Editing East Germany (section)

=== ''Die Wende'' (German reunification) ===
{{Main|Die Wende|Peaceful Revolution|German reunification}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1104-437, Berlin, Demonstration am 4. November.jpg|thumb| Demonstration on [[Alexanderplatz]] in East Berlin on 4 November 1989]]
In May 1989, following widespread public anger over the faking of local government election results, many GDR citizens applied for exit visas or [[Republikflucht|left the country]] contrary to GDR laws. The impetus for this exodus of East Germans was the removal of the electrified fence along [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]]'s border with [[Austria]] on 2 May 1989. Although formally the Hungarian frontier was still closed, many East Germans took the opportunity to enter Hungary via [[Czechoslovakia]], and then make the illegal crossing from Hungary to Austria and to West Germany beyond.<ref name="Judt612"/> By July, 25,000 East Germans had crossed into Hungary;<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Berlin Wall (1961–89) |url=http://www.germannotes.com/hist_east_wall.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20050419213613/http://www.germannotes.com/hist_east_wall.shtml |archive-date=19 April 2005 |access-date=24 October 2006 |website=German Notes}}</ref> most of them did not attempt the risky crossing into Austria but remained instead in Hungary or claimed asylum in West German embassies in [[Prague]] or [[Budapest]].

The opening of a border gate between Austria and Hungary at the [[Pan-European Picnic]] on 19 August 1989 then triggered a chain reaction leading to the end of the GDR and the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc. It was the largest mass escape from East Germany since the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The idea of opening the border at a ceremony came from [[Otto von Habsburg]], who proposed it to [[Miklós Németh]], then Hungarian Prime Minister, who promoted the idea.<ref>Miklós Németh in Interview, Austrian TV – ORF "Report", 25 June 2019.</ref> The patrons of the picnic, Habsburg and Hungarian Minister of State [[Imre Pozsgay]], who did not attend the event, saw the planned event as an opportunity to test [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s reaction to an opening of the border on the [[Iron Curtain]]. In particular, it tested whether Moscow would give the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary the command to intervene. The [[Paneuropean Union]] advertised extensively for the planned picnic with posters and flyers distributed among GDR holidaymakers in Hungary. The Austrian branch of the Paneuropean Union, then headed by [[Karl von Habsburg]], distributed thousands of brochures inviting GDR citizens to a picnic near the border at Sopron (near Hungary's border with Austria).<ref name="Hilde Szabo 2014">{{Cite news |last=Szabo |first=Hilde |date=16 August 1999 |title=Die Berliner Mauer begann im Burgenland zu bröckeln |trans-title=The Berlin Wall began to crumble in Burgenland |url=https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/welt-europa/weltpolitik/364731_Die-Berliner-Mauer-begann-im-Burgenland-zu-broeckeln.html |work=[[Wiener Zeitung]] |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lahodynsky |first=Otmar |date=9 August 2014 |title=Paneuropäisches Picknick: Die Generalprobe für den Mauerfall |trans-title=Pan-European picnic: the Dress Rehearsal for the Fall of the Berlin Wall |magazine=[[profil (magazine)|profil]] |language=de}}</ref><ref name="Die Zeit 2014">{{Cite news |last=Greven |first=Ludwig |date=19 August 2014 |title=Und dann ging das Tor auf |trans-title=And then the Gate Opened |url=https://www.zeit.de/wissen/geschichte/2014-08/ddr-flucht-1989-grenzpicknick-sopron |work=Die Zeit}}</ref> The local Sopron organizers knew nothing of possible GDR refugees, but envisaged a local party with Austrian and Hungarian participation.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lahodynsky |first=Otmar |date=13 June 2019 |title=Eiserner Vorhang: Picknick an der Grenze |trans-title=Iron curtain: Picnic at the Border |magazine=[[profil (magazine)|profil]] |language=de}}</ref> But with the mass exodus at the picnic, the subsequent hesitant behavior of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union broke the dams. Thus, the barrier of the Eastern Bloc was broken. Tens of thousands of East Germans, alerted by the media, made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or force its border troops to open fire on escapees. The GDR leadership in East Berlin did not dare to completely lock down their own country's borders.<ref name="Hilde Szabo 2014"/><ref name="Die Zeit 2014"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Roser |first=Thomas |date=17 August 2014 |title=DDR-Massenflucht: Ein Picknick hebt die Welt aus den Angeln |trans-title=Mass exodus of the GDR: A picnic clears the world |url=https://www.diepresse.com/3855470/ddr-massenflucht-ein-picknick-hebt-die-welt-aus-den-angeln |work=[[Die Presse]] |language=de |publication-place=Vienna}}</ref><ref>{{ill|Frank, Michael (journalist)|de|Michael Frank}} {{Cite news |date=17 May 2010 |title=Paneuropäisches Picknick – Mit dem Picknickkorb in die Freiheit |trans-title=Pan-European picnic – With the picnic basket to freedom |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/paneuropaeisches-picknick-mit-dem-picknickkorb-in-die-freiheit-1.170802-0 |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |language=de}}</ref>

The next major turning point in the exodus came on 10 September 1989, when Hungarian Foreign Minister [[Gyula Horn]] announced that his country would no longer restrict movement from Hungary into Austria. Within two days, 22,000 East Germans crossed into Austria; tens of thousands more did so in the following weeks.<ref name="Judt612">{{harvnb|Judt|2005|page=612}}</ref>

Many other GDR citizens [[Monday demonstrations in East Germany|demonstrated against the ruling party]], especially in the city of [[Leipzig]]. The Leipzig demonstrations became a weekly occurrence, with a turnout of 10,000 people at the first demonstration on 2 October, and a peak of an estimated 300,000 by the end of the month.<ref name="Judt613"/> The protests were surpassed in East Berlin, where half a million demonstrators turned out against the regime on 4 November.<ref name="Judt613">{{harvnb|Judt|2005|page=613}}</ref> [[Kurt Masur]], conductor of the [[Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra]], led local negotiations with the government and held town meetings in the concert hall.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Darnton |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Darnton |title=Berlin Journal |date=1992 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |location=New York |pages=98–99}}</ref> The demonstrations eventually led Erich Honecker to resign in October; he was replaced by a slightly more moderate communist, [[Egon Krenz]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book |last=Sarotte |first=Mary Elise |author-link=Mary Elise Sarotte |title=Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall |date=2014 |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=9780465064946 |location=New York}}</ref>

The massive demonstration in East Berlin on 4 November coincided with Czechoslovakia formally opening its border to West Germany.<ref name="Judt614">{{harvnb|Judt|2005|page=614}}</ref> With the West more accessible than ever before, 30,000 East Germans made the crossing via Czechoslovakia in the first two days alone. To try to stem the outward flow of the population, the SED proposed a law loosening travel restrictions. When the {{lang|de|Volkskammer}} rejected it on 5 November, the Cabinet and [[Politburo]] of the GDR resigned.<ref name="Judt614"/> This left only one avenue open for Krenz and the SED: completely abolishing travel restrictions between East and West.

On 9 November 1989, a few sections of the Berlin Wall were opened, resulting in thousands of East Germans crossing freely into West Berlin and West Germany for the first time in nearly 30 years. Krenz resigned a month later, and the SED opened negotiations with the leaders of the incipient Democratic movement, [[Neues Forum]], to schedule free elections and begin the process of democratization. As part of this process, the SED eliminated the clause in the East German constitution guaranteeing the Communists leadership of the state. The change was approved in the {{lang|de|Volkskammer}} on 1 December 1989 by a vote of 420 to 0.{{sfn|Judt|2005|page=615}}
[[File:Logo of the Alliance for Germany.png|thumb|Logo of the [[Alliance for Germany]] coalition, which was led by the [[Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)]]]]
East Germany held [[1990 East German general election|its last election in March 1990]]. The winner was [[Alliance for Germany]], a coalition headed by the East German branch of West Germany's [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]], which advocated speedy reunification. Negotiations ([[Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany|2+4]] Talks) were held involving the two German states and the former [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], which led to agreement on the conditions for German unification. By a two-thirds vote in the {{lang|de|Volkskammer|italic=no}} on 23 August 1990, the German Democratic Republic declared its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany. The five original [[New states of Germany|East German states]] that had been abolished in the 1952 redistricting were restored.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> On 3 October 1990, the five states officially joined the Federal Republic of Germany, while East and West Berlin united as a third city-state (in the same manner as [[Bremen]] and [[Hamburg]]). On 1 July, a currency union preceded the political union: the [[East German mark|Ostmark]] was abolished, and the Western German [[Deutsche Mark]] became the common currency.

Although the {{lang|de|Volkskammer}}'s declaration of accession to the Federal Republic had initiated the process of reunification, the act of reunification itself (with its many specific terms, conditions, and qualifications, some of which involved amendments to the West German Basic Law) was achieved constitutionally by the subsequent Unification Treaty of 31 August 1990 – that is, through a binding agreement between the former Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic, now recognising each other as separate sovereign states in international law.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kommers |first=Donald P. |title=The Constitutional Jursiprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |date=2012 |page=309}}</ref> The treaty was then voted into effect prior to the agreed date for unification by both the {{lang|de|Volkskammer}} and the [[Bundestag]] by the constitutionally required two-thirds majorities, effecting on the one hand the extinction of the GDR, and on the other the agreed amendments to the Basic Law of the Federal Republic.

The wide economic and socio-political inequalities between the former German states required government subsidies for the full integration of the GDR into the FRG. Because of the resulting [[deindustrialization]] in former East Germany, the causes of the failure of this integration continue to be debated. Some western commentators{{Who|date=January 2025}} claim that the depressed eastern economy is a natural aftereffect of a demonstrably inefficient [[command economy]]. But many East German critics contend that the [[Shock therapy (economics)|shock-therapy]] style of [[privatization]], the artificially high [[rate of exchange]] offered for the Ostmark, and the speed with which the entire process was implemented did not leave room for East German enterprises to adapt.{{efn|For example, the economist Jörg Roesler{{snd}}see: Jörg Roesler: Ein Anderes Deutschland war möglich. Alternative Programme für das wirtschaftliche Zusammengehen beider deutscher Staaten, in: [[Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung]], No. II/2010, pp. 34–46. Historian Ulrich Busch argued that the currency union came too early; see Ulrich Busch: Die Währungsunion am 1. Juli 1990: Wirtschaftspolitische Fehlleistung mit Folgen, in: [[Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung]], No. II/2010, pp.&nbsp;5–24.}}