law: it amended Article 146 so that Article 23 of the then Constitution could be used for reunification. After the above-mentioned five States joined the Federal Republic of Germany, they revised the Basic Law again, stipulating that no German territory did not join Germany except the unified territory. However, this constitution can still be amended in the future, and it still allows Germans to accept another new constitution. [Edit this paragraph] Territorial Consultation1990165438+10 14. On the 4th, the German government signed a treaty with Poland, which finally determined the current border between the two countries. So Germany gave up its territorial claims to Silesia, East Pomerania, Danzig and East Prussia. In February 65438, Germany held its first free and fair election since 1933. As a result, the coalition government led by Premier helmut kohl won more seats than the last election and led the new Germany with greater advantages. [Edit this paragraph] The impact on German reunification once brought a heavy burden to the German economy, and the growth continued to slow down several years after reunification. According to an article published by the University of Berlin, the unified economic cost of Germany is about10.5 trillion euros, which is more than the national debt. At that time, the weak economic situation in East Germany and the unrealistic exchange rate between Germany and Germany (which was permeated with political motives) led to a sharp decline in industrial competitiveness in East Germany, and led to the closure of many factories, causing huge economic losses. Today, East Germany still needs to rely on the annual special subsidy of 1000 billion euros to rebuild its economy, and the commodity subsidies provided by West Germany also make West Germany lack resources, which eventually leads to the privatization of many loss-making industries initially supported by the East German government. After the reunification of Germany and Germany, most parts of the former East Germany were "deindustrialized", resulting in an unemployment rate close to 20%. The high unemployment rate has caused thousands of East Germans to move to the west to look for jobs, which has led to the continuous decline of the local population, especially the loss of professionals. Switching to the euro as a currency is also considered to be the root of most problems in Germany. Deutsche Bundesbank has always stressed that the cause of economic problems is not the euro, and only Germany can solve it. It has been pointed out that this means that the central bank implies that unification is the reason. Follow-up: Is it simple? Can not understand