After the surrender of Germany, the eastern regions of the country - Saxony, Thuringia, Mecklenburg and Brandenburg - with a territory of 108 thousand square meters. km and a population of 17 million people moved to the zone of occupation of the USSR. Berlin was in the Soviet zone of occupation, but by decision of the Potsdam Conference it was divided into four zones, three of which were under the control of the Western powers.
At the end of June - July 1945, the main political parties took shape in eastern Germany - the communist (KPD), the social democratic (SPD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Liberal Democratic (LCPD). In April 1946, the KPD and SPD merged into a single party called the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The ultimate goal of the party was the construction of socialism in Germany.
Proclamation of the GDR
By order of the SVAG (Soviet Military Administration of Germany), the property of German monopolies, war criminals, and the fascist party was expropriated. On this basis, the foundation of state ownership was created. Local governments were created, where the SED played a leading role. In December 1947, the First German People's Congress was held in Berlin, which advocated the unity of Germany and laid the foundation for the movement for its democratic reorganization. II German People's Congress in 1948 elected the German People's Council as executive body movements. In May 1949, the Third German People's Congress approved the text of the constitution, which was to become the basis of the post-war state system in Germany. On October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed. Almost all leadership positions were occupied by SED representatives. Wilhelm Pieck, a veteran, became the President of the Republic revolutionary movement in Germany, the prime minister is Otto Grotewohl. The German People's Council was transformed into a temporary People's Chamber (parliament), which adopted the country's constitution. The Constitution established the dictatorship of the proletariat as the basis of state power. In addition to the SED, there were three other political parties in the GDR - the CDU, the Democratic Peasants' Party of Germany (DKPD) and the National Democratic Party (NDP). Some of them existed formally, while others had no influence. Soon they were finished too. During the political struggle, the CDU and LDPD ceased to exist. Their liquidation was followed by elections to the People's Chamber of the GDR, in which the Democratic Bloc, where the leading role belonged to representatives of the SED, won.
Construction of socialism
In July 1950, the Third Congress of the SED approved a five-year economic development plan. During the five-year plan, 79 enterprises were restored and 100 new enterprises were built, among them shipyards in Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund and Warnemünde, and two large metallurgical plants. Such gigantic construction was reminiscent of the USSR in the late 20s and early 30s. However, it soon became clear that the GDR did not have the funds to continue such construction. It was necessary to reduce allocations for social purposes. In the country, food was distributed on ration cards, wages were low. The cooperative movement that began in the countryside finally ruined the country's national economy.
Against the background of economic success (Federal Republic of Germany 1949-1990), the situation in the GDR (German Democratic Republic 1949-1990) seemed catastrophic. Dissatisfaction with the existing regime began in the republic, which on June 16-17, 1953 grew into an open protest against the existing system. Demonstrations took place throughout the country and work was stopped. Shops in cities were looted and set on fire. Weapons were used against the rebels. Three days later the uprising was suppressed and order was restored. These performances were assessed as a “fascist putsch” organized by “provocateurs” from Germany.
Nevertheless, the leadership of the GDR was forced to make concessions: the production of consumer goods increased, prices decreased slightly, and the USSR refused to further collect reparations. At the same time, a course was set for the accelerated development of the socialist foundations of the economy. During the 50s, the “socialization” of industry was carried out, as a result of which it was nationalized and private capital was liquidated. The complete collectivization of the village began. The year 1960 was called the “socialist spring in the countryside,” when free farming was eliminated and agricultural production cooperatives took its place. 84% of all agricultural areas were already cultivated by cooperatives.
Development of the country's economy
As a result measures taken managed to overcome the economic crisis and increase quantitative indicators. During the period from 1960 to 1983, gross industrial output increased 3.5 times. New industries that are important for scientific and technological progress developed at a particularly high pace. They accounted for approximately 40% of all goods produced. Complex automation was deployed in industry. Its own industry of electronic computers was created. In terms of production volume, the GDR entered the top ten industrialized countries of the world and ranked fifth in Europe according to this indicator.
The rapid growth of industrial production was accompanied by an equally rapid growth of the public sector in the economy. Structural reforms in industry carried out in 1972 led to the fact that the state's share in gross industrial production increased from 83 to 99%. As a result, the entire industry began to work on the shaft, that is, on quantitative indicators. Most of the enterprises were unprofitable, and losses were covered by other enterprises. The rapid growth of industrial production was mainly due to heavy industry (here, over 23 years, production increased 4 times), and the production of consumer goods increased only 2.5 times.
At the same time, agriculture developed at an extremely slow pace.
German reunification
In May 1971, Erich Honecker was elected first secretary of the SED. He managed to improve the economic situation of the country and raise the living standards of the population. But this had no effect on further development countries. The people demanded Democratization. Demonstrations took place throughout the country demanding democratic reforms and truly free general elections. A mass exodus of the population from the country began. Over the course of 10 years, from 1970 to 1980, the population of the GDR decreased by almost a million people: they all fled to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Erich Honecker (1912-1995) - Chairman of the State Council of the GDR (1976-1989), general secretary Central Committee of the SED (1976-1989). In October 1989, he was removed from all posts and expelled from the SED in December.
The leadership of the GDR established a “draconian” regime on the border, closing the country from the outside world with barbed wire. The order was given to shoot at all refugees, regardless of gender and age. Border posts have been strengthened. But this did not help prevent a mass exodus from the GDR.
On October 7, 1989, when the leadership of the GDR was going to solemnly celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first socialist state in German history, mass rallies and demonstrations swept across the country, demanding the resignation of E. Honecker, the unification of Germany and the elimination of the power of the SED.
On October 7-9, 1989, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig and other cities, demanding fundamental changes in the country. As a result of the police dispersal of the demonstration, 3 thousand people were arrested. However, this did not stop the movement against the existing system. On November 4, 1989, more than 500 thousand people took to the streets of Berlin.
Elections held on a multi-party basis on March 18, 1990 led to victory for the CDU party. It received 41% of the vote, the Social Democrats 21%, and the SED only 16%. A new coalition government was created, consisting of representatives of the CDU and Social Democrats. The government immediately raised the issue of German unification. Negotiations began between Germany and the USSR on a solution to the German problem, and on September 12, 1990, Chancellor He. Kohl and USSR President M. Gorbachev signed the Treaty on the final settlement in relation to Germany. At the same time, the issue of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany by the end of 1994 was resolved. On October 3, 1990, Germany became united.
Consequences of the country's unification
The consequences of such a rapid unification were severe for both parts of Germany. All over space former GDR deindustrialization occurred, reminiscent of a general collapse of industry. The entire economic system of the GDR turned out to be unprofitable and uncompetitive. Even after the measures taken by the German government to support the industry of the eastern territories, its products did not find sales in the West German market, not to mention the world market. At the same time, all markets in eastern Germany were absorbed by West German industrialists, who thus received new opportunities for their development.
For Germany, the most serious problem was the restoration of East German industry on a solid market basis. The state is annually forced to give 150 billion marks of subsidies to raise it. Another problem was unemployment, about 13% of the working population of eastern Germany are unemployed, not counting those who work part-time or whose jobs are artificially subsidized by special government programs.
Summary
1945 - East Berlin - in the Soviet zone of occupation, West Berlin - under the control of Western states
July 1945 - formation of the KPD, SPD, CDU and LDPG parties; April 1946 - The KPD and SPD unite to form the SED
the property of the German monopolies was nationalized and transferred to state property
October 7, 1949 - proclamation of the GDR. President - V. Pik
50s - economic difficulties, transition to a card system, reduction in allocations for social needs
60s - nationalization of all industry, complete collectivization in the countryside. The economic crisis has been overcome
70s - in terms of production volume, the GDR is among the top ten industrialized countries and ranks fifth in Europe
May 1971 - Erich Honecker leads the country. Attempts to improve the economic situation. Demonstrations demanding democratization
mass exodus to Germany
October 7, 1989 - mass rallies: demand for the unification of Germany and the elimination of the power of the SED
March 18, 1990 - multi-party elections
October 3, 1990 - German reunification. Solving the problems of restoring GDR industry
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GDR in the 50-90s. Updated: December 6, 2016 By: admin
Federal Republic of Germany.
After the defeat of Germany in the Second World War and the surrender of Hitler's army, the territory of the country was occupied by the troops of the allied states: the USSR, the USA, England and France. In accordance with the decision of the Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945), Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones. General management was concentrated in the Union Control Council.
At the end of 1946, separate administration of the three western zones was created. The logical consequence of this was the division of Germany and the formation of two independent states. The decision on this was made in 1948 at the London Conference of six Western powers: the USA, England, France, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. Based on the decisions of the conference, the military governors of the United States, Great Britain and France in the occupied zones authorized the prime ministers of the governments of the German states to begin developing a draft constitution for the future state - the Federal Republic of Germany. The project was prepared and discussed in the Parliamentary Council. This council consisted of 65 deputies elected by the state parliaments and 5 representatives with an advisory vote from West Berlin.
On May 8, 1949, the Parliamentary Council meeting in Bonn adopted the draft fundamental law and submitted it to the Landtags for ratification. Between 18 and 21 May 1949, the parliaments of all states except Bavaria approved the draft constitution.
The new constitution, which came into force on May 23, 1949, restored democratic institutions of government and governance and was in many ways similar to the Weimar Constitution of 1919.
The new German state is built on the principles of federalism. It was formed from 10 lands (currently - 14), independent in their budget and independent of each other. Each of the states has its own Landtag and its own government, which has significant autonomy.
Legislative power belongs to a bicameral parliament: the upper house is the Bundesrat (Union Council), the lower house is the Bundestag.
Bundesrat - consists of 41 members and expresses the interests of the constituent entities of the federation. The government of each state appoints its representatives to the Bundesrat. The number of votes that a given “land” has in the chamber is determined by the size of its population. Lands with a population of up to 2 million people have 3 votes, from 2 to 6 million - 4 votes, and over 6 million - five.
The Bundestag was elected by the entire people of Germany and consists of 496 members. Half of the deputies are elected in the districts using a majority system of relative majority through direct voting. The other half is based on party lists nominated in each land according to a proportional system. Each voter in Germany is given two votes. The first is for the election of a deputy in an electoral district, the second is for elections according to land lists. The party that received less than 5% of the second votes shared representation in parliament.
The system of central government bodies is based on the principle of separation of powers.
According to the Constitution, the head of the Federal Republic of Germany is the President, who is elected for a term of 5 years - specially elected Federal Assembly. The President can participate in government meetings, promulgate laws, and can, in some cases, dissolve the Bundestag. However, most presidential acts require mandatory countersignature from the Federal Chancellor or the relevant minister.
Real executive power is concentrated in the government and especially in the hands of its chairman, the chancellor. The candidacy of the chancellor is proposed by the president. He is then elected by a majority vote of the Bundestag. The Chancellor appoints and dismisses ministers, determines the domestic and foreign policy of the state. He is the only minister constitutionally responsible to the Bundestag.
The federal government has the power to issue regulations to implement federal laws, as well as issue general administrative regulations. The government is actively involved in the legislative process.
In the system of central government bodies of Germany, a special place is occupied by the Federal Constitutional Court, consisting of two senates of 8 judges each. The members of the court are elected in equal numbers by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The Constitutional Court has broad competence - interpreting the Constitution, checking the compliance of federal and state law with the basic law, resolving disputes between the federation and the states, etc. The court can also overturn parliamentary laws if they do not comply with the “spirit and letter” of the constitution.
In general, Germany did not know either a deep confrontation of forces with a real prospect of leftist participation in the government, or acute conflicts between the executive and legislative branches, which allows us to conclude that the West German political system was particularly strong.
German Democratic Republic.
In accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, the USSR occupied the eastern part of Germany: the lands of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt. A special body of the Soviet military administration in Germany was created - SVAG. Soon the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was involved in government activities. It was formed in April 1946 as a result of the merger of the communist and social democratic party organizations. In September-October 1946, elections to local governments and state parliaments were held throughout East Germany. The SED received more than 50% of the votes in the municipal elections and 47% in the Landtag elections.
At the same time, socialist reforms followed. The property of the monopolies was confiscated, and agrarian reform was carried out. The focus was on collectivization Agriculture.
In September 1947, the 2nd congress of the SKPG took place. He proposed convening a German People's Congress to determine further destinies states. The East German People's Congress (March 1948) elected the so-called German People's Council and tasked it with drafting a constitution for the future GDR.
In 1949, the People's Council announced the introduction of a new Constitution establishing the German Democratic Republic as an independent state.
The Constitution of the GDR of 1949 determined that the highest body of power was the People's Chamber (400 deputies), elected for 4 years by universal, direct and equal elections. By secret ballot, the People's Chamber elects its Presidium, in which each faction is represented, numbering at least 40 deputies. Representation of the Länder is carried out by the Chamber of Länder, which is elected by local Landtags. The Chamber of Lands received limited rights: it can protest against a law adopted by the People's Chamber within 14 days, but the final decision belongs to the latter.
Both chambers have jurisdiction over the election of the President. He is elected for 4 years, represents the republic in international relations, receives diplomatic representatives, exercises the right to pardon, etc. The government is formed by a representative of the faction that is the strongest in the People's Chamber. The People's Chamber approves the composition of the government and its program. The government is responsible to the House.
In 1952, the historical division of the country into lands was eliminated and a new administrative-territorial division of the GDR was established into 14 districts and 217 districts. The Chamber of Lands and Landtags were abolished. Local power began to be exercised by district and regional assemblies, which elected their own councils (executive authorities).
In 1952, the SED conference decided to build socialism in the GDR. 16 years after this, the new constitution of the GDR in 1968 declared the victory of socialist production relations.
Meanwhile, West Germany was increasingly ahead of East Germany in terms of living standards and the degree of industrial and democratic development. Socialism has discredited itself.
At the end of the 80s, the situation in the world changed. The Cold War, the confrontation between capitalist and socialist systems, has ended. Under these conditions it became possible merger Germany and the GDR, and it happened in 1989.
Thus, after the First World War, Germany became a victim of the confrontation between world systems and again lost its integrity. However, this time the unification of the state was accomplished not by force, as in the time of Bismarck, but through a peace agreement.
Revealing development of law In Germany, it is important to note the Civil Code of 1896, which became the first in the history of Germany to codify civil law unified for the entire country. The German civil code is largely based on Roman law. The norms of the code are contained in the general part (the first book). In addition, the code contains 4 more books: the second is devoted to obligations, the third – to property law, the fourth – to family law and the fifth – to inheritance law.
Distinctive features of the German Civil Code are: the absence of general legal definitions; the paragraphs of the code are very detailed and descriptive in nature.
During the period of imperialism (the first half of the 20th century), the top of monopoly capital merged with the state apparatus. In this regard, one of the features of civil law of this period is state intervention in the sphere of economic activity. The principles of administrative law penetrate into civil law; Mandatory norms often take the place of the dispositive norms usual for bourgeois civil law. The principles of freedom of contract, sanctity of contract, and free competition are violated. The principle of the sanctity of the contract and its binding force on the parties has also been shaken.
After Hitler seized power in Germany and the establishment of the fascist regime in the country, the German Civil Code was not abolished. However, since 1933, a number of laws have been issued changing the norms of the GGU, aimed at the direct abolition of equality, built on the idea of racism and fascist eugenics. Laws were also passed aimed at securing the economic position of monopolies.
After the defeat of fascism in World War II, fascist legislation was repealed and the German Civil Code was restored throughout Germany, which remained in effect only in the Federal Republic of Germany, while a new civil code was adopted in the GDR.
With the creation of a unified Germany in 1871, the Criminal Code of the North German Confederation of 1870 was put into effect throughout its entire territory. It consisted of three parts. The first contained provisions on the differentiation of criminal acts into crimes, misdemeanors and police violations; on the liability of German citizens in the event of offenses committed abroad and some other introductory regulations. The second part outlined general issues of criminal law: the stages of the crime, complicity, mitigating and aggravating circumstances. The third part included rules relating to certain types of crimes, i.e. was a special part of the code.
Among the crimes, state crimes came first: insulting the emperor and local sovereigns, counterfeiting, calls for disobedience to state authorities, etc.
The German criminal code provided for quite severe punishments: death penalty, imprisonment in a workhouse, imprisonment, placement in a fortress, arrest, restriction of rights, and a fine. The main purpose of punishment was deterrence, especially when it came to serious crimes. Those who committed state crimes against religion and property were punished most severely. At the same time, in the Code there is a desire to build a punitive system taking into account the personality of the criminal and the gravity of the crime he committed.
The Weimar Republic retained the Criminal Code of 1871. However, the code was re-edited, the remnants of Prussian feudalism were removed from it, and the scope of application of capital intrigue was reduced.
After the end of World War II, on the basis of the Potsdam Agreements, fascist criminal legislation was abolished. The validity of the Criminal Code of 1871 was restored with editorial corrections until 1933.
With the adoption of the 1949 Constitution, there was a movement towards democratization and criminal law. The death penalty was abolished.
Thus, the development of German law is based on the continental system. The main source of law in Germany is the law.
Germany
The split of Germany into the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
The geopolitical results of World War II were catastrophic for Germany. It lost its statehood for several years and its territorial integrity for many years. 24% of the territory Germany occupied in 1936 was torn off, including East Prussia, divided between Poland and the USSR. Poland and Czechoslovakia received the right to evict ethnic Germans from their territories, as a result of which a stream of refugees moved into Germany (by the end of 1946, their number was about 9 million people).
By decision of the Crimean Conference, German territory was divided into four zones of occupation: Soviet, American, British and French. Berlin was similarly divided into four sectors. At the Potsdam Conference, the basic principles of the occupation policy of the Allied states were agreed upon (demilitarization, denazification, decartelization, democratization of Germany). However, the lack of firm agreements on the German problem led to the fact that the administrations of the occupation zones applied the Potsdam principles at their own discretion.
The leadership of the Soviet military administration in Germany immediately took measures to form an obedient regime in its zone. Local committees spontaneously created by anti-fascists were dissolved. Central departments were created to resolve administrative and economic issues. Main role they were played by communists and social democrats. In the summer of 1945, the activities of 4 political parties were allowed: the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDP). In theory, all permitted parties enjoyed equal rights, but in practice, the Soviet government openly preferred the KKE.
Based on the idea that Nazism was a product of capitalism and denazification implied a struggle against capitalist influence in German society, Soviet power seized the “commanding heights” of the economy in the first months of the occupation. Many large enterprises were nationalized on the grounds that they belonged to the Nazis or their supporters. These enterprises were either dismantled and sent to the Soviet Union to pay for reparations, or continued to operate as Soviet property. In September 1945, land reform was carried out, during which more than 7,100 estates with an area of more than 100 hectares were expropriated free of charge. From the created land fund, about 120 thousand landless peasants, agricultural workers and migrants received small plots. WITH civil service reactionaries were fired.
The Soviet administration forced the SPD and the KPD to merge into a new party called the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). In subsequent years, communist control became increasingly harsh. In January 1949, the SED conference decided that the party should become a Leninist "party of a new type" on the model of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Thousands of socialists and communists who disagreed with this line were expelled from the party in a purge. In general, the same model was used in the Soviet zone of occupation as in other Eastern European countries. She meant the Stalinization of the Marxist party, the deprivation of the independence of the “middle class” parties, further nationalization, repressive measures and the virtual elimination of the competitive electoral system.
Western states acted in Germany as authoritarianly as the Soviet administration did in its zone. Anti-fascist committees were disbanded here too. Land governments were created (in the American zone during 1945, in the British and French - in 1946). Appointment to posts was carried out by a strong-willed decision of the occupation authorities. In the western occupation zones, the KPD and SPD also resumed their activities. The CDU was created, with which it established a “commonwealth” relationship; the Christian Social Union (CSU) was created in Bavaria; this party bloc began to be called the CDU / CSU. The liberal democracy camp was represented by the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
The US and UK soon became convinced that a revival of the German economy was vital to the recovery of Western Europe. The Americans and the British moved to coordinated actions. The first steps towards the unification of the western zones were taken at the end of 1946, when the American and British administrations agreed to unite the economic management of their zones from January 1, 1947. The so-called Bisonia was formed. The Bisonia administration received the status of parliament, i.e. purchased political rice. In 1948, the French also annexed their zone in Bisonia. The result was Trizonia.
In June 1948, the Reichsmark was replaced by the new "Deutsche Mark". The healthy tax base created by the new currency helped Germany join the Marshall Plan in 1949.
Currency reform led to the first clash between West and East as the Cold War began. In an effort to isolate their occupation zone from the influence of the Western economy, the Soviet leadership rejected both assistance under the Marshall Plan and the introduction of a new currency in its zone. It also relied on the introduction of the German mark in Berlin, but the Western Allies insisted that the new currency become legal tender in the western sectors of the city. To prevent the new brand from entering Berlin, the Soviet administration prevented cargo transportation from the west to Berlin by rail and highway. June 23, 1948 supply of Berlin by rail and by car was completely blocked. The so-called Berlin crisis arose. The Western powers organized an intensive air supply (“air bridge”), which provided everything necessary not only to the military garrisons of Berlin, but also to its civilian population. On May 11, 1949, the Soviet side admitted defeat and ended the blockade. The Berlin crisis is over.
Increasing confrontation between the USSR and Western countries makes it impossible to create a unified German state. In August 1949, general parliamentary elections were held in West Germany, which brought victory to the CDU/CSU party, and on September 7 the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed. In response, on October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in the east of the country. So, in the fall of 1949, the split in Germany received legal formalization.
1952 The USA, England and France signed an agreement with Germany, according to which the formal occupation of West Germany ended, but their troops remained in German territory. In 1955, an agreement was signed between the USSR and the GDR on the full sovereignty and independence of the GDR.
West German "economic miracle"
In the parliamentary elections (Bundestag) of 1949, two leading political forces were determined: the CDU/CSU (139 mandates), the SPD (131 mandates) and the “third force” - the FDP (52 mandates). The CDU/CSU and FDP formed a parliamentary coalition, which allowed them to create a joint government. This is how a “two-and-a-half” party model developed in Germany (in contrast to the two-party model in the USA and Great Britain). This model continued in the future.
The first chancellor (head of government) of the Federal Republic of Germany was the Christian Democrat K. Adenauer (he held this position from 1949 to 1963). A characteristic feature of his political style was the desire for stability. An equally important circumstance was the implementation of an exceptionally effective economic course. Its ideologist was the permanent Minister of Economics of the Federal Republic of Germany L. Erhard.
The model of social market economy created as a result of Erhard's policies was based on the concept of ordoliberalism (from the German "Ordung" - order). Ordoliberals advocated the free market mechanism, not despite, but because of government intervention. They saw the basis of economic well-being in the strengthening of economic order. The state was given key functions. Its intervention was supposed to replace the action of market mechanisms, and create conditions for their effective functioning.
Difficult period economic reform occurred in 1949-1950, when the liberalization of pricing caused an increase in prices with a relative decrease in the level of income of the population, and the restructuring of production was accompanied by a surge in unemployment. But already in 1951 there was a turning point, and in 1952 the rise in prices stopped and the unemployment rate began to decline. In subsequent years, unprecedented economic growth occurred: 9-10% per year, and in 1953-1956 - up to 10-15% per year. Germany came to second place among Western countries in terms of industrial production (and was only pushed aside by Japan in the late 60s). Large exports made it possible to create a significant gold reserve in the country. The German currency has become the strongest in Europe. In the second half of the 50s, unemployment practically disappeared, and real incomes tripled. Before 1964 gross national product(GNP) of the Federal Republic of Germany increased 3 times, and it began to produce more products than the entire pre-war Germany. At that time they started talking about the German “economic miracle”.
The West German “economic miracle” was due to a number of factors. The economic system chosen by Erhard, where liberal market mechanisms combined with targeted tax and credit policies of the state. Erhard managed to achieve the adoption of strong anti-monopoly legislation. A significant role was played by revenues from the Marshall Plan, the lack of military spending (before Germany joined NATO), as well as the influx of foreign investment ($350 billion). In German industry, which was destroyed during the war, there was a massive renewal of fixed capital. The introduction of new technologies that accompanied this process, combined with the traditionally high efficiency and discipline of the German population, caused a rapid increase in labor productivity.
Agriculture developed successfully. As a result of the agrarian reform of 1948-1949, carried out with the assistance of the occupation authorities, a redistribution of land property was carried out. As a result, most of the land fund passed from large owners to medium and small ones. In subsequent years, the share of people employed in agriculture steadily decreased, but widespread mechanization and electrification of peasant labor made it possible to ensure an overall increase in output in this sector.
The social policy that encouraged direct relationships between entrepreneurs and workers turned out to be very successful. The government acted under the motto: “Neither capital without labor, nor labor without capital can exist.” Pension funds, housing construction, a system of free and preferential education, and vocational training were expanded. The rights of labor collectives in the field of production management were expanded, but their political activities were prohibited. The remuneration system was differentiated depending on the length of service at a particular enterprise. In 1960, the “Law for the Protection of the Rights of Youth at Work” was passed, and since 1963, minimum leave for all workers was introduced. Tax policy encouraged the transfer of part of the wage fund into special “people's shares”, which were distributed among the enterprise’s employees. All these government measures made it possible to ensure adequate growth in the purchasing power of the population in conditions of economic recovery. Germany was in the midst of a consumer boom.
In 1950, Germany became a member of the Council of Europe and began to take an active part in negotiations on projects European integration. In 1954, Germany became a member of the Western European Union, and in 1955 joined NATO. In 1957, Germany became one of the founders of the European Economic Community (EEC).
In the 60s, a regrouping of political forces took place in Germany. The FDP supported the SPD, and, having formed a new coalition, these two parties formed a government in 1969. This coalition lasted until the early 80s. During this period, the chancellors were the Social Democrats W. Brandt (1969-1974) and G. Schmidt (1974-1982).
A new political regrouping occurred in the early 80s. The FDP supported the CDU/CSU and left the coalition with the SPD. In 1982, Christian Democrat G. Kohl became chancellor (he held this post until 1998). He was destined to become chancellor of a united Germany.
German reunification
For forty post-war years, Germany was divided into two states by the Cold War front. The GDR was increasingly losing to West Germany in terms of economic growth and living standards. The symbol of the Cold War and the division of the German nation was the Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to prevent the citizens of the GDR from fleeing to the West.
In 1989, a revolution began in the GDR. The main demand of the participants in the revolutionary uprisings was the unification of Germany. In October 1989, the leader of the East German communists, E. Honecker, resigned, and on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell. The unification of Germany became a practically feasible task.
It was no longer possible to contain the process of German unification. But in the West and East the countries were formed different approaches towards future unification. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany provided for the reunification of Germany as the process of the annexation of the lands of East Germany to the Federal Republic of Germany and assumed the liquidation of the GDR as a state. The leadership of the GDR sought to achieve unification through a confederal union.
However, in the elections in March 1990, the GDR won the non-communist opposition led by the Christian Democrats. From the very beginning they advocated the speedy reunification of Germany on the basis of the Federal Republic of Germany. On June 1, the German mark was introduced into the GDR. On August 31, an agreement was signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic on the establishment of state unity.
All that remained was to agree on the unification of Germany with 4 states - the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France. For this purpose, negotiations were held according to the “2 + 4” formula, that is, between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, on the one hand, and the victorious powers (USSR, USA, Great Britain and France), on the other. The Soviet Union made a fundamentally important concession - it agreed to the continued membership of a united Germany in NATO and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from East Germany. On September 12, 1990, the Treaty on the Final Settlement regarding Germany was signed.
On October 3, 1990, 5 lands restored on the territory of East Germany became part of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the GDR ceased to exist. On December 20, 1990, the first Spilnonym government was formed, headed by Chancellor G. Kohl.
Economic and social achievements, problems of the 90s
Contrary to optimistic forecasts, the socio-economic consequences of German unification turned out to be ambiguous. The East Germans' hopes for the miraculous economic effect of unification were not justified. The main problem was the transfer of the command-administrative economy of the 5 eastern lands to the principles of a market economy. This process was carried out without strategic planning, through trial and error. The most “shocking” option for transforming the economy of East Germany was chosen. Its features include the introduction of private property, decisive denationalization of state-owned enterprises, tight deadlines transition period to a market economy, etc. Moreover, East Germany received socio-economic and political forms of organizing society immediately and in a ready-made form.
Adaptation of the economy of the eastern lands to new conditions was quite painful and led to a reduction in industrial production in them to 1/3 of the previous level. The German economy emerged from the state of crisis caused by the unification of the country and negative trends in the world economy only in 1994. However, the structural restructuring of industry and adaptation to the new conditions of a market economy caused a sharp increase in unemployment. In the mid-90s, it covered more than 12% of the workforce (more than 4 million people). The most difficult employment situation is in East Germany, where the unemployment rate exceeded 15% and the average wage significantly lagged behind the “old lands”. All this, as well as the influx of foreign workers, caused growing social tension in German society. In the summer of 1996, mass protests organized by trade unions broke out.
G. Kohl called for comprehensive savings. The government had to make an unprecedented increase in taxes, which amounted to more than half of total earnings, and a drastic reduction in government spending, including economic support for the eastern lands. All this, as well as G. Kohl’s policy of further reducing social programs, ultimately led to the defeat of the ruling conservative-liberal coalition in the next parliamentary elections.
Social Democrats coming to power
The 1998 elections brought victory to the new coalition, which was formed by the SPD (received 40.9% of the vote) and the Green Party (6.7%). Before officially joining the coalition, both parties developed a large, well-executed government program. It included measures to reduce unemployment, revise the tax system, close 19 nuclear power plants, the remaining ones, etc. The government of the “pink-green” coalition was headed by Social Democrat G. Schröder. In the context of the economic recovery that began, the policies of the new government turned out to be very effective. The new government did not abandon savings in government spending. But these savings were achieved not by curtailing state social programs, but mainly through land budgets.
The 1998 elections brought victory to the new coalition, which was formed by the SPD (received 40.9% of the vote) and the Green Party (6.7%). Before officially joining the coalition, both parties developed a large, well-executed government program. It included measures to reduce unemployment, revise the tax system, close 19 nuclear power plants, the remaining ones, etc. The government of the “pink-green” coalition was headed by Social Democrat G. Schröder. In the context of the economic recovery that began, the policies of the new government turned out to be very effective. The new government did not abandon savings in government spending. But these savings were achieved not by curtailing state social programs, but mainly through land budgets. In 1999, the government announced its intention to launch large-scale education reform to improve its effectiveness. Additional allocations began to be made for advanced scientific and technical research.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Germany, with its 80 million population, became the largest state in Western Europe. In terms of industrial production and level of economic development, it ranks third in the world, second only to the USA and Japan.
On December 22, 1989, the Brandenburg Gate opened. Citizens of the GDR could freely obtain visas and visit West Berlin, Germany. Euphoria and a sense of freedom could not be hindered by the opinions of skeptics. However, not everything was so rosy.
Tax burden
A united Germany also received double problems. First of all, they arose in economic sphere. The western part took on the greater financial burden. Funds were needed to restructure the state apparatus, update production and communications. To achieve this, a new tax was introduced on the income of individuals and legal entities, in addition to the regular income tax and corporate income tax. It was called the “solidarity contribution” - Soldaritätszuschlag. We also had to reduce the amount of unemployment benefits and benefits for large families. In addition, West Germany assumed obligations to pay off the external debt of East Germany.
Economic decline
The industry of East Germany at the time of unification was not in the best condition: 20% of enterprises were operating at a loss, 50% needed urgent investments for modernization, and only 30% were considered profitable.
“Germany remained Russia’s largest trade and economic partner, but the opportunities that were built into our economic cooperation during the unification of Germany were largely lost. The volume of mutual trade decreased, although the German government encouraged it by providing German firms, especially in the territory of the former GDR, with appropriate government guarantees. In 1992 alone, it allocated 5 billion marks for this in the form of Hermes loans, of which 4 billion to support trade with Russia,” wrote Mikhail Gorbachev in his book “The Way It Was: The Unification of Germany.”
Poverty
The eastern lands lagged behind in their economic growth rates. The potential poverty rate here was 19% (that is, every fifth), versus 13% in the West (every tenth). Federal government specifically for development eastern regions allocated about two trillion euros over 15 years.
Due to the recalculation system, pensions in the West are lower. For comparison: a resident of the former GDR received a pension of 1,060 euros in 2010, and a resident of the western federal states received 985 euros.
Unemployment and health
Unprofitable enterprises were closed, agricultural production fell into decline. Unemployment has increased catastrophically in the Eastern part. Since the flow of labor, cheap labor, began to flow into West Germany.
The unemployment rate was as follows: one employed for every four unemployed. This also affected the health indicators of the nation - younger and healthier people left. Therefore, in the eastern federal states, patients with type 2 diabetes are more common; Heart attacks are more common than in the west. But depression suffers more in Western lands.
Due to the fact that compulsory vaccinations were introduced in the GDR, people in the east are less likely to get the flu. And the number of cases of meningitis with fatal dropped from 120 to 10 by the 1990s, also thanks to vaccination.
National discord
Culturologists point to the difference in mentality between the inhabitants of the eastern and western lands. In their opinion, the citizens of the GDR, who missed abundance, accepted the unification of the country primarily as an opportunity to satisfy the hunger for goods, and democratic values became a beautiful package. The attitude was different towards many things: time, work, superiors, the opposite sex. Differing political and cultural experiences also had an impact after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A new economy, the absence of a guardian state, and other social values - these are the tools that reshape the mentality.
Nicknames appeared for East Germans - “Ossi” and for Western ones - “Wessy”. The Sociological Institute in Allensbach, having conducted a survey among residents of the western and eastern federal states, received sad data for a united country. For example, Ossies describe their neighbors as money-hungry, self-confident, and outspoken bureaucrats.
GERMANY. STORY. 1948-2000
Divided Germany: 1949-1990. The history of Germany and the history of the Cold War in the period 1949-1990 are closely related to each other. The division of the country was one of the most important results of the rivalry between the two superpowers - the USA and the USSR. German reunification became possible in 1990, following the collapse of the communist system and as a result of a significant improvement in relations between East and West. The creation of independent German states in 1949 (the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic) cemented the division of the country into two hostile societies. Under the rule of the SED, East Germany became a country with a dictatorial one-party system, a centralized economy and total state control. In contrast, West Germany became a democratic state with a market economy. As the Cold War deepened, relations between the two Germanys became increasingly strained, although they never completely broke down. Since the 1960s, there had been a marked increase in the volume of trade, and numerous personal contacts between the inhabitants of divided Germany showed that the citizens of the two countries could never become complete strangers to each other. In addition, the Federal Republic of Germany was a refuge for millions of Germans who fled the GDR (mainly in the 1940s and 1950s). Nevertheless, the development of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany proceeded in divergent directions. The construction of the Berlin Wall (1961), in combination with other methods of border security, firmly isolated the GDR. In 1968, the East German government declared that the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany had nothing in common except language. The new doctrine even denied historical community: the GDR personified everything noble and progressive in German history, the FRG - everything backward and reactionary. Creation of the German Democratic Republic. In the Soviet occupation zone, the creation of the German Democratic Republic was legitimized by the institutions of the People's Congresses. The 1st German People's Congress met in December 1947, and was attended by the SED, LDPD, a number of public organizations and the KPD from the western zones (the CDU refused to take part in the congress). Delegates came from all over Germany, but 80% of them represented residents of the Soviet occupation zone. The 2nd Congress was convened in March 1948, attended by delegates only from East Germany. It elected the German People's Council, whose task was to develop a constitution for a new democratic Germany. The Council adopted a constitution in March 1949, and in May of that year elections for delegates to the 3rd German People's Congress took place, following the model that had become the norm in the Soviet bloc: voters could only vote for a single list of candidates, the vast majority of whom were members of the SED . The 2nd German People's Council was elected at the congress. Although SED delegates did not constitute a majority in this council, the party secured a dominant position through the party leadership of delegates from public organizations (youth movement, trade unions, women's organization, cultural league). On October 7, 1949, the German People's Council proclaimed the creation of the German Democratic Republic. Wilhelm Pieck became the first president of the GDR, and Otto Grotewohl became the head of the Provisional Government. Five months before the adoption of the constitution and the proclamation of the GDR, the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed in West Germany. Since the official creation of the GDR occurred after the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, East German leaders had a reason to blame the West for the division of Germany. Economic difficulties and worker discontent in the GDR. Throughout its existence, the GDR constantly experienced economic difficulties. Some of them were the result of scarce natural resources and poor economic infrastructure, but most were the result of policies pursued by the Soviet Union and East German authorities. There were no deposits of such important minerals as coal and iron ore on the territory of the GDR. There was also a lack of high-class managers and engineers who fled to the West. In 1952, the SED proclaimed that socialism would be built in the GDR. Following the Stalinist model, the leaders of the GDR imposed harsh economic system with central planning and government control. Heavy industry was given priority for development. Ignoring citizen dissatisfaction caused by shortages consumer goods, the authorities tried by all means to force workers to increase labor productivity. After Stalin's death, the workers' situation did not improve, and they responded with an uprising on June 16-17, 1953. The action began as a strike by East Berlin construction workers. The unrest immediately spread to other industries in the capital, and then to the entire GDR. The strikers demanded not only an improvement in their economic situation, but also the holding of free elections. The authorities were in a state of panic. The paramilitary "People's Police" lost control of the situation, and the Soviet military administration brought in tanks. After the events of June 1953, the government switched to a policy of carrots and sticks. More lenient economic policies (the New Deal) included lower production standards for workers and increased production of some consumer goods. At the same time, large-scale repressions were carried out against the instigators of unrest and disloyal functionaries of the SED. About 20 demonstrators were executed, many were thrown into prison, almost a third of party officials were either removed from their posts or transferred to other jobs with the official motivation “for losing contact with the people.” Nevertheless, the regime managed to overcome the crisis. Two years later, the USSR officially recognized the sovereignty of the GDR, and in 1956 East Germany formed armed forces and became a full member of the Organization Warsaw Pact. Another shock for the countries of the Soviet bloc was the 20th Congress of the CPSU (1956), at which Chairman of the Council of Ministers N.S. Khrushchev denounced Stalin's repressions. The revelations of the leader of the USSR caused unrest in Poland and Hungary, but in the GDR the situation remained calm. The improvement in the economic situation caused by the new course, as well as the opportunity for dissatisfied citizens to “vote with their feet”, i.e. emigrate across the open border in Berlin helped prevent a repeat of the events of 1953. Some softening of Soviet policies after the 20th Congress of the CPSU encouraged those members of the SED who did not agree with the position of Walter Ulbricht, a key political figure in the country, and other hardliners. The reformers, led by Wolfgang Harich, a university teacher. Humboldt in East Berlin, advocated democratic elections, workers' control in production and the "socialist unification" of Germany. Ulbricht managed to overcome this opposition of the “revisionist deviationists.” Harich was sent to prison, where he stayed from 1957 to 1964.
Berlin Wall. Having defeated the supporters of reforms in their ranks, the East German leadership began accelerated nationalization. In 1959, mass collectivization of agriculture and the nationalization of numerous small enterprises began. In 1958, about 52% of land was owned by the private sector; by 1960 it had increased to 8%. Showing support for the GDR, Khrushchev took a tough line against Berlin. He demanded that the Western powers effectively recognize the GDR, threatening to close access to West Berlin. (Until the 1970s, the Western powers refused to recognize the GDR as an independent state, insisting that Germany must be unified in accordance with the post-war agreements.) Once again, the scale of the exodus from the GDR assumed daunting proportions for the government. In 1961, more than 207 thousand citizens left the GDR (in total, more than 3 million people moved to the West since 1945). In August 1961, the East German government blocked the flow of refugees by ordering the construction of a concrete wall and barbed wire fence between East and West Berlin. Within a few months, the border between the GDR and West Germany was equipped.
Stability and prosperity of the GDR. The exodus of the population stopped, specialists remained in the country. It became possible to carry out more effective government planning. As a result, the country managed to achieve modest levels of prosperity in the 1960s and 1970s. The rise in living standards was not accompanied by political liberalization or a weakening of dependence on the USSR. The SED continued to tightly control the areas of art and intellectual activity. East German intellectuals experienced significantly greater restrictions on their creativity than their Hungarian or Polish colleagues. The nation's well-known cultural prestige rested largely on left-leaning older writers such as Bertolt Brecht (with his wife, Helena Weigel, who directed the famous Berliner Ensemble theater group), Anna Seghers, Arnold Zweig, Willy Bredel and Ludwig Renn. . But several new significant names also appeared, among them Christa Wolf and Stefan Geim. It should also be noted that East German historians, such as Horst Drexler and other researchers of German colonial policy 1880-1918, in whose works a reassessment of individual events in recent German history was carried out. But the GDR was most successful in increasing its international prestige in the field of sports. Advanced system state sports clubs and training camps trained high-quality athletes who achieved amazing success in summer and winter Olympic Games since 1972.
Changes in the leadership of the GDR. By the late 1960s, the Soviet Union, still tightly in control of East Germany, began to show dissatisfaction with Walter Ulbricht's policies. The leader of the SED actively opposed new policy the West German government led by Willy Brandt, aimed at improving relations between West Germany and the Soviet bloc. Dissatisfied with Ulbricht's attempts to sabotage Brandt's eastern policy, the Soviet leadership achieved his resignation from party posts. Ulbricht retained the insignificant post of head of state until his death in 1973. Ulbricht was succeeded as first secretary of the SED by Erich Honecker. A native of the Saarland, he joined the Communist Party at an early age and, after his release from prison at the end of World War II, became a professional SED functionary. For many years he headed the youth organization "Free German Youth". Honecker intended to strengthen what he called "real socialism." Under Honecker, the GDR began to play a prominent role in international politics, especially in relations with Third World countries. After the signing of the Basic Treaty with West Germany (1972), the GDR was recognized by the majority of countries in the world community and in 1973, like the FRG, became a member of the UN.
Collapse of the GDR. Although there were no further mass protests until the late 1980s, the East German population never fully adapted to the SED regime. In 1985, about 400 thousand citizens of the GDR applied for a permanent exit visa. Many representatives of the intelligentsia and church leaders openly criticized the regime for the lack of political and cultural freedoms. The government responded by increasing censorship and expelling some prominent dissidents from the country. Ordinary citizens expressed outrage at the system of total surveillance carried out by an army of informants who were in the service of the Stasi secret police. By the 1980s, the Stasi had become something of a corrupt state within a state, controlling its own industrial enterprises and even speculating on the international foreign exchange market. The coming to power in the USSR of M. S. Gorbachev and his policies of perestroika and glasnost undermined the basis for the existence of the ruling SED regime. East German leaders recognized the potential danger early and abandoned perestroika in East Germany. But the SED could not hide information about changes in other countries of the Soviet bloc from the citizens of the GDR. West German television programs, which residents of the GDR watched much more often than East German television products, widely covered the progress of reforms in Eastern Europe. The dissatisfaction of most East German citizens with their government reached a climax in 1989. While neighboring Eastern European states quickly liberalized their regimes, the SED cheered the brutal suppression of the June 1989 Chinese student demonstration in Tiananmen Square. But it was no longer possible to contain the tide of impending changes in the GDR. In August, Hungary opened its border with Austria, allowing thousands of East German holidaymakers to emigrate to the west. At the end of 1989, popular discontent resulted in colossal protest demonstrations in the GDR itself. "Monday demonstrations" quickly became a tradition; hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of major cities of the GDR (the most massive protests took place in Leipzig) demanding political liberalization. The GDR leadership was divided over how to deal with the dissatisfied, and it also became clear that it was now left to its own devices. At the beginning of October, M.S. arrived in East Germany to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the GDR. Gorbachev, who made it clear that the Soviet Union would no longer interfere in the affairs of the GDR to save the ruling regime. Honecker, who had just recovered from major surgery, advocated the use of force against protesters. But the majority of the SED Politburo did not agree with his opinion, and in mid-October Honecker and his main allies were forced to resign. New general secretary Egon Krenz became the SED, as did Honecker, the former leader of the youth organization. The government was headed by Hans Modrow, secretary of the Dresden district committee of the SED, who was known as a supporter of economic and political reforms. The new leadership tried to stabilize the situation by meeting some of the demonstrators' particularly widespread demands: the right to free exit from the country was granted (the Berlin Wall was opened on November 9, 1989) and free elections were proclaimed. These steps turned out to be insufficient, and Krenz, having served as head of the party for 46 days, resigned. At a hastily convened congress in January 1990, the SED was renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), and a truly democratic party charter was adopted. The chairman of the renewed party was Gregor Gysi, a lawyer by profession who defended several East German dissidents during the Honecker era. In March 1990, citizens of the GDR participated in the first in 58 years free elections. Their results greatly disappointed those who had hoped for the preservation of a liberalized but still independent and socialist GDR. Although several newly emerged parties advocated a "third way" distinct from Soviet communism and West German capitalism, a bloc of parties allied with the West German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won a landslide victory. This voting bloc demanded unification with West Germany. Lothar de Maizière, leader of the East German CDU, became the first (and last) freely elected prime minister of the GDR. The short period of his reign was marked by great changes. Under the leadership of de Maizières, the previous management apparatus was quickly dismantled. In August 1990, five states abolished in the GDR in 1952 were restored (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia). On October 3, 1990, the GDR ceased to exist, uniting with the Federal Republic of Germany.
Creation of the Federal Republic of Germany. Since 1947, American occupation authorities have put pressure on West German political leaders to create unified government structures for the Western occupation zones. The Germans, fearing that such actions would consolidate the division of the country, were in no hurry to take concrete steps. Nevertheless, the London Conference (of the three Western victorious countries) in the spring of 1948 gave official sanction for the convening of a constituent assembly (Parliamentary Council) to develop a constitution for West Germany. The Berlin blockade of 1948-1949 made it possible to overcome German resistance. The mayor of Berlin, Ernst Reuther, urged West German politicians to meet the wishes of the Allies, arguing that the actions of the Soviet administration had already led to the division of Germany. On September 1, 1948, the Parliamentary Council, which included representatives of the parliaments (landtags) of the states of the western zones and West Berlin, met in Bonn to develop the Basic Law. The largest factions were the two parties - CDU and SPD (27 delegates each). The Free Democratic Party (FDP) received 5 seats, the Communists, the conservative German Party (NP) and the Center Party - 2 seats each. The adoption of the Basic Law was not an easy task. The Parliamentary Council was subject to pressure from two sides. The Western Allies insisted on maintaining their control over the country even after the constitution came into force, the Germans sought the maximum possible sovereignty. The German side itself was split on the issue of state structure. Most delegates supported the idea of some form of federalism, but the SPD, FDP and the left wing of the CDU favored a strong central government, while the right wing of the CDU, including its Bavarian partner the Christian Social Union (CSU), insisted on a looser federal structure. The Parliamentary Council worked quickly and efficiently under the leadership of its president, Konrad Adenauer (CDU), and the chairman of the drafting committee, Carlo Schmid (SPD). In May 1949, a compromise document was approved. It provided for the introduction of the posts of Federal Chancellor (Prime Minister) with broad powers and the Federal President with limited powers. A bicameral system was created from a Bundestag elected in general elections and a Bundesrat (federal council) with broad rights to represent the interests of the federal states. The document was called the "Basic Law" to emphasize that its creators were aware of its temporary nature, since the constitution was to be written for the whole of post-war Germany.
Adenauer era: 1949-1963. The first elections to the Bundestag were held in August 1949. The majority of seats in parliament were won by the CDU/CSU coalition (139 seats), followed by the SPD (131 seats). The FDP won 52 seats, the Communists - 15, the remaining 65 seats were shared by smaller parties. There were many politicians in the ranks of the CDU and SPD who advocated the creation of a “grand coalition” government of the CDU and SPD, but the leaders of the Christian Democrats and the SPD, Adenauer and Kurt Schumacher, rejected this plan. Instead, Adenauer organized a center-right coalition consisting of the CDU/CSU, the FDP of the German Party. In 1953, it was joined by a party created by German immigrants from Eastern Europe (until 1955). The coalition remained in power until 1950, when the FDP left it. She was replaced by the cabinet of the CDU/CSU and the German Party. Adenauer, who entered politics at the beginning of the century and was an active opponent of the Nazi regime (for which he was imprisoned), remained as chancellor until 1963. Although the “Old Man,” as the Germans called him, concentrated his efforts on foreign policy affairs, his success it owes primarily to the West German “economic miracle.” In 1949, the country's war-damaged national economy produced only 89% of its 1936 output, but skillful economic policies made it possible to bring West Germany to an unprecedentedly high level of prosperity. In 1957, West German industry, under Minister of Economics Ludwig Erhard, doubled production compared to 1936, and Germany became one of the leading industrial powers in the world. Economic growth made it possible to cope with the constant flow of refugees from East Germany, and the number of unemployed was constantly falling. By the early 1960s, West Germany was forced to massively attract foreign workers (guest workers) from Southern Europe, Turkey and North Africa. In the field of foreign policy, Adenauer firmly sought to achieve two interrelated goals - the restoration of the full sovereignty of West Germany and the integration of the country into the community of Western countries. To do this, West Germany needed to win the trust of the Americans and the French. Adenauer was a supporter of European integration from the very beginning. An important step in this direction was the entry of West Germany into the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), created in 1951, of which France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg became members (the ECSC Treaty was ratified by the Bundestag in January 1952). The attitude towards Adenauer was also influenced by West Germany's agreement to pay compensation to Israel and private victims of Nazi crimes against Jews. An important milestone in the policy of reconciliation with France pursued by Adenauer was the conclusion of the Franco-German cooperation agreement (1963), which was the result of negotiations with French President Charles de Gaulle. The beneficial results of the policy aimed at alliance with Western countries soon made themselves felt. In 1951, the Western allies agreed to change the occupation status, and on May 26, 1952, representatives of the United States, Great Britain and France, together with the West German Chancellor, signed the Bonn Agreement, according to which the military occupation was ended and the country's sovereignty was restored. Almost all states that were not part of the Soviet bloc recognized West Germany as an independent state. In 1957, a lightning-fast step was taken towards the unification of Germany: the Saar region, which had been governed by the French administration since 1945, became part of West Germany. Some of the steps taken by Adenauer in the field of foreign policy were very controversial. Despite the presence of significant forces in the country opposed to the remilitarization of West Germany, the Adenauer government approved American plans to turn West Germany into its military partner and political protégé. Impressed by the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, American military leaders argued that only in an alliance with the West German army could Europe be protected from possible Soviet aggression. After the French parliament rejected the plan to create a united European army (European Defense Community) in 1954, West Germany created its own armed forces, the Bundeswehr. In 1954, West Germany became the 15th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As West Germany became a full member of the community of Western powers under Adenauer, the government failed to achieve its stated goal of unification with East Germany. Adenauer, supported by US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, was confident that only tough policies could convince the Soviet Union to release the GDR from its iron grip. West Germany made attempts to isolate the GDR in international affairs and did not recognize East Germany as an independent state. (It became customary to call the eastern neighbor the “so-called GDR” and the “Soviet zone”). In accordance with the "Halstein Doctrine" (named after Walter Hallstein, Adenauer's adviser on foreign policy), West Germany was willing to sever diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the GDR. The period from 1949 to the mid-1960s can be called the Adenauer era. The growing prestige of Germany in the West and prosperity within the country, as well as fear of the communist threat - all this contributed to the triumph of the CDU in the elections. The CDU/CSU bloc became the leading political force in all elections to the Bundestag from 1949 to 1969. The CDU/CSU benefited from the suppression of workers' protests in Berlin by Soviet troops in 1953 and the Soviet invasion of Hungary to pacify the uprising in 1956. At the same time, progressive social The reforms did not allow the Social Democrats to increase the number of their supporters. The new pension program has brought Germany to a leading position in this issue. In the production sector, trade unions achieved the adoption in 1951-1952 of laws on the participation of workers in the management of enterprises (in the steel and coal industries). Subsequently, the legislation was extended to enterprises that employed more than 2,000 workers. Theodor Hayes (1884-1963), the first president of West Germany (1949-1959), assisted Adenauer in creating a stable state that was respected in the world community. Hayes, leader of the FDP, was a prominent Liberal politician and writer in the 1920s. In 1959-1969, his successor as president was Heinrich Lübcke (1894-1972), a representative of the CDU.
Cultural life in West Germany. A landmark work in the reassessment of recent German history was Hamburg University professor Fritz Fischer's richly documented study, The Rush to World Power (1961), about the goals of the Kaiser's Germany in the First World War. Fischer argued that the main culprit of World War I was Germany, and thus supported the Treaty of Versailles clause regarding German guilt for starting the war. Fischer's thought was rejected by many hard-headed West Germans, but it foreshadowed the stream of critical studies of German history and West German society that emerged in the late 1960s. Among the main protagonists of the West German cultural revival of the late 1960s were the writers Günter Grass, Heinrich Böll, Uwe Jonsson, Peter Weiss, Siegfried Lenz, the film directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlöndorff, Wim Wenders, and the composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Hans Werner Henze.
The rise of social democracy. The lack of popular alternatives to the policies of the Christian Democrats worked to the advantage of the SPD. The party, led by Kurt Schumacher, continued to push for the nationalization of major industries, opposed a one-sided orientation towards the West, and played to German national chords. Some influential regional party leaders (such as Willy Brandt in Berlin, Wilhelm Kaisen in Bremen, Carlo Schmid in Baden-Württemberg and Max Brauer in Hamburg) criticized the lack of flexibility in the SPD program. Until his death (1952), Schumacher managed to outplay his rivals who were claiming leadership in the party. Schumacher's successor was Erich Ollenhauer, a party functionary who, however, agreed to change party policy. With Ollenhauer's tacit approval, reformers led by Carlo Schmid and Herbert Wehner, a hardline former communist politician who was the party's most active representative in the Bundestag, encouraged the party to abandon Marxist dogma. They succeeded in 1959, when the SPD, at a congress in Bad Godesberg, adopted a program that marked the rejection of Marxism. The SPD declared support for private initiative and an orientation towards the Scandinavian model of the welfare state. The party also advocated the development by the three main parties of a common approach to national defense policy. By a fortunate coincidence, the SPD changed its program just at the moment when the CDU began to lose public support. The SPD went to the 1961 elections under the leadership of Willy Brandt, an energetic and popular politician in society, the ruling burgomaster of West Berlin. Some voters were disappointed in the slowness of the CDU and wanted Adenauer to resign. The CDU/CSU bloc was losing votes, the SPD was gaining them, but it failed to remove Adenauer. The Free Democratic Party (FDP), which also criticized Adenauer, benefited the most. Despite its critical position, the FDP entered the coalition government together with the CDU/CSU. Adenauer promised to resign in two years. But before that, the real storm was caused by the so-called. Der Spiegel magazine case. The influential weekly Der Spiegel has long criticized the head of the CSU, Franz Josef Strauss, who professed extreme right-wing views and served as Minister of Defense since 1956. In 1962, the magazine published an article highlighting the dysfunctional situation in the West German armed forces. Accusing the magazine of disclosing information that constituted the subject military secrets, Strauss ordered searches of the editorial premises and the arrest of employees on charges of treason. Five FDP ministers resigned in protest, and Strauss was removed from his post. In 1963, Adenauer resigned as Federal Chancellor, retaining his chairmanship of the party. The chancellor of the CDU/CSU-FDP coalition was Ludwig Erhard, who became known as the “father of the German economic miracle” for his role as a strategist in economic policy after 1949. His tenure in this post, which he sought for many years, cannot be called successful: Erhard was distinguished by indecisiveness, for which he received the nickname “rubber lion”. For the first time since the early 1950s, the German economy saw alarming symptoms. Production declined, growth rates slowed, and a balance of payments deficit appeared. Peasants were dissatisfied with government policies, and jobs were being cut in the mining, shipbuilding and textile industries. In 1965-1966, a general economic decline began in West Germany. In 1966-1969, the country was rocked by strikes, especially in the metallurgical industry; The peaceful period of development was coming to an end. Adenauer sharply criticized his successor, claiming that he was unable to cope with the duties of chancellor. Despite the economic recession, Erhard avoided defeat in the Bundestag elections in 1965. The CDU/CSU bloc even increased its representation in parliament, but victory did not solve the problems facing Erhard. He barely managed to resume the coalition with the Free Democrats. Representatives of the right wing of their own bloc, led by Strauss, and the land leaders of the CDU demonstrated hostility towards him. The influence of the latter increased as a result of the division of responsibilities between Erhard (Federal Chancellor) and Adenauer (Chairman of the CDU). Regional leaders criticized Erhard, linking the CDU's failures in a series of state elections to the chancellor's sluggish policies. In December 1966, the FDP, an awkward coalition partner, refused to support a tax increase bill and Erhard was forced to resign.
Grand coalition in Germany. To overcome dependence on the Free Democrats, the CDU/CSU bloc has now decided to enter into a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats. The SPD leaders did not hesitate to join their rivals, claiming 9 ministerial portfolios against 11 for the CDU/CSU; Willy Brandt became Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor. Many Social Democrats did not like the prospect of working in a government that included Franz Joseph Strauss (which the CSU insisted on), and the candidacy of Kurt Georg Kiesinger, nominated by the CDU for the post of Bundeschancellor, was also questionable. Kiesinger headed the CDU branch in Baden-Württemberg, was considered a respected member of the Bundestag, but at one time was a member of the Nazi party. The grand coalition, although it did not bring radical changes in policy, changed West German politics in a number of important respects. The SPD had the opportunity to demonstrate to the West Germans its capabilities as a ruling party. But some voters perceived the unification of the largest parties and the failure of the FDP to play the role of an effective opposition party as an indication that the dominant political elite had united against the common people. As a result, voters supported new political groupings that previously did not have deputies in the Bundestag. The right-wing radical wing included the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD), which was formed in 1964. Its program had some similarities with the program of the Nazi party; many of its leaders were Nazis in the past. The NPD united the protest electorate by skillfully exploiting feelings of national disadvantage and resentment towards both superpowers, dissatisfaction with the continued persecution of Nazi criminals, hostility to perceived moral permissiveness and racially prejudiced fears about the influx of foreign workers. The party enjoyed support among residents of small towns and representatives of economically weak small entrepreneurs. She managed to get her deputies into some land parliaments (Landtags). But fears of a resurgence of Nazism turned out to be unfounded. The lack of a strong leader, as well as the improving economic situation in the country, played against the party. As a result, she lost the elections to the Bundestag in 1969, gaining only 4.3% of the vote. The left-wing opposition relied mainly on the student movement led by the Socialist Union of German Students (SDS), which was expelled from the SPD for refusing to accept the Bad Godesberg Program. The Students' Union program combined demands for educational reform and protest against US international policy. In the late 1960s, the country was rocked by massive student protests and the “extra-parliamentary opposition” movement.
Chancellor Willy Brandt. In 1969, the radicals experienced a decline in popularity. Many students welcomed the start of university education reforms, while others advocated giving the Social Democrats a chance to shine in governing the country. By 1969 the team of Social Democratic politicians was well known. The SPD stood for “modern Germany,” personified by Willy Brandt, accusing the CDU of backwardness. In addition, the Social Democrats benefited from the alliance with the FDP. Free Democrats helped elect Gustav Heinemann, the SPD candidate, to the presidency of Germany. In 1949-1950, Heinemann was Minister of the Interior in the Adenauer government, but resigned after disagreeing with Adenauer's plans to remilitarize the country. In 1952 he left the CDU, and in 1957 he joined the SPD. In the 1969 Bundestag elections, the CDU/CSU bloc, as before, formed the largest faction in the Bundestag (242 deputies), but the coalition government was formed by the SPD (224 deputies) and the FDP (30 deputies). Willy Brandt became chancellor. Although the SPD-FDP coalition embarked on a program of far-reaching reforms at home, especially in education, it is remembered primarily for its foreign policy initiatives. The main task that Willy Brandt set for himself can be formulated in two words - “Eastern policy”. Having abandoned the Hallstein Doctrine, following which West Germany tried to isolate the GDR and refused to recognize the border with Poland along the Oder-Neisse, as well as the invalidity of the Munich Agreement (1938) in relation to Czechoslovakia, the Brandt government sought to normalize relations between West Germany and its Eastern European neighbors, including from the GDR. Relations with the countries of Eastern Europe moved from a dead point during the Grand Coalition, but after 1969 the process of normalization accelerated significantly. There were several reasons for this: refugees from East Germany gradually integrated into West German society; The United States during this period was more interested in détente than in confrontation with the Soviet Union; large West German businesses sought to eliminate obstacles to trade with the East; In addition, the consequences of the construction of the Berlin Wall demonstrated that the GDR was far from collapse. Brandt, working closely with Foreign Minister Walter Scheel (FDP) and his closest adviser Egon Bahr (SPD), concluded treaties under which Germany recognized the existing borders: - with the Soviet Union and Poland in 1971, with Czechoslovakia in 1973 . In 1971, a quadripartite agreement on Berlin was signed: the Soviet Union recognized West Berlin as belonging to the West, guaranteed free access from West Germany to West Berlin, and recognized the right of residents of West Berlin to visit East Berlin. On November 8, 1972, East and West Germany officially recognized each other's sovereignty and agreed to exchange diplomatic missions. Just as Adenauer's efforts improved relations between West Germany and the Western Allies, the Eastern Treaties helped improve relations with the Soviet bloc countries. However, on one key issue, West Germany and the Soviet Union were unable to reach agreement. If the USSR insisted that the new treaties consolidated the division of Germany and Europe into East and West, the Brandt government argued that the “Eastern Treaties” did not cancel the possibility of the peaceful unification of Germany. Brandt's initiatives were approved by the majority of West Germans, which strengthened the position of the SPD. The Christian Democrats had difficulty settling into the role of an opposition party. The shock caused by the removal from power gave way to discontent, and hidden conflicts began to emerge, especially between the right wing of the CSU (Strauss) and the centrist faction of the CDU (Rainer Barzel). When the “Eastern Treaties” came to the Bundestag for ratification, many members of the CDU/CSU bloc abstained from voting on the treaties with Poland and the Soviet Union. In April 1972, the opposition attempted to remove the government. The SPD-FDP coalition had a slight majority in the Bundestag, and the opposition hoped that some members of the more right-wing FDP faction would support a vote of no confidence in the cabinet. The vote on the issue of no confidence in the government and the appointment of Rainer Barzel to the post of chancellor ended in defeat for the opposition, which fell short of two votes. Brandt, confident of the support of voters, took advantage of the opportunity provided by the constitution, dissolved the Bundestag and called new elections. In the elections of November 19, 1972, the SPD for the first time became the largest political force in the Bundestag (230 seats). For the first time, the SPD managed to defeat the CDU in the Catholic Saarland. The CDU/CSU bloc received approximately the same number of seats in parliament (225), but its representation decreased by 17 seats compared to 1969. The FDP was rewarded for its participation in the coalition with an increase in its faction in the Bundestag (41 seats). The decisive factor in this election was Willy Brandt's international prestige. However, the left wing of the SPD demanded more energetic reforms within the country (some deputies were former student leaders). In the winter of 1974, Germany felt the consequences of the global oil crisis. Inflation increased in the country, and the number of unemployed grew. The Social Democrats lost municipal and land elections. In this difficult situation, Brandt’s position became critical after the exposure of Gunther Guillaume, the Chancellor’s personal assistant, who turned out to be an East German spy. In May 1974, Brandt resigned.
Helmut Schmidt is Brandt's successor. Helmut Schmidt, Minister of Economics in Brandt's government, became the new Federal Chancellor. A Social Democrat from Hamburg, Schmidt successfully overcame the economic difficulties that arose in the country. By cutting government spending and increasing interest rates, he curbed the rate of inflation. By 1975, West Germany had overcome the crisis, achieving a solid balance of payments surplus and relatively low inflation rates. However, after the 1976 elections, the CDU/CSU bloc again managed to form the largest faction in parliament, since the government could not effectively cope with two other problems: the outbreak of terrorism and relations between the West and the East. In the mid-1970s, the Red Army Faction (RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof group, carried out a number of terrorist attacks. In October 1977, the RAF kidnapped and then killed Hans Martin Schleyer, president of the West German Employers' Union. The right, led by F.J. Strauss, tried to benefit from this event, accusing the government of failing to stop terrorism, and the left and social democratic intelligentsia of encouraging terrorists with their criticism of capitalism and West German society. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, defense policy issues came to the fore. Under US pressure, NATO in 1979 set a course for simultaneous modernization of weapons (including American-controlled nuclear-tipped missiles stationed in Germany) and discussion of disarmament initiatives with the Soviet Union. There has been a strong movement for peace and environmental protection in West Germany.
Christian Democrats return to power. Shortly after the 1980 Bundestag elections, when the SPD-FDP coalition managed to slightly increase its majority in parliament, its ability to govern the country was undermined by serious internal strife. Brandt, who retained the post of chairman of the SPD, under the influence of his wife, began to profess more leftist views and, together with a number of deputies, formed an anti-Schmidt group within the party. The SPD was torn by disagreements on issues of defense and social policy; the FDP was dominated by supporters of increasing defense spending and reducing spending on social needs. In the land elections of 1981-1982, the CDU/CSU and the Greens, new batch, which advocated strengthening environmental protection, stopping the growth of industrial production and abandoning the use of atomic energy and nuclear weapons, increased their representation in the Landtag, while the SPD and FDP lost some voters. The Free Democrats even feared that they would not be able to overcome the 5 percent barrier in the next Bundestag elections. Partly for this reason, partly because of disagreements with the Social Democrats on the issue of government spending, the FDP left the coalition with the SPD and joined the CDU/CSU bloc. The Christian Democrats and Free Democrats agreed to remove Chancellor Schmidt by putting a “constructive vote of no confidence” to a vote in the Bundestag (during such a vote, a new chancellor is simultaneously elected). CDU leader Helmut Kohl was nominated as a candidate for the post of chancellor. On October 1, 1982, Helmut Kohl became the new Federal Chancellor. A politician from Rhineland-Palatinate, Kohl in May 1973 replaced the retired R. Barzel as chairman of the CDU. Shortly after his election, Kohl called elections to the Bundestag for March 6, 1983. In these elections, the CDU/CSU bloc, which advocated reducing social spending and reducing state intervention in the economy, for a return to traditional German values (diligence and self-sacrifice), for the placement if necessary, new American missiles medium-range, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, to counter similar Soviet SS-20 missiles (name according to NATO classification), significantly improved its position in the Bundestag. Together with its coalition partners (the FDP received 6.9% of the votes), the CDU/CSU bloc won a solid majority in parliament. The Greens, with 5.6% of the vote, entered the Bundestag for the first time. The Social Democrats, led by their candidate for the post of Federal Chancellor Hans Jochen Vogel, suffered heavy losses. At first, it seemed that political luck had turned against the new chancellor. In 1985, a joint visit by Chancellor Kohl and US President Ronald Reagan to the military cemetery in Bitburg resulted in a public scandal, as it turned out that soldiers and officers of the SS military units of the Waffen-SS were also buried in this cemetery. Predictions of Kohl's imminent political death turned out to be premature. In 1989, when the East German leadership fell, Kohl quickly seized the initiative and led the movement for German reunification, securing his immediate political future.
Berlin problem, 1949-1991. For more than 40 years after World War II, Berlin served as a barometer, sensitive to changes in relations between the United States and the USSR. The occupation of the city in 1945 by the Big Four troops symbolized the unity of the military alliance directed against Nazi Germany. But Berlin soon became the center of all the contradictions of the Cold War. Relations between East and West became extremely strained after the Soviet Union organized a blockade of the western sectors of the city in 1948-1949. In Berlin itself, the blockade accelerated the process of dividing the city, which was an independent territorial unit not included in any of the four occupation zones of Germany. The city was divided into western and eastern parts. Western sectors became an integral part of the West German economy. Thanks to the Deutsche Mark and West German subsidies, West Berlin achieved a level of prosperity that contrasted sharply with the situation in the GDR. Politically, Berlin was not officially considered part of the Federal Republic of Germany, since the city remained occupied by the troops of the four victorious powers. West Berlin attracted East German citizens like a magnet. In the period 1948-1961, hundreds of thousands of refugees entered the Federal Republic of Germany through West Berlin. In the late 1950s, the Soviet government and East German leadership showed growing concern about the outflow of population from the GDR. After the construction of the Berlin Wall, which divided the city and isolated its western part, entry into and exit from West Berlin became impossible without permission from the East German authorities. East Germany insisted that the Soviet sector was an integral part of the GDR. The Western Allies sought to maintain their rights in West Berlin and maintain its economic and cultural ties with West Germany. The situation in Berlin over the next decade can be described as a painful impasse. Contacts between East and West Berlin were kept to a minimum. In 1963, Willy Brandt convinced the GDR government to allow West Berlin citizens to visit relatives in East Berlin on holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.). But residents of East Berlin were not allowed to travel to West Berlin. Important changes occurred after Soviet-American détente and the implementation of West German Ostpolitik paved the way for a new agreement on Berlin (September 1971). The Soviet side did not allow a significant increase in traffic through border points in the Berlin Wall, but agreed to respect the rights of Western powers in West Berlin, as well as West Berlin ties with West Germany. The Western allies agreed to officially recognize the GDR. The situation continued at this level until the dramatic events of 1989, when the collapse of the East German regime led to the rapid and unexpected unification of the city. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was opened, and for the first time since 1961, residents of both parts of the city were able to move freely throughout Berlin. The wall was torn down and in December 1990, shortly after the official reunification of Germany, no trace remained of this hated symbol of a divided city. Residents of both parts of Berlin elected the ruling mayor of the entire city, Eberhard Diepgen (CDU), the former ruling mayor of West Berlin. In mid-1991, the Bundestag decided to move the capital of Germany from Bonn to Berlin.
Unification of Germany. After the GDR's borders opened to trade and travel, East German goods were replaced by Western products. The population demanded the introduction of a common currency, and although the West German central bank, the Bundesbank, urged caution, the governments of East and West Germany agreed to recognize the German mark as a common currency on July 1, 1990. The introduction of the West German mark in East Germany had great importance for relations between the two Germanys. In December 1989, Chancellor Kohl proposed a ten-stage unification program over five years, but East Germans refused to wait. Their desire for political freedom and Western economic standards could only be satisfied by immediate unification. It is not surprising that the hated East German regime that ruled them for so long was subjected to all sorts of vilification. It became clear that if East Germany was not integrated into the Federal Republic of Germany as soon as possible, it would literally lose its population. If the Western system had not come to the East, then all the inhabitants of East Germany would have moved to the West. The unification was completed on October 3, 1990, after Kohl, Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher and USSR President M.S. Gorbachev agreed that the number of new German armed forces would not exceed 346 thousand people. The united country was able to continue its membership in NATO. The costs of returning Soviet soldiers stationed in the former GDR to their homeland were borne by the Federal Republic of Germany. Agreement to the unification of Germany was a concession on the part of the USSR, and on surprisingly modest terms. Initially, especially in the fall of 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, Germany was gripped by general euphoria. However, the practical aspects of the integration of two different states turned out to be very difficult. Not only the economy, but simply the material condition of the GDR was in much worse shape than expected in the West. Almost no industrial enterprise could be preserved for further use. Transport, communications, and energy and gas supply systems required almost complete replacement. Housing stock and commercial real estate were badly worn out and did not meet standards. To carry out the task of privatizing the colossal state property of the GDR - industrial enterprises, state and cooperative farms, forests and distribution networks - the government established a Board of Trustees. By the end of 1994, he had almost completed his work, having privatized about 15,000 firms or their subsidiaries; about 3.6 thousand enterprises had to be closed. The unrealistic expectations of the "Ossies" (as the inhabitants of the eastern lands of Germany came to be called) combined with the complacency of the "Wessies" forced the Kohl government to abandon the necessary changes and reduce all issues of unification to a simple transfer of West German methods to the East. This created two serious problems. The first was associated with the costs of the western part of Germany to provide goods and services to the eastern lands, which led to a significant flight of capital. Many hundreds of billions of marks from public funds were transferred to the new lands. Another problem was the dissatisfaction of relatively poor East Germans, who did not expect the transformation to be so painful. Unemployment remained the most serious problem. Most East German businesses of varying sizes closed after 1990 due to their economic unviability in a free market economy. The few enterprises that survived in the new conditions remained afloat only thanks to the ruthless reduction of personnel. As a rule, they all faced an oversupply of workers, because the GDR management system did not strive to minimize costs and increase production efficiency. As a result, the number of jobs in East Germany fell by almost 40% over three years. The industrial sector lost three-quarters of its jobs. Unemployment in the east of Germany was several times higher than in its western part, reaching, according to unofficial estimates, 40% (in the west - 11%). At the end of the 1990s, the proportion of unemployed in the eastern states remained twice as high as in the western states. In the port city of Rostock it reached 57%. After the unification, Rostock was unable to compete with Hamburg and Kiel, and most of the workers were redundant. In 1991, every citizen received access to information from the former secret police of the GDR. It was revealed that the East German secret police were recruiting West Germans to hunt down and kill defectors and critics of the East German regime. Even writers such as Christa Wolf and Stefan Heim, who carefully guarded their reputations as writers independent of the GDR authorities, were accused of collaborating with the Stasi. It was also not easy to decide whether to punish the former leaders of the GDR for crimes committed during their rule, especially for the killings of East German citizens trying to flee to the West by the GDR secret services. Erich Honecker, who had sought refuge in Moscow, was returned to Berlin, where he stood trial in July 1992, but was released because he was dying of an incurable disease and sent into exile in Chile (d. 1994). Other leaders of the GDR (E. Krenz, Markus Wolf and others), responsible for atrocities against defectors, were put on trial; some were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment. The issue of asylum became essential. The legacy of the Second World War led to the fact that the Federal Republic of Germany had a very liberal policy regarding the reception of foreigners who were persecuted in their homeland. All persons who applied for asylum could remain in Germany until their applications were examined and a decision was made on granting them a permit. permanent residence . During this period they received an allowance of 400-500 marks per month. And although most applications were not granted (for example, in 1997 only 4.9% of refugees were granted asylum), the process itself took several years. Such generous policies were a magnet for disadvantaged people in the post-Soviet world. If in 1984 only 35 thousand applications for asylum were accepted, then in 1990, when the Soviet bloc began to collapse, their number increased to 193 thousand, and in 1992 - to 438 thousand. In addition, about 600 thousand ethnic Germans from different countries zhedadi to return to the homeland of their ancestors. In the summer of 1992, exasperation among refugees over the privileges they were receiving and their inability to assimilate German norms of life and behavior erupted in riots in Rostock, a city of about a quarter of a million people. Groups of teenagers with links to neo-Nazis set fire to houses housing about 200 Roma refugees and 115 Vietnamese guest workers. The attacks on refugees quickly spread to other East German cities and involved many West German neo-Nazis. Some Rostock residents supported the demonstrators. Mass anti-Nazi rallies were held in large West German cities (Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, etc.), at which almost 3 million people expressed their protest. The riots in Rostock continued for almost a week, followed by smaller demonstrations throughout East Germany for several weeks afterwards. The memorial to the Jews who died in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was set on fire. The second anniversary of German reunification, October 3, 1992, was marked by mass protests by neo-Nazis in Dresden and Arnstadt. Given the explosiveness of the situation, Kohl's government persuaded Romania to repatriate several thousand Roma refugees. Then, with the consent of the opposition parties, the government passed legislation restricting the entry of refugees into Germany. As a result, the number of asylum applicants decreased in 1993 to 323 thousand, and in 1994 to 127 thousand. Another law limiting the provision of asylum was adopted in 1994. Since 1994, the number of persons applying for asylum has increased or less constant level (about 100,000 applications per year). In 1994, the government passed laws against right-wing extremists and violence against foreigners and launched an intensive education campaign. After this, the number of xenophobic incidents began to decline. In the 1994 Bundestag elections, the CDU/CSU-FDP coalition, although it retained a majority, lost some of its previous seats; Kohl formed a new government. The PDS party retained support in the new states and won 30 seats, while the Greens received more votes than the Free Democrats for the first time. Before disastrous results became apparent economic policy, carried out in the GDR, Kohl believed that the introduction of additional taxes would not be required to finance restoration work. When these hopes dissipated, it was necessary to increase the income tax by 7.5%. By 1994 the full extent was revealed necessary work on reconstruction, and the federal states adopted a package of legislation that increased taxes and reduced budget expenditures. By 1996, fiscal problems had worsened due to the need to reduce the budget deficit to 3%, which was required for entry into the European Monetary Union. The government proposed reducing the burden on the budget by cutting social programs. When the SPD and the Greens did not support the government, Kohl found himself in a desperate situation due to a lack of agreement in the Social Democratic-controlled Bundesrat. The solution to the problem was postponed until the elections of 1998. Nevertheless, Germany became a member of the European Monetary Union when it began its activities on January 1, 1999. The defeat of the CDU/CSU bloc in the elections to the Bundestag in the fall of 1998 ended the Kohl era. He resigned after serving as Federal Chancellor for 16 years. The SPD candidate Gerhard Schröder, who formed a coalition with the Green Party, became chancellor. Schröder is a former prime minister of the state of Lower Saxony, a moderate pragmatic politician with a center-left orientation. The presence of left-wing ideologue Oscar Lafontaine at the head of the powerful Finance Ministry has led some analysts to question the government's commitment to centrist policies. (In March 1999, Lafontaine was replaced as finance minister by Social Democratic representative Gudrun Roos.) The emergence of the Greens in the federal government also indicated a turn to the left. Joschka Fischer, who headed the “realpolitik” faction in the party, and two of his party colleagues received ministerial portfolios (Fischer became Minister of Foreign Affairs). Before formally joining the coalition, both parties developed an extensive, detailed government program for the next four years. It included efforts to reduce unemployment, overhaul the tax system, close 19 remaining nuclear power plants and liberalize the citizenship and asylum process. The program emphasizes the continuity of international and defense policy, but recognizes the need to modernize the Bundeswehr.
Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
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