In Berlin, the Minister of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany Wolfgang Schäuble and the Parliamentary Secretary of State under the Prime Minister of the GDR Günter Krause signed the Treaty establishing German unity between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (Treaty of Unification), which provided for reunification on the basis of the mechanism for the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany by Article 23 of the German Constitution.
Negotiations on the possibility of uniting the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR and creating a single German state were conducted continuously, but unsuccessfully, for forty years after the end of World War II and the emergence of two states in place of the defeated Third Reich. This was hampered by many circumstances, including something as significant as the contrast between the socio-economic and political systems on which these two states were based.
The governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, as well as the victorious powers - the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France, who, in accordance with the post-war settlements, were responsible for “Germany as a whole” and had the corresponding control rights, could not agree on the key issue - what the military-political status of a united Germany. Western powers insisted on its integration into NATO. The Soviet Union advocated that a united Germany should not be part of any military-political blocs and should have the status of a neutral or non-aligned state.
Treaty on the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
Treaty of German Unification(German) Einigungsvertrag) - a state treaty concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic on August 31, 1990 on the liquidation of the GDR, its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany and German unity. Entered into force on September 29, 1990
The signing of the Treaty was the result of bilateral negotiations between the two German states that took place during 1990. The German delegation at the negotiations was headed by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, and the GDR delegation by Günther Krause.
The Treaty of German Unification established that the incorporation of the German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic of Germany would take place on October 3, 1990.
Basic provisions
- The accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany is carried out in accordance with the norms of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- Berlin is the state and capital of the united Germany.
- The property and debts of the GDR are transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany.
The prerequisite for the conclusion of the Treaty on the Unification of Germany was the Treaty on the Final Settlement in relation to Germany, which contained the renunciation of the four victorious powers of their rights in relation to Germany.
The annexes to the Unification Treaty regulated the entry of German legal norms into the annexed territory. With some exceptions, they came into force in the territory of the former GDR immediately from the moment of accession. The previously valid law of the GDR (for example, the Civil Code and the Family Code of the GDR) lost its legal force.
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On August 31, 1990, an agreement was signed on the unification of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, which has about 1 thousand pages of text. According to this agreement, the 5 recreated East German states were to be included in the Federal Republic of Germany from October 3, 1990.
The agreement also enshrined the recognition of the land reform carried out during the reign of the Soviet military administration and the provision of the right to residents of the GDR to enjoy the benefits of the social security system of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the same time, it was specifically stipulated that all property confiscated during the occupation of the Soviet Army from May 1945 to 1949 could not be returned.
At the same time, the parties agreed on the urgent need to return private property to its previous owners through the “reorganization of public property,” while the possibility of compensation for lost property was recognized only if it was impossible to return it. However, issues such as the procedure for providing financial and economic assistance to the development of new lands remained unresolved. Problems arose with the denationalization of the “people's enterprises” of the GDR, because appropriate norms were not developed regulating the activities of the department for guardianship over them, on methods of compensation for property nationalized at one time, etc.
When the Treaty of German Unification was signed and subsequently ratified on August 31, 1990, no proposals were made at all to develop a new constitution. Meanwhile, the debate on this issue preceding the unification was not idle. The question was whether East and West Germans would be equal citizens of the new state, and whether the basis of their unification would be equal.
The creators of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949 considered themselves as representatives of the entire population of the former Germany, who created it, as stated in the preamble, in order to preserve national and state unity, and for those Germans “who were denied cooperation.” The Basic Law called on the entire German people “to realize to the end the unity and freedom of Germany through free self-determination.” Article 146 emphasized the transitional nature of the Basic Law, providing for its termination “on the day on which the Constitution adopted by the free will of the German people comes into force.” But Article 23 was subsequently included in the text of the Basic Law, providing for the entry into force of the Basic Law “in the remaining parts of Germany... upon their accession.” It was this article that was adopted by the right-wing parties of the GDR before the elections to the People's Chamber in the spring of 1990.
In November 1991, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat created a Joint Constitutional Commission on a parity basis, which included 32 representatives from both bodies and the same number of their deputies. Its decisions had to be made by 2/3 of the composition. The commission had to adapt the basic law to the new conditions of a single state through amendments, which had to be introduced by the eastern states until 1993. Mostly amendments were made, the implementation of which was either impossible or unacceptable for Germany. For example, on guarantees of full employment, or the right to housing, on the recognition of the greater importance of such reform of direct democracy as a referendum, etc. However, individual developments led to the introduction of a number of changes to the Basic Law that affected the federal structure, participation in the European Union and etc. Soon it was decided not to develop a new constitution, since the Basic Law, over the 40-odd years of its operation, had fully justified itself as a democratic German constitution.
A significant addition to the constitution was the final document of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the four powers, signed in Moscow on September 12, 1990, according to the formula two plus four (East and West Germany and 4 great powers), designed to ensure the external conditions of German unity.
Article 1 of the treaty established the inviolability of Germany’s borders, primarily its western borders with Poland, Art. 2-3 were devoted to the prohibition of the production, possession and disposal of weapons of mass destruction in Germany.
According to the treaty, Germany was to reduce its armed forces to an agreed limit and strictly adhere to the requirement that "only peace" emanate from its soil. In Art. 4-5 talked about the temporary presence of Soviet troops on the territory of the GDR - until 1994 and about other military aspects in connection with the recognition of the full sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany in internal and external affairs.
On October 14, citizens of the five new federal states of the former GDR elected their state parliaments. These elections also confirmed the superiority of the CDU in East Germany. Only in Brandenburg was it possible to create a coalition of the SPD, FDP and Union 90, led by the Social Democratic Prime Minister of this state, Manfred Stolpe. In all other new federal states, CDU governments came to power.
The enormous success of the CDU in the new federal states ensured its victory in the December 2, 1990 elections to the Bundestag throughout the Federal Republic. They brought triumph to the government coalition consisting of the CDU, CSU and FDP, led by Federal Chancellor Kohl. On this political basis, further political development took place, and especially the process of equalizing living conditions in the east of Germany with the living conditions in the west, which became increasingly difficult and slow over time.
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Books
- The other day. Our era. 1981-1990, Parfenov Leonid Gennadievich. The third volume of the book project "Namedni. Our Era. 1981-1990" is dedicated to a particularly eventful decade - the 80s. The era began with mourning marches at the funerals of general secretaries, and then dispersed...
- The other day. Our era. 1981-1990, Leonid Parfenov. The third volume of the book project "Namedni. Our Era. 1981-1990" is dedicated to a particularly eventful decade - the 80s. The era began with mourning marches at the funerals of general secretaries, and then dispersed...
The fall of the GDR brought down the entire socialist camp. The reunification of Germany predetermined the subsequent process of unification of Europe, up to the borders of the former USSR, within the structures of NATO and the EU. In accordance with the laws of political drama, such a great cause must be linked to the name of a great hero, who must certainly be identified (found and/or appointed) by a unanimous decision of the progressive public.
Despite the fact that no one has yet been definitively recognized as the main unifier of Germany, there are a number of contenders for this title who enjoy significant support in the relevant strata and segments of the global information space.
Hollywood Liberator Hero
The belief that God himself resides in the United States is deeply rooted in the American public consciousness. Therefore, in any glorious deed it is reasonable to look first of all for traces of American participation (or at least complicity). Accordingly, only a strong American guy could break the barriers between the two German states and the two parts of divided Europe. This guy's name was Ronald Reagan, and he was a film actor by profession, and by coincidence, the President of the United States.
On June 12, 1987, President Reagan, while at the Brandenburg Gate, made a speech in which he included a special message for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev:
“We hear from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners were released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer jammed. Some economic enterprises were allowed to operate with greater freedom from government control.
Is this the beginning of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are these symbolic gestures meant to raise false hopes in the West and strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome perestroika and glasnost because we believe that freedom and security go together, that the progress of human freedom can only bring world peace. There is one move the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would become a symbol of freedom and peace.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you are looking for peace, if you are looking for prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you are looking for liberalization - come here! Mister Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!”
These words were capable of softening not only the hearts of the Kremlin tyrants, but also the stones of the Berlin Wall, which, after Mr. Reagan’s speech, was ready to cry with emotion, impatiently waiting for it to finally be torn down.
Ronald Reagan did not remain in the presidency until the historic changes in Eastern Europe. Therefore, his name opens, but does not exhaust, the short list of the most important reunifiers of the German people.
The Last of the Mohicans
German thinkers Marx and Engels promised humanity a scientifically based socialist future. Fearing such a prospect, another famous German, Chancellor Bismarck, warned his fellow tribesmen: “It is possible to build socialism, but for this you need to choose a country that you don’t feel sorry for.”
The chancellor's visionary rightness is proven by the disastrous results of the socialist experiment carried out in his East German homeland after World War II. This experiment (in contrast to the classical experience of building socialism in the USSR) was carried out in fairly favorable conditions: under the reliable protection of the Soviet army, in a society with a high educational level, with an exceptionally developed technological and managerial culture. The conditions of the experiment were not burdened by negative circumstances of a subjective nature (such as the cult of some odious personality): in all of post-war Germany there would not have been more worthy people than those who were entrusted with leading the German Democratic Republic, created in 1949. These were veterans of the anti-fascist resistance, principled fighters for the people's cause with vast political and organizational experience.
The last of this galaxy, Erich Honecker (a former underground worker and concentration camp prisoner), who headed the Socialist Unity Party of Germany that ruled the GDR since 1970, completed the construction of an exemplary socialist state and until its very end remained faithful to communist principles - even when Soviet principles began to move away from such principles comrades led by General Secretary Gorbachev.
In 1989, taking advantage of the first perestroika easing in neighboring socialist countries, hundreds of thousands of East Germans fled to the West, through Czechoslovakia and Hungary, voting with their feet against their socialist fatherland. As if not noticing this, Honecker celebrated the 40th anniversary of the existence of the GDR with a speech made in the most optimistic tones and not promising his subjects any changes or concessions: “The German Democratic Republic is approaching the threshold of the third millennium with the firm conviction that the future belongs to socialism... Always forward and only forward..."
This speech became the spark that ignited the flame of popular protest that burst into the streets of Berlin in those days.
Thus, it was Comrade Honecker who became the real initiator of the revolutionary process, the result of which was the abolition of the GDR and its annexation to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Glory to you, Gorby!
Demonstrators protesting on the streets of Berlin in October 1989 against Honecker's policies chanted: “Gorby! Gorbi!”, thus expressing his admiration for the perestroika undertakings of the Soviet leader. Mikhail Gorbachev, who was then more popular in the GDR than the leaders of the republic, had an excellent opportunity to declare his support for democratic changes in the fraternal country, with a fundamental recognition of the right of the Germans to restore their state unity.
Having done this, the last General Secretary of the CPSU could control the subsequent process of German reunification and demand appropriate concessions from the West Germans and their allies interested in such a unification.
At a minimum, Gorbachev could achieve a legally formalized commitment not to expand the NATO bloc to the east.
However, the father of perestroika, as usual, did not dare to do anything serious. He contributed to the removal of Erich Honecker from power, hoping that the new leadership of the GDR would rectify the situation and direct the process in the right direction.
A little later, he allowed the residents of Berlin to destroy the wall dividing their city, after which the dynamic destruction of the entire socialist camp began. For this, Gorbachev receives special honor and praise from his contemporaries and descendants.
By destroying socialism, he sincerely believed that he was rebuilding it on the principles of democracy, openness, etc. The rebuilt GDR should have remained in the updated social system. Therefore, Gorbachev reacted with indignation to the project for the phased unification of Germany proposed by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
On December 5, 1989, at a meeting with German Foreign Minister Genscher, the Soviet leader decisively stated: “These ultimatum demands are put forward in relation to an independent and sovereign German state... Although we are talking about the GDR, what the Chancellor said concerns us all... The Chancellor’s statement is political miss.
We cannot ignore it. We do not intend to play diplomacy. If you want to cooperate with us, we are ready. If not, we will draw political conclusions. I ask you to take what has been said seriously.”
Speaking in such a tone, Gorbachev could have lost his moral right to be among the benefactors of the German people. But, fortunately for himself, he again did not dare to take any decisive action. And what he said to Genscher soon lost its relevance.
Bismarck phenomenon number two
The mentioned initiative of the West German chancellor made him the center of sympathy of the East German people, who energetically joined in the work of dismantling their state.
The SED self-destructed in an organized manner at the next party congress. The democratic opposition won the parliamentary elections, which were held completely democratically. The government formed as a result of these elections was no longer oriented towards Moscow, but towards Bonn.
Imitating Bismarck, Kohl meticulously calculated the corridor of his capabilities and moved ahead along it, not paying attention to all kinds of diplomatic nuances. In Gorbachev’s words, “the process has begun,” and now the Soviet leaders had to look for a place in this process so that their interests would be at least somehow taken into account.
Moscow began to put forward various ideas, which were politely rejected by Bonn and Washington. The only result of the diplomatic efforts of Gorbachev and USSR Foreign Minister Shevardnadze was the creation of a negotiating “six” according to the “two plus four” formula (two German states plus the great powers - the USSR, USA, Great Britain, France) to resolve problematic issues of German reunification.
The emergence of such a forum did not prevent Kohl from holding German-German negotiations at an accelerated pace, which ended on May 18 in Bonn with the signing of an agreement on the creation of an economic, social and monetary union between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR.
The Helsinki Conference, organized at the initiative of the USSR, became the most significant triumph of Soviet foreign policy in the entire post-war period. However, this triumph turned out to be for the Soviet Union and the entire socialist system something similar to a glass of an invigorating intoxicating drink offered to a hopelessly ill person.
At the same time, Kohl generously gifted the East Germans, exchanging their inferior socialist banknotes for freely convertible German marks at the rate of 1:1. The people of the GDR rejoiced, anticipating the ecstasy of a complete state merger with their West German compatriots.
Having made a number of concessions at the “six” negotiations, which were not always justified, Shevardnadze tried to achieve at least something in response and presented on June 22 a Soviet draft for resolving the German problem. The project provided for NATO countries to undertake an obligation not to expand their alliance during the unification of Germany, as well as strict restrictions on the German armed forces (200-250 thousand people).
The firm intonations that finally sounded in the voice of the Soviet minister were reminiscent of the almost half-million-strong group of Soviet troops stationed on the territory of the GDR. The West Germans and their allies were not frightened by this reminder. According to the recollections of Genscher's aide Elbe, "while Shevardnadze was presenting his awkward project at the conference table, Jim Baker (US Secretary of State) passed a note to his West German counterpart: “What does this mean?” Genscher wrote back: “Show off.”
The possibility of any use of Soviet troops stationed in Germany to put pressure on Western negotiating partners was completely blocked at that time - not by fear of NATO retaliation and not by Helmut Kohl’s Deutsche Marks, but by changes in the balance of power in the political arena of the USSR.
Russian souvenirs for Germany
In the summer of 1990, not only East Germany, but also Russia, was leaving Gorbachev’s rule.
In March 1990, Boris Yeltsin settled into the chair of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR; a powerful center of political influence formed next to the Kremlin, capable of competing with Gorbachev’s allied center of power.
Gorbachev and Shevardnadze understood perfectly well what kind of democratic sabbath would rise on the streets of Moscow if the Soviet troops in Germany were given the order to do something.
After all, the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR had already been adopted, according to which the republican authorities arrogated to themselves the right to interfere in any actions of the Union leadership, protecting the rights of Russian citizens, and the majority of them were military personnel of the Western Group of Soviet Forces.
Defending against the formidable undertakings of the leadership of the RSFSR, Gorbachev’s team felt an urgent need for political and financial support from the outside, as a result of which the policy of the Soviet leadership (and not only on the German issue) became dependent on the former enemies of the USSR.
The unification of Germany took place according to the accelerated scenario of Helmut Kohl, by including the territory of the abolished GDR into the Federal Republic of Germany. The united German state remained a member of NATO (which was primarily sought by the United States).
The only concession Kohl made to Gorbachev was a promise not to station American troops where Soviet troops were leaving. However, this concession was fully consistent with Germany’s own long-term interests.
Yeltsin, who became an informal situational ally of Kohl in his game against Gorbachev, then had to independently deal with the consequences of diplomatic defeats of the USSR, from which the Russian Federation inherited onerous obligations for the accelerated withdrawal of troops from German territory, and even debts on loans received from Germany and wasted by the latter Union Soviet government.
Not only geniuses, but a variety of people are promoted by historical fate to the first roles in the political bustle of this world. Some of them go directly and clearly towards their goals, others travel along winding paths, often doing the opposite of what they originally intended.
All of them, however, have places on the tablets of history, each according to his deeds.