1990: Germany reunited

DATE:May 29, 1990

DESCRIPTION: Following a series of negotiations between West and East Germany (known as the Federal Republic of Germany, or FRG, and the German Democratic Republic, or GDR respectively), alongside France, Britain, the USA and the USSR, the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (AKA the Two Plus Four Treaty) was created. This treaty granted full sovereignty to a unified German state; East Germany joined with West Germany and Berlin was reunited into a single city.

BLAME: The citizens of East Germany were the ones that started off the process for reuniting Germany, as it was their Peaceful Revolution protests that led to the negotiations between the FRG (West Germany) and GDR (East Germany). These negotiations were what led to the Two Plus Four Treaty that unified Germany. Therefore, the blame for starting this event can be placed on the citizens of East Germany who participated in the Peaceful Revolution.

TENSION INCREASE: The reuniting of Germany decreased tensions with the USA, as the majority of Americans supported the reunification of Germany; however, this was pretty much only with the USA, as many of the other countries, such as Britain, France, and Poland worried that Germany would become too powerful and that Nazism might revive. Britain and France recognized that unification would be unavoidable, however, even though they didn’t want it. In summary, the idea of a reunited Germany was fine with the Americans and decreased tensions with them, but increased tensions with the rest of Europe who felt it might cause a return to German militarism similar to how Hitler led Germany during World War II. +0.5

<< back to home