German Reunification

Abstract

In 1993 I had only been out of the state of West Virginia once before. I joined the Army and soon found myself traveling all over the world. After I finished Basic Training I was sent for my first duty assignment, Baumholder, Germany. I was stationed in Germany at a time of drastic transition, the Berlin Wall had fallen, and East Germany was free of Soviet control. This was also a time where the American Government realized that we no longer needed a lager military to protect our country, and a drastic drawdown started.

For nearly forty-five years Germany was divided into two separate countries, each with its own currency, political system, and social structure. For twenty-eight of those years the Berlin Wall, enforced the separation of Berlin and stood as a symbol of the separation of Germany into East and West. More than just separating Germany, however, the wall also divided the world into East and West sectors, serving as a symbol for the Cold War itself. The Autumn Revolution of 1989 culminated in a permanent opening of the wall on 9 November 1989. In the following year, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) reunited. Everyone demanding free access from East Berlin to the West, the leaders responsible for this change in policy, the masses of East Berliners crossing into West Germany, and the millions of people around the world who watched this all on television, recognized the historical significance of these events. With the fall of the wall the reunification materialized not only as a possibility but as a certainty.

The euphoria and anxiety that surrounded the ninth of November quickly turned to frustration and outright fear for many people in both the former Germanys and around the world. The new financial issues, unemployment problems, and social concerns of reunification found their roots in the two widely different political and economic structures that...