Editing German reunification (section)

=== German Reunification Treaty ===
[[File:EinigungsvertragBRD-DDR.JPG|thumb|The two original copies of the Unification Treaty signed on 31 August 1990. West German Interior Minister [[Wolfgang Schäuble]] signed for the FRG and the East German State Secretary [[Günther Krause]] signed for the GDR.]]
The [[Volkskammer]], the Parliament of East Germany, passed a resolution on 23 August 1990 declaring the accession ({{langx|de|Beitritt|label=none}}) of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany, and the extension of the field of application of the Federal Republic's Basic Law to the territory of East Germany as allowed by Article 23 of the West German Basic Law, effective 3 October 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Leben in der DDR |url=https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/stoebern/ddr-deutsche-demokratische-republik-ueberblick-100_zc-ffc2d9c1_zs-9f57411c.html |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=www.mdr.de |language=de |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043121/https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/stoebern/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= |title=Volkskammer der DDR stimmt für Beitritt |url=http://www.bpb.de/politik/hintergrund-aktuell/69018/volkskammer-stimmt-fuer-beitritt-20-08-2010 |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |publisher=BPD.de |language=de |archive-date=2 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233233/http://www.bpb.de/politik/hintergrund-aktuell/69018/volkskammer-stimmt-fuer-beitritt-20-08-2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Bundesarchiv – Digitalisierung und Onlinestellung des Bestandes DA 1 Volkskammer der DDR, Teil 10. Wahlperiode |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/bilder_dokumente/01525/index-16.html.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020000846/http://www.bundesarchiv.de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/bilder_dokumente/01525/index-16.html.de |archive-date=20 October 2015 |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=www.bundesarchiv.de |language=de}}</ref> This Declaration of Accession ({{langx|de|Beitrittserklärung|label=none}}) was formally presented by the President of the Volkskammer, [[Sabine Bergmann-Pohl]], to the President of the West German Bundestag, [[Rita Süssmuth]], by means of a letter dated 25 August 1990.<ref name=":2" /> Thus, formally, the procedure of reunification by means of the accession of East Germany to West Germany, and of East Germany's acceptance of the Basic Law already in force in West Germany, was initiated as the unilateral, sovereign decision of East Germany, as allowed by the provisions of article 23 of the West German Basic Law as it then existed.

In the wake of that resolution of accession, the "German reunification treaty",<ref name="NBClearn">{{cite web | title = United States and Soviet Union Sign German Reunification Treaty | url = https://a248.e.akamai.net/7/1635/50139/1d/origin.nbclearn.com/files/nbcarchives/site/pdf/3838.pdf | publisher = [[NBC Learn]] | access-date = 22 March 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215218/https://a248.e.akamai.net/7/1635/50139/1d/origin.nbclearn.com/files/nbcarchives/site/pdf/3838.pdf | archive-date = 4 October 2013 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="deutschland.de">{{cite web | title = Merkel to mark 20th anniversary of German reunification treaty | url = http://test.magazin-deutschland.de/en/artikel-en/article/article/merkel-to-mark-20th-anniversary-of-german-reunification-treaty.html | publisher = [[Deutschland.de]] | access-date = 22 March 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130516041356/http://test.magazin-deutschland.de/en/artikel-en/article/article/merkel-to-mark-20th-anniversary-of-german-reunification-treaty.html | archive-date = 16 May 2013 | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="AssociatedPress">{{cite web | title = Soviet Legislature Ratifies German Reunification Treaty | url = https://apnews.com/34489f15c7ce3d9a072c3bdb0cabea75 | publisher = [[AP News Archive]] | access-date = 22 March 2013 | date = 4 March 1991 | last = Imse | first = Ann | archive-date = 7 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200807042653/https://apnews.com/34489f15c7ce3d9a072c3bdb0cabea75 | url-status = live }}</ref> commonly known in German as "{{langx|de|Einigungsvertrag|label=none}}" (Unification Treaty) or "{{langx|de|Wiedervereinigungsvertrag|label=none}}" (Reunification Treaty), that had been negotiated between the two German states since 2 July 1990, was signed by representatives of the two governments on 31 August 1990. This Treaty, officially titled {{langx|de|Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik über die Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands|label=none}} (Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic on the Establishment of German Unity), was approved by large majorities in the legislative chambers of both countries on 20 September 1990 (442–47 in the West German Bundestag and 299–80 in the East German Volkskammer).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opening of the Berlin Wall and Unification: German History |url=https://germanculture.com.ua/library/history/bl_wall_collapse_unification.htm |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=germanculture.com.ua |archive-date=13 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813234642/https://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/history/bl_wall_collapse_unification.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Treaty passed the West German Bundesrat on the following day, 21 September 1990. The amendments to the Federal Republic's Basic Law that were foreseen in the Unification Treaty or necessary for its implementation were adopted by the Federal Statute of 23 September 1990, that enacted the incorporation of the Treaty as part of the Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The said Federal Statute, containing the whole text of the Treaty and its Protocols as an annex, was published in the {{langx|de|[[Bundesgesetzblatt (Germany)|Bundesgesetzblatt]]|label=none}} (the official journal for the publication of the laws of the Federal Republic) on 28 September 1990.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bundesgesetzblatt |url=http://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&jumpTo=bgbl290s0885_gross.pdf#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl290s0885_gross.pdf%27%5D__1467485637703 |access-date=9 October 2016 |website=Bgbl.de |publisher= |archive-date=7 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207215607/http://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&jumpTo=bgbl290s0885_gross.pdf#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl290s0885_gross.pdf%27%5D__1467485637703 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the German Democratic Republic, the constitutional law ({{langx|de|Verfassungsgesetz|label=none}}) giving effect to the Treaty was also published on 28 September 1990.<ref name=":2" /> With the adoption of the Treaty as part of its Constitution, East Germany legislated its own abolition as a separate state.

Under article 45 of the Treaty,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Art 45 EinigVtr – Einzelnorm |url=http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/einigvtr/art_45.html |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309114824/http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/einigvtr/art_45.html |url-status=live }}</ref> it entered into force according to international law on 29 September 1990, upon the exchange of notices regarding the completion of the respective internal constitutional requirements for the adoption of the treaty in both East Germany and West Germany. With that last step, and in accordance with article 1 of the Treaty, and in [[conformity]] with East Germany's Declaration of Accession presented to the Federal Republic, Germany was officially reunited at 00:00 [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]] on 3 October 1990. East Germany joined the Federal Republic as the five {{langx|de|[[Länder]]|label=none}} (states) of [[Brandenburg]], [[Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania]], [[Saxony]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], and [[Thuringia]]. These states were the five original states of East Germany, but were abolished in 1952 in favor of a centralized system. As part of the 18 May treaty, the five East German states were reconstituted on 23 August. [[East Berlin]], the capital of East Germany, reunited with [[West Berlin]], a [[West_Berlin#Legal_status|''de facto'' part of West Germany]], in order to form the city of [[Berlin]], which joined the Federal Republic as its third [[city-state]] alongside [[Bremen]] and [[Hamburg]]. Berlin was still formally under Allied occupation (that would only be terminated later, as a result of the provisions of the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany|Two Plus Four Treaty]]), but the city's administrative merger and inclusion in the enlarged Federal Republic as its capital, effective on 3 October 1990, had been greenlit{{clarify|date=January 2024}} by the four Allies, and were formally approved in the final meeting of the Allied Control Council on 2 October 1990. In an emotional ceremony, at the stroke of midnight on 3 October 1990, the [[Flag of Germany|black-red-gold flag of West Germany]]—now the flag of a reunited Germany—was raised above the [[Brandenburg Gate]], marking the moment of German reunification.