Impact of reunification essay plan

Expectation of reunificaiton
1. Instant prosperity, a strong economy Kohl promised this to raise support
2. Cohesion and integration
  1. They wanted to be accepted by the Western Lander
3. Commitment to democarcy
  1. Both East-West were committed to democracy
    1. Old GDR citizens wanted democracy and not socialist reform by 1991
4. International approval
  1. Germans needed approval from other countries such as the USA, France and UK
    1. UK and France eventually persuaded, though they knew unification was imminent
Success/Failure
1. Success
  1. Politics- large scale support for democratic party
  2. Youth and retraining schemes
    1. Deal with unskilled workers
  3. Investment in the East
2. Failure
  1. Widespread unemployment
    1. Lack of investment
  2. Yugoslav crisis 1989
    1. Criticised for being aggressive
  3. Gulf War 1990
    1. Did not understand their political position
  4. Nostalgia (Ostalgie) for old securities of communist system
    1. Wouldn't exist if unification had given them everything they wanted
      1. Lack of job security
        Competition for jobs
Economy
1. Success
  1. Investment into East
    1. 12 Billion into infrastructure and housing
  2. Youth retraining opportunities
2. Failure
  1. Unemployment in East
    1. Not instant prosperity as promised
  2. Adapting
    1. Older generations found it hard to adapt, there was a lack of job security
  3. Companies collapsed, leading to unemployment
    1. Open to competition with West, could not compete because of lack of investment from external countroes
  4. Trust holding companies
    1. Sold off more to Westerners than Easterners
  5. Bush Money
    1. Relocate western workforce to East
      1. There was a need for skilled workers
  6. Economy failure by 1991, long term is was successful, the expectationswere unrealistic to be able to be met in 1991
Social
1. Success
  1. Greater freedoms- voting and speech
    1. What they wanted
  2. Had opportunities to move west, able to set up businesses
  3. Families reunited, personal suffering caused now fixed
2. Failure
  1. Easterners treated as 2nd class citizens
    1. Led to ostalgie, unemployment and harsh competitiveness took time to get used to
  2. Increased resentment against easterners
    1. Solidarity tax, levied on all Germans for Eastern development
      1. Failure of integration as hoped
  3. Despite youth retraining schemes, youth delinquency seen
  4. Appearance of Neo-Nazi groups
    1. Looked elsewhere away from democracy
  5. Education in East poor, low skilled people
  6. Female employment dropped, lack of training and reliance on state provision
    1. Relied on state for services such as child care, state no longer provided this
      1. Ostalgie
Political
1. Success
  1. Success for CDU/CSU, 43.8%
    1. Vote for democratic party, support for democracy
    2. CDU offered democracy, people in old GDR valued democracy
      1. NPD didn't win representation, anti democratic, people no longer turned to extremist parties
2. Failure
  1. None
International acceptance
1. Succss
  1. Maastricht treaty
    1. Led to creation of European Union
    2. Germany took part in the talks
  2. Germany was trusted, and developed into a major European player
  3. Stronger links to USSR, offered financial aid
    1. However, economic imperialism, strongest economy in Europe
      1. Rule over people economically
  4. Gulf war 1990
    1. Refused to get involved, sent money to USA instead
      1. Seen as being reasonable by Europe, not in a rush to get involved in war
      2. USA saw Germany as weak, they had a new military and did not use it
2. Failure
  1. Yugoslav crisis, accused of being overy aggressive

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Impact of reunification essay plan

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	Created by Joel Towner over 8 years ago