After World War II, Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany as a result of world bipolarization. In the past years when the country was divided, capitalist West Germans and socialist East Germans they managed, thanks to their strong commitment and external financial assistance, to restructure themselves from the immeasurable losses that occurred on Monday. War.
In the 1960s, West Germans had a pattern of consumption far beyond the Oriental pattern. Through American resources, Germany's economy rose substantially, so much so that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the western side reached that of countries like England and France.
This fact corroborated the growing evasion of East Germans, disgusted with the socialist regime, to West Germany. In August 1961, the number of Germans displaced to the west reached forty thousand. In light of this, East German authorities ordered the construction of the famous Berlin Wall. This wall physically divided the Germanys and was the main landmark of the
Cold War and the separation of the world between the two opposing ideologies, capitalism and socialism.In the following decades, the difference in the pace of development between the two Germanys became even more evident. East (socialist) Germany was a medium country in its development, but West (capitalist) Germany has become one of the most powerful countries in the world. The western part still had the favoring of the democratic form of government, that is, the citizens they chose their rulers and could freely express their opinions, without fear of possible retaliations.
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Dissatisfied with the political repression, the population of the eastern part of Berlin promoted repeated demonstrations that demanded immediate way freedom of expression, better quality of life and the change of political configuration for the regime democratic. The movement's motto was Wir sind das Volk, The people are us. Socialism entered a deep crisis. Coerced by the proportion that the popular movement had acquired, the East German government opened itself to possible negotiations in order to reunify the country.
During this period of the Cold War, the world got used to dividing the planet into two parts. The Berlin Wall separated the Germanys and represented for years two great ideologies, the socialist and the capitalist, which dominated the world throughout the 20th century. On the night of November 10, 1989, the wall fell with the help of the German people. Thus, the rulers of both West and East Germany began the process of reunification of the Nation.
After a long dialogue between West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union has agreed to withdraw its troops from Germany after 45 years of occupation. In July 1990, the monetary and economic union between the two Germanys took place. March as a single currency. On October 3 of the same year, the process of the reunification of Germany finally took place.
By Lilian Aguiar
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
AGUIAR, Lilian Maria Martins de. "The Reunification of Germany"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/reunificacao-alemanha.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
