Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0018/00187.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00187}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Unified Germany
Germany United}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{German Embassy, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{German Embassy, Washington DC}
$Subject{german
germany
united
europe
new
unification
states
european
federal
future}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Title:       Unified Germany
Book:        Scala
Author:      German Embassy, Washington DC
Affiliation: German Embassy, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Germany United

     Today the German people is reunited in peace and freedom. The painful
division of the German nation has come to an end 45 years after the
conclusion of the Second World War, a war which emanated from German soil
and caused boundless suffering in Europe and the world.

     Exercising their right to free self-determination, in mutual agreement
with their neighbours and on the basis of the treaty on the final resolution
of the questions relating to Germany, Germans are today united within one
state - the Federal Republic of Germany - which has attained full sovereignty
over its internal and external affairs.

     On behalf of the German people I would like to thank all those who
supported the Germans' right to self-determination and facilitated our
passage towards unity. Conscious of the course of German history, this
support is something we particularly appreciate and acknowledge.

     With the national unity it has now regained, our country wishes to work
for world peace and advance the cause of European unification: that is the
task laid down in our Basic Law, the proven constitution which also applies in
the united Germany.

     At the same time we will also stand by the moral and legal obligations
which have arisen as a consequence of German history.

     We realise that with unification we are taking on a greater
responsibility within the community of nations as a whole. Our foreign policy
thus remains oriented towards international partnership, close cooperation and
the peaceful settlement of differences.

     In the future only peace will emanate from German soil. We are conscious
of the fact that the inviolability of borders and respect for the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of all states in Europe is a fundamental
prerequisite for peace. That is why we have acknowledged the final character
of the united Germany's borders, including our frontier with the Republic of
Poland. We will not raise any territorial demands in the future. In the
process of bringing about German unity we will discuss the international
treaty obligations of the German Democratic Republic with the parties involved
in order to resolve or determine their continued validity, their amendment or
their dissolution. This will be done bearing in mind questions of
confidentiality, the interests of the states concerned and the contractual
obligations of the Federal Republic of Germany . This will be carried out in
accordance with the principles of a free democratic constitutional order and
take into account the jurisdiction of the European Community.

     The unification of Germany is indivisibly bound up with that of Europe.
We will continue to work for European union with the same determination with
which we have striven for our own unification.

     Important steps lie immediately before us. With our partners in the
European Community we wish to complete the single market by 1992. We are
resolutely moving towards economic and monetary union. The united Germany will
energetically contribute towards the building of political union.

     The European Community will be open for close cooperation with the other
European states. We particularly wish to contribute towards developing closer
links between the European Community and those countries of central, eastern
and south-eastern Europe which have now achieved their liberty and are
proceeding along the path of political, economic and social reform. We are
convinced that Europeans can best preserve and strengthen their independence
and the human rights and freedoms of their citizens by working together. The
Council of Europe will thus continue to be an important forum for our
cooperation.

COMMUNIQUE Peaceful cooperation with all nations

     We firmly acknowledge the process of security and cooperation in Europe
as an aspiration of the peoples of Europe and as a staging post on the road to
its future union. We thus emphatically support its intensification and
institutionalisation.

     The community of Western constitutional democracies and the North
Atlantic defence alliance have maintained peace and freedom on our continent
through difficult times. Thus, in future the place of a united Germany will
continue to be within this alliance.

     At the same time we also wish, together with our allies, to further
develop this successful alliance to take account of the progress in East-West
relations and the changing demands of our time, and to preserve it as a
supporting pillar for a new all-European security architecture.

     We advocate a fundamental declaration by the members of the two alliances
in Europe in which they acknowledge their commitment to renounce the use of
force and establish a new partnership in the construction of a lasting and
equitable European peace order. Disarmament and arms control remain central
elements of our security policy.

     During the German unification process we confirmed our renunciation of
the production, possession and control of nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons. The united Germany remains committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

     As a result of our willingness to reduce the armed forces of the united
Germany to 370,000 troops we have also made a contribution to the success of
the negotiations on the reduction of conventional forces in Europe. We
believe that in the talks which are to follow other participants will also
make their contributions to strengthening security and stability in Europe,
including measures limiting troop numbers.

     We will also lend our support to disarmament agreements throughout the
world which contribute to an increase in stability and security. The principle
that the size of armed forces should be exclusively oriented towards the needs
of self-defence must attain worldwide acceptance.

     An agreement on the reduction of the strategic nuclear weapons of the USA
and Soviet Union, negotiations on the reduction of American and Soviet
short-range nuclear missiles and, not least, a worldwide ban on chemical
weapons have lost none of their urgency.

     The countries of Africa, Asia and America can also continue to count on
the solidarity of the united Germany in the future. The funds invested in
German unification will not be allocated at their expense. On the contrary,
the end of confrontation in Europe is releasing intellectual energies and
material resources for the central tasks of our age: for the struggle against
poverty and underdevelopment and for the preservation of our natural
environment. Terrorism and drug abuse represent challenges to all the world's
states and demand common action. We will bear our share of this
responsibility.

     The overcoming of East-West confrontation has also opened up new paths to
the comprehensive realisation of the high ideals of the United Nations'
Charter. The events of recent weeks have demonstrated the extent of the threat
to world peace when the principles of the United Nations' Charter are
disregarded.

     The Federal Republic of Germany wishes to contribute to enabling the
United Nations to take up its undeniable role in the building of a peaceful
world and in the solution of global problems.

     After the achievement of German unity with full sovereignty, the Federal
Republic of Germany is willing to participate in future United Nations
measures aimed at maintaining and re-establishing peace, also through the use
of its armed forces. We will create the necessary constitutional preconditions
for this. At the beginning of the last decade of our century we can see new
opportunities for a world which is able to solve its problems through
compromise and understanding and which remains committed to the principles of
international law. Our country is united with all those who have a commitment
to peace, respect for human rights and freedom, and the welfare of mankind.
Now that the burden of division has been removed from the German people, we
are ready to help shape a common future of peace, with renewed energy and in
cooperation with all countries and peoples that share these high ideals.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS THE FINAL ROUND

     Derisory comments are often made about politicians and diplomats,
however, it should be clear to all that this year they have accomplished a
great achievement. They have succeeded in averting the dangers which could
have developed out of the rapid changes in central and eastern Europe; the
revolutions could indeed remain "gentle" and "peaceful". At the very centre of
all this diplomatic activity was the process which first got going in Ottawa
in February under the heading "two plus four". In Canada it was decided that
the four foreign ministers of the victorious Second World War powers and their
colleagues from the two German states should meet for a series of conferences
to work out a settlement dealing with the "external aspects of German
unification including the question of the security of neighbouring states".
What then very much appeared to be a long-term matter, soon became a race
against time as a result of the pressure of events in the GDR. In long working
sessions officials from the six governments prepared the discussions between
the ministers at the meetings - first held in Bonn in May and then at monthly
intervals in East Berlin and Paris - and the agreement they were eventually
able to sign at the "final round" of talks in Moscow on 12 September.

     The two plus four negotiations represented a kind of thread which linked,
and in the immediate future will continue to link, a wide variety of other
conferences: the extra-ordinary meeting of the EC in May, the Nato summit and
meeting of the Group of Seven in July, the declaration on the future limit on
the size of German armed forces before the Vienna disarmament conference in
August, a special meeting of the CSCE states held during the General Assembly
of the United Nations in September and finally a summit of the CSCE states in
Paris in November. Never before has such a closely knit network of diplomatic
contacts been created and never before has it been possible in such a short
time to successfully deal with such a complex matter, in which so many
topics - economic and financial, political and military - are all
interrelated. This is clear proof of the fact that the "German question"
stood at the very centre of the "Cold War". Its resolution will now also end
the political division of Europe and make room for a new European order. There
were a large number of preconditions for the success of the negotiations: At
the very beginning stood Gorbachev's "new thinking" on foreign policy, the
implementation of which undermined and eventually brought about the collapse
of the Stalinist regimes in central and eastern Europe. This policy enabled
the Germans in the GDR to go onto the streets to declare their belief in
Germany as a "united Fatherland". Gorbachev and Shevardnadze realised,
initially hesitatingly, that if the Soviet Union employed delaying tactics or
even attempted to hinder developments - particularly when it came to a united
Germany's membership of Nato - it would achieve nothing, and only spoil the
atmosphere of cooperation developing in Europe. What was also important for
success was the unreserved support given by the United States for the process
of German unification; after initial hesitation Great Britain and France were
also not able to deny their support. Eventually, before all other Europeans,
Jacques Delors, the president of the European Commission, declared his
willingness to accept the GDR, as a future part of a united Germany, into the
EC without complicated renegotiations. With the completion of the two plus
four process the post-war period has finally come to an end in Germany: The
four powers have given up the rights to which they were still entitled as a
result of the period of occupation - in the two German states these rights
had already been largely revoked as a result of their treaties of alliance
within the Nato and Warsaw Pact frameworks, but in Berlin they had still
remained clearly visible to all. Thus a united Germany has finally received
full sovereignty over all areas of its internal and external policy. It will
remain a member of the Western alliance; as a concession to Moscow's defence
needs the territory of the former GDR will remain excluded from Nato's
military integrations; nevertheless, the Western alliance's security guarantee
applies to the whole of Germany. In return the united Germany recognises its
present borders as final - which means that the demands made by Poland, which
was also involved on this question at the two plus four meeting in Paris, have
also been resolved within a multilateral treaty. In Moscow negotiations on
individual details still continued until shortly before the treaty was
signed. Problematic right up to the end was also the question of the size of
the financial contribution Germany would have to make towards the costs of the
stationing of Soviet forces in eastern Germany - where they will still remain
for some years - and what costs Bonn should take on for the return,
accommodation and retraining of these troops. This was a bilateral matter
which in fact did not belong to the remit of the two plus four talks.
Nevertheless, this question had, like many others, to be resolved, at least in
principle, so that the path could be cleared for the resolution of the German
question. However, "two plus four" did not only represent the end of an era;
the negotiations also involve a commitment for the future. They will
determine the future relationship of the united Germany with the Soviet
Union - work is already under way on a comprehensive bilateral treaty. The
fact that the two plus four negotiations are flowing into the CSCE process
with the meeting in Paris in the middle of November makes clear that Germany
wishes to place its policy within an all-European framework. The spirit of
compromise which prevailed during the two plus four talks is a good omen for
future diplomatic efforts towards creating a firm foundation for a new
European order.

     A sea of flags, torches and sparklers, music by Beethoven, Brahms and
Rossini, rockets that illuminated Berlin's Reichstag building with an array of
unaccustomed colour, thousands of people who never tired of repeatedly passing
through the Brandenburg Gate: the German people celebrated October 3rd, 1990
- the Day of Unification - in a party mood. It was a peaceful, merry and
colourful public festival.

UNIFICATION DAY

     Unbelievable" was the watchword on 9 November 1989, the day on which the
walls in Germany came tumbling down. This time, on 3 October 1990, the key
word which summed it all up was "joy". Joy was the word on the lips of most of
the people who took to the streets throughout October 3rd. The "Ode to Joy"
from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was the song with which the Gewandhaus
Orchestra from Leipzig concluded the final sitting of the GDR People's
Chamber. A "tearless farewell" were the words used to describe the mood among
the deputies by Lothar de Maiziere, still Prime Minister of the GDR on
October 2 but a minister of the Federal Republic of Germany on October 3.

     Joy was the predominant emotion, jubilation was scarce, while not a trace
of nationalist triumphalism was evident. Instead the "good-natured atmosphere
of a German village fair" prevailed, according to the French newspaper "Le
Figaro". "Muted  exhilaration" was how the "Frankfurter Rundschau" described
the celebrations which began at midnight on October 2. In Berlin alone,
according to estimates, a million people took part in  the premiere of German
reunification, including all the country's leading politicians. The Berlin
Liberty Bell tolled, the black-red-gold flag of the united Germany, measuring
40 square metres, was run up on the Berlin Reichstag building, and the German
national anthem was intoned. Even the country's political leaders, who came
in droves to attend the festivities in Berlin, were visibly moved, while
Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl was greeted with cries of "Helmut".

     But the scene was not one of great pathos, especially as the firework
display above the city, to the musical accompaniment of cheerful Rossini
melodies, distracted the attention. Music was in the Berlin air on this
historic day. Classical airs held sway between the Brandenburg Gate and
Alexanderplatz; aggressive music was eschewed so that spirits remained calm
throughout the day in the city. With great relish the Berliners crossed
through the Brandenburg Gate, which a  year ago was still blocked off by the
Wall.

     Restaurants could not cope with the throng of visitors, so snackbars and
makeshift stands helped to plug the gap. There were likewise many stalls
selling fitting souvenirs. Sellers of black-red-gold T-shirts emblazoned with
the motto "One Berlin, One Germany, One Europe" did a roaring trade. Elsewhere
various official farewell ceremonies took place: thus the Allied Military
Governors of Berlin took their leave, while soldiers of the National People's
Army packed away the GDR national flag. There was no call for dramatic
gestures and grand speeches on this day. This was also evident at the state
ceremony in the Philharmonic building in Berlin. Federal President Richard von
Weizsacker came up with some pithy phrases. All Germany's borders should be
bridges to its neighbours, he said. And: Uniting means learning to share. Or:
This time history has smiled on us Germans. Celebrations took  place not only
in Berlin but in other German cities too. In Hamburg some 500,000 people were
present at a firework display in honour of German unification in Frankfurt am
Main speakers paid tribute to those "people who made the peaceful revolution
possible", and in Bonn the narrow market place was all but covered by the now
sixteen flags (instead of the previous eleven) of the federal states. Here the
new states displayed some of their wares: thus Saxony showed off its toys and
Mecklenburg a European 400 metres champion. Other objects were quickly
disposed of as worthless. Thus in Schwerin celebrators threw the bronze bust
of Karl Marx down a well, leaving only its base behind. To the east of the
Brandenburg Gate a Trabant car was hoisted aloft by a crane; the "monument" to
the GDR then became a popular target for firework fans.

     The 3rd October 1990 also aroused great interest abroad. Despite some
fears and misgivings the general verdict was overwhelmingly positive. "It
should be borne in mind that the Germany of today is not that of our fathers
and grandfathers," commented the French newspaper "Le Monde". The Belgian
"Le Soir" noted: "The end of the division of Germany is also the end of the
division of the European continent." For the Polish journal Rzeczpospolita
German unity is "the real end" of the Second World War. "An unnatural state of
affairs has ended," wrote "Die Presse" in Vienna. It added: "There is no
reason not to be pleased".

JOCHEN TRUBY

     To many Germans, particularly those of the older generation, what came
true on 3 October - the unification of Germany in freedom and
sovereignty - still seems like a miracle after the long decades of division.
The fences, watchtowers and fortress-like border installations which were the
sombre haunts of tyranny, malice and fear are still largely in place. It is
still less than a year since Honecker celebrated the 40th anniversary of his
satrap republic with spectral pomp, already surrounded by the shadows of the
approaching upheaval. A transformation of historic proportions has since taken
place, a revolution in the true  sense of the word. Karl Jaspers, the great
thinker, once said that freedom was the only important thing. By comparison,
reunification was insignificant. There was passionate opposition to this view.
Yet even its opponents could not overlook the fact that the dualism of freedom
and unity, the central historical theme for Germans since 1848, had turned
into antagonism. Two generations had learned and internalised the concept that
the one could only be had without the other: there could only be freedom
without unity or unity with intolerable restrictions on freedom. The idea that
it was possible to combine the two was seen as an illusion, as a sedative for
those who had suffered as a result of the division. At the beginning of the
year the champions of the existence of two states in one nation still asserted
that unification would never take place, and if it did, then only after many
years.

     Now, what only very few had dared to believe has finally come about:
unity in freedom. Our friends and neighbours in the West hesitated a little
longer than might have been expected before they were able to accept the idea
of German unification. Old fears were awakened once again, fears of a large,
powerful neighbour. The political and territorial status quo of a complete era
appeared to be on the point of collapse. The federal government must receive
the historical credit for allaying these fears.

     However, it cannot be denied that the Germans in the east considerably
accelerated the process of unification and as a result negated the
counter-arguments held by their vacillating neighbours.

     Nevertheless, it remains the case that without the federal government's
persevering diplomacy, without its encouragement and planning, and without its
willingness to take political and financial risks, it would not have been
possible to accomplish this feat in such a short time. It should not be
overlooked that in this process the benefits were reaped of forty years of
German democracy in the western part of the country, which also represented
forty years of dependable friendship and close partnership with its neighbours
in Europe. In four decades six German federal chancellors had accumulated an
immeasurable capital of trust.

GERMAN UNITY

     Germany is united once again 45 years after the end of the war and the
collapse of the Hitler dictatorship. Almost 41 years after its foundation the
GDR has ceased to exist; it has become part of the Federal Republic of
Germany. Germans again live in one state.

     Without Gorbachev, without his steadfast determination to bring about
reform and change, the revolution would not have taken place. His intervention
in the wheel of history has freed millions of people from the yoke of "real
socialism", from the terror of its mechanisms and the inadequacy of its
economic and social systems. It is thus no great surprise that amongst the
burdens of reunification none was accepted by Germans so uncomplainingly as
Moscow's bill for the withdrawal from the forefront of its former empire.
Amidst the jubilation, of which 3 October was an expression, no one has
forgotten the burdens which will have to be shouldered. They are not only of a
financial nature. Germany has paid the final bill for Hitler's evil war with a
third of its former territory. It is also paying it with the homes and former
possessions of a great many citizens who for many years clung to the "hope of
Potsdam". They had lived in the hope that a peace treaty would eventually
revise the course of history, something which was never really justified,
although so many thought-provoking, but also controversial things have been
said on the matter.

     The list of the tangible and intangible burdens of this almost immediate
union of two opposing social systems is rather long. It has now become very
clear that the situation in the five new federal states is more serious than
had been assumed.

     The scale of the economic and ecological crisis in the former GDR was
also underestimated by the realists. A great effort of solidarity will be
required of the Germans in the west in order to provide those in the east
with similar living standards within a reasonable time, as the Basic Law
prescribes.

     However, this is not the only thing. Forty years of socialism also
represented forty years of intellectual and social isolation. Helping hands
will thus be required everywhere, not only in drawing up the balance sheets
for the mismanaged remains of the former "people's enterprises", but also in
the construction of an efficient system of administration, an independent
judiciary and a sound infrastructure. This does not involve a position of
dominance. It is far more the case that it corresponds to the wishes of many
people "over there" who are observing with a great deal of suspicion how the
top position in the economy and government remain in the hands of the old
"leading cadres". There is a widespread impression that only the labels have
changed and not the content. It will thus be a long time before the citizens
of the new federal states can find peace of mind. The past was too brutal, too
repressive, too corrupt for the former victims to now easily be able to
forgive and forget. The past cannot simply be amnestied, it has to be
assimilated and come to terms with as part of a painstaking process.

     Let us look forward into the future. However serious the situation might
appear at present, the majority of new citizens understand that they will have
to follow a path which although narrow is not too restrictive. Yet they also
know that they, in contrast with their eastern neighbours, have a unique
historical opportunity to throw off the old structures and make a completely
new start with a proven economic, legal and social system.

     This will not take place in an underdeveloped country - as it is
sometimes portrayed in cliches - but in a country whose development was
hindered by its former rulers in a "planned" way. This is a huge difference.

     It will take time before the Germans come together. Forty years of
division have led to more alienation than might have been apparent in the
jubilation of 9 November 1989. There are not only differences in life style
and behaviour, but also in values and their relative importance.

     The new part of the country will need a lot of help to be able to free
itself from the hang-ups arising from the past which are reflected in feelings
of inferiority, backwardness and vulnerability. It is not only humanitarian,
but also organisational help that is required in order to overcome this
trauma. How this is to be done is something which Germans will have to reach
agreement upon amongst themselves, also in relation to the capital city
question. Sensitivity and respect are imperative so that new feelings of
neglect do not arise in the east which could unintentionally present Germany
with new problems. The country has been torn from its traditional moorings,
its lifelines now run from north to south and no longer in an east-west
direction. A great deal has moved out of place, is out of joint and will only
fit together again with difficulty. Overcoming these problems will take many
years of effort and demand compromise and solidarity. The 3 October marks the
beginning of a path whose length and adversity are difficult to predict.
Nevertheless, history justifies the hypothesis that the Germans will prove
equal to this task.

OPINIONS FROM ABROAD

     "We have travelled along many paths together. We shall continue. The
whole of Europe expects us to keep up the momentum."

FRANCOIS MITTERRAND

     "A day of truly historical significance."

PEREZ DE CUELLAR

     "A nation which has so deeply enriched our common civilisation is
retaking its rightful place in Europe and the world."

EC DECLARATION

     "I wish the great German nation good fortune, prosperity and lasting
peace amid goodneighbourly relations between the European peoples. Unification
could not have come to pass if the comprehensive democratic transformation had
not taken place in our countries, if the outcome of the tragedy of the most
terrible war had not been reflected in everyday life."

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

     "This finally terminates the war which once devastated Europe and which,
through the fault of Nazism, also gravely afflicted our country."

VACLAV HAVEL

     "Today a new era begins for the German nation, an era, in the words of
your national anthem, 'in unity and justice and freedom'. America is proud to
count itself among the friends and allies of a free Germany. Our eyes are open
for a new world of hope. The last remains of the Wall in the heart of Berlin
are proof that no wall can ever crush the soul of a nation."

GEORGE BUSH

     "As Jews we have mixed feelings towards German reunification. We cannot
forget the scars inflicted on our people during the Second World War."

YTZHAK SHAMIR

     "I am convinced that the now united Germany will continue its important
and active role as an influential and peacemaking power."

HOSNI MUBARAK