1990, EAST & WEST GERMANY MERGE THEIR ECONOMIES

Today, The Grandma has been reading about how East and West Germany merged their economies on a day like today in 1990. 

On 3 October 1990, Germany officially became one country again after more than forty years of division. 

The reunification of East and West Germany was one of the most significant events of the late twentieth century, symbolizing not only the end of Germany's post-war separation but also the collapse of the Cold War order that had shaped Europe since 1945. The story of reunification did not begin in 1990. Instead, it was the result of decades of political tension, ideological conflict, economic differences, and the determination of millions of ordinary people who dreamed of living in a united and democratic country. The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 became the defining image of this transformation, but it was only one chapter in a much larger historical process.

When the Second World War ended in May 1945, Germany lay in ruins. Its cities had been devastated by bombing, millions of people had died, and the country faced political and economic collapse. The victorious Allied powers -the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union- agreed that Germany should be occupied until its future could be decided.

The country was divided into four occupation zones, each administered by one of the Allied powers. Although Berlin was located deep inside the Soviet occupation zone, the city itself was also divided into four sectors.

At first, the Allies hoped to govern Germany jointly. However, growing disagreements between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union quickly made cooperation impossible. Their conflicting visions for Europe's future gradually transformed former allies into rivals.

By 1949, the political division had become permanent. The western occupation zones united to form the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly known as West Germany. It adopted a democratic political system, a market economy, and close ties with Western Europe and the United States.

A few months later, the Soviet occupation zone became the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. Although its official name included the word "democratic," it was governed by a communist regime dominated by a single political party. The state controlled the media, education, and much of everyday life, while political opposition was heavily restricted.

From that point onward, Germany became one of the most visible symbols of the Cold War. Berlin represented the confrontation between East and West more clearly than any other city. People could initially move relatively freely between East and West Berlin. However, many East Germans used this opportunity to escape to West Germany, seeking greater political freedom and better economic prospects. By the early 1960s, millions had already left. To stop this mass emigration, East German authorities suddenly closed the border during the night of 12–13 August 1961 and began constructing the Berlin Wall.

The Wall was far more than a concrete barrier. It became a powerful symbol of ideological division. Guard towers, fences, anti-vehicle barriers, and heavily monitored border zones made escape extremely dangerous. Many people risked their lives attempting to cross, and numerous escape attempts ended in tragedy.

Families were separated overnight. Friends lost contact for decades. A city that had once functioned as a single community became physically and emotionally divided. During the following decades, East and West Germany developed in very different ways.

West Germany experienced rapid economic growth during the 1950s and 1960s, often called the economic miracle. Industrial production expanded, living standards improved dramatically, and democratic institutions became firmly established. The country also became one of the founding members of what would later become the European Union.

East Germany also rebuilt successfully in many respects. It developed strong industries, an extensive education system, and comprehensive social services. Compared with many other Eastern Bloc countries, it maintained a relatively high standard of living.

Nevertheless, the East German economy struggled with inefficiency and limited innovation. Consumer goods were often scarce, travel abroad was tightly restricted, and the secret police—the Stasi—maintained one of the world's most extensive surveillance systems. Many citizens lived with the knowledge that conversations, letters, and even friendships could be monitored.

The 1980s brought major changes across the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms known as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). These policies encouraged greater political transparency and attempted to modernize the Soviet economy. Perhaps even more important, Gorbachev signaled that the Soviet Union would no longer intervene militarily to preserve communist governments across Eastern Europe. This represented a dramatic departure from previous Soviet policy.

Across Eastern Europe, reform movements gained momentum. In Poland, independent trade unions challenged communist rule. Hungary began introducing political reforms and gradually opened its border with Austria.

These developments deeply influenced East Germans, many of whom increasingly questioned why their own government refused to change. Throughout 1989, public dissatisfaction continued to grow. Thousands of East Germans escaped through neighbouring countries, particularly Hungary, whose newly opened border offered an alternative route to the West. At the same time, peaceful demonstrations spread throughout East Germany. The largest became known as the Monday Demonstrations, especially in the city of Leipzig. Protesters demanded free elections, freedom of speech, freedom to travel, and democratic reforms. Remarkably, despite fears of violent repression, these protests remained overwhelmingly peaceful. As participation increased from hundreds to thousands and eventually hundreds of thousands of people, the East German government found it increasingly difficult to maintain control.

On 9 November 1989, events unfolded with astonishing speed. Following confusion over newly announced travel regulations, government spokesman Günter Schabowski mistakenly suggested during a televised press conference that East Germans could cross the border immediately.

Thousands of Berliners gathered at border crossings demanding passage. Border guards, lacking clear instructions and unwilling to use force against the growing crowds, eventually opened the checkpoints. People crossed freely for the first time in nearly three decades. Scenes of celebration spread around the world. Families embraced after years of separation. Strangers climbed onto the Wall, danced together, and began breaking pieces from the concrete with hammers and chisels.

The fall of the Berlin Wall quickly became one of the defining images of the twentieth century and demonstrated that political systems once thought permanent could collapse with remarkable speed.

Although the Wall had fallen, reunification was not automatic. Many difficult questions remained. Would a united Germany remain part of NATO? What would happen to Soviet troops stationed in East Germany? How would Germany's borders be guaranteed? Would neighbouring countries support reunification? The answers required careful diplomacy involving not only East and West Germany but also the four Allied powers that had occupied Germany after the Second World War.

These negotiations became known as the Two Plus Four talks: the two German states plus the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. After months of negotiations, agreements were reached concerning Germany's borders, military status, and full sovereignty. These agreements removed the final international obstacles to reunification.

Before political reunification, important economic steps had already been taken. On 1 July 1990, East Germany adopted the West German Deutsche Mark. For many East Germans, this represented immediate access to a stronger currency and greater purchasing power. However, the transition also exposed East German industries to intense competition from Western companies. Many state-owned enterprises proved unable to compete in a market economy. Factories closed, unemployment increased sharply, and entire regions experienced profound economic restructuring. Although living standards gradually improved over time, the transition proved far more difficult than many people had expected.

On 3 October 1990, East Germany officially ceased to exist. Its five federal states joined the Federal Republic of Germany under the existing West German constitution. Berlin once again became the capital of a united Germany. Across the country, celebrations marked what Germans now commemorate annually as the Day of German Unity. For millions, the event represented the realization of hopes that had seemed impossible only a year earlier.

Political reunification did not instantly eliminate decades of separation. East and West Germany had developed under entirely different political, economic, and social systems. Integrating these systems required enormous investment. The German government spent hundreds of billions of euros rebuilding infrastructure, modernizing transportation networks, renovating cities, and improving public services in eastern Germany. While these investments transformed many regions, economic differences persisted. Average incomes, employment opportunities, and business activity often remained lower in the eastern states than in the west. Many East Germans also experienced significant personal challenges. Some lost secure jobs that disappeared during privatization. Others struggled to adapt to a competitive market economy after decades of state planning. At the same time, many younger people moved westward in search of employment, contributing to population decline in some eastern communities.

Beyond economics, reunification involved merging two societies with distinct life experiences. People who had grown up on opposite sides of the Wall often held different memories, expectations, and perspectives. Terms such as Ossis (East Germans) and Wessis (West Germans) reflected stereotypes that sometimes complicated integration. Over time, these differences have gradually diminished, especially among younger generations.

Today, many Germans identify primarily with a united national identity while still recognizing the historical experiences that shaped different regions. German reunification transformed not only Germany but also Europe. The disappearance of the Iron Curtain accelerated European integration. Countries across Central and Eastern Europe gradually embraced democratic reforms and market economies. Many later joined both the European Union and NATO. A larger, democratic Germany became one of Europe's leading political and economic powers. Its commitment to European cooperation reassured neighbouring countries that had once feared German nationalism. Rather than pursuing dominance, reunified Germany generally emphasized partnership, diplomacy, and integration within European institutions.

More than three decades after reunification, Germany continues to reflect on its divided past. The remains of the Berlin Wall have been preserved as historical monuments. Museums, memorials, and educational programs help younger generations understand the realities of dictatorship, division, and peaceful democratic change.

Every year on 3 October, Germany celebrates the Day of German Unity, commemorating both the political achievement of reunification and the peaceful civic movements that made it possible. Historians often describe reunification as one of the greatest diplomatic successes of the late twentieth century. Unlike many major geopolitical transformations, it occurred largely without violence and through negotiation rather than war.

German reunification was far more than the merging of two states. It marked the end of one of history's most enduring political divisions and symbolized the collapse of the Cold War order in Europe.

The process was made possible by changing international politics, courageous political leadership, and, above all, the determination of ordinary citizens who demanded freedom through peaceful protest. Although reunification brought enormous economic, political, and social challenges, it also demonstrated that seemingly permanent divisions can be overcome through dialogue, democratic participation, and international cooperation.

Today, a united Germany stands as a reminder that history is not fixed. The peaceful reunification of a country once separated by walls, ideology, and global rivalry remains one of the defining achievements of modern European history and continues to inspire those who believe that reconciliation is possible even after decades of division.

More information: International Mission Board

I remember when the Berlin Wall fell 
and suddenly intractable problems get solved.

Lucy Walker

M. GORBACHEV RESIGNS AS PRESIDENT OF THE USSR

USSR

Today is Christmas Day. The Grandma and her friends want to congratulate all people who celebrate this feast.

December, 25 is not only Christmas Day but an important day in recent European history. On a day like today in 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union and the union itself was dissolved the next day. The Grandma wants to talk about this important event that changed the history of the world because of it was the end of the cold war and about Mikhail Gorbachev, an important figure in the USSR and in the European history.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (born 2 March 1931) is a Russian and formerly Soviet politician. The eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, he was the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991.

He was also the country's head of state from 1985 until 1991, serving as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990, and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, he initially adhered to Marxism-Leninism although by the early 1990s had moved toward social democracy.

Of mixed Russian and Ukrainian heritage, Gorbachev was born in Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai to a poor peasant family. Growing up under the rule of Joseph Stalin, in his youth he operated combine harvesters on a collective farm before joining the Communist Party, which then governed the Soviet Union as a one-party state according to Marxist-Leninist doctrine. While studying at Moscow State University, he married fellow student Raisa Titarenko in 1953 prior to receiving his law degree in 1955.

Moving to Stavropol, he worked for the Komsomol youth organisation and, after Stalin's death, became a keen proponent of the de-Stalinization reforms of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. He was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee in 1970, in which position he oversaw construction of the Great Stavropol Canal.

More information: The Cold War Museum

In 1978 he returned to Moscow to become a Secretary of the party's Central Committee and in 1979 joined its governing Politburo. Within three years of the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, following the brief regimes of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, the Politburo elected Gorbachev as General Secretary, the de facto head of government, in 1985.

Although committed to preserving the Soviet state and to its socialist ideals, Gorbachev believed significant reform was necessary, particularly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. He withdrew from the Soviet-Afghan War and embarked on summits with United States President Ronald Reagan to limit nuclear weapons and end the Cold War.

Domestically, his policy of glasnost, openness allowed for enhanced freedom of speech and press, while his perestroika restructuring sought to decentralise economic decision making to improve efficiency. His democratisation measures and formation of the elected Congress of People's Deputies undermined the one-party state.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

Gorbachev declined to intervene militarily when various Eastern Bloc countries abandoned Marxist-Leninist governance in 1989-90. Internally, growing nationalist sentiment threatened to break up the Soviet Union, leading Marxist-Leninist hardliners to launch the unsuccessful August Coup against Gorbachev in 1991.

In the wake of this, the Soviet Union dissolved against Gorbachev's wishes and he resigned. After leaving office, he launched his Gorbachev Foundation, became a vocal critic of Russian Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, and campaigned for Russia's social-democratic movement.

Widely considered one of the most significant figures of the second half of the 20th century, Gorbachev remains the subject of controversy. The recipient of a wide range of awards -including the Nobel Peace Prize-he was widely praised for his pivotal role in ending the Cold War, curtailing human rights abuses in the Soviet Union, and tolerating both the fall of Marxist-Leninist administrations in eastern and central Europe and the reunification of Germany.

Conversely, in Russia he is often derided for not stopping the Soviet collapse, an event which brought a decline in Russia's global influence and precipitated an economic crisis.

Gorbachev's leadership style differed from that of his predecessors. He would stop to talk to civilians on the street, forbade the display of his portrait at the 1985 Red Square holiday celebrations, and encouraged frank and open discussions at Politburo meetings.

More information: The Gorbachev Foundation

To the West, Gorbachev was seen as a more moderate and less threatening Soviet leader; some Western commentators however believed this an act to lull Western governments into a false sense of security. His wife was his closest adviser, and took on the unofficial role of a first lady by appearing with him on foreign trips; her public visibility was a breach of standard practice and generated resentment. His other close aides were Georgy Shakhnazarov and Anatoly Chernyaev.

Gorbachev was aware that the Politburo could remove him from office, and that he could not pursue more radical reform without a majority of supporters in the Politburo. He sought to remove several older members from the Politburo, encouraging Grigory Romanov, Nikolai Tikhonov, and Viktor Grishin into retirement.

He moved Gromyko from his role in foreign policy to that of head of state and replaced Gromyko's former role with his own ally, Eduard Shevardnadze. Other allies whom he saw promoted were Yakovlev, Anatoly Lukyanov, and Vadim Medvedev. Another of those promoted by Gorbachev was Boris Yeltsin, who was made a Secretary of the Central Committee in July 1985.

Five key moments in the fall of the USSR

Most of these appointees were from a new generation of well-educated officials who had been frustrated during the Brezhnev era. In his first year, 14 of the 23 heads of department in the secretariat were replaced. Doing so, Gorbachev secured dominance in the Politburo within a year, faster than either Stalin, Khrushchev, or Brezhnev had achieved. In January 1987, Gorbachev attended a Central Committee plenum where he talked about perestroika and democratisation while criticising widespread corruption. He considered putting a proposal to allow multi-party elections into his speech, but decided against doing so.

After the plenum, he focused his attentions on economic reform, holding discussions with government officials and economists. Many economists proposed reducing ministerial controls on the economy and allowing state-owned enterprises to set their own targets; Ryzhkov and other government figures were sceptical.

In June, Gorbachev finished his report on economic reform. It reflected a compromise: ministers would retain the ability to set output targets but these would not be considered binding. That month, a plenum accepted his recommendations and the Supreme Soviet passed a law on enterprises implementing the changes.

Economic problems remained: by the late 1980s there were still widespread shortages of basic goods, rising inflation, and declining living standards. These stoked a number of miners' strikes in 1989.

By 1987, the ethos of glasnost had spread through Soviet society: journalists were writing increasingly openly, many economic problems were being publicly revealed, and studies appeared that critically reassessed Soviet history. Gorbachev was broadly supportive, describing glasnost as the crucial, irreplaceable weapon of perestroika.

He nevertheless insisted that people should use the newfound freedom responsibly, stating that journalists and writers should avoid sensationalism and be completely objective in their reporting. Nearly two hundred previously restricted Soviet films were publicly released, and a range of Western films were also made available. In 1989, Soviet culpability for the 1940 Katyn massacre was finally revealed. 

More information: Norwich University

In September 1987, the government stopped jamming the signal of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America.

The reforms also included greater tolerance of religion; an Easter service was broadcast on Soviet television for the first time and the millennium celebrations of the Russian Orthodox Church were given media attention.

Independent organisations appeared, most supportive of Gorbachev, although the largest, Pamyat, was ultra-nationalist and anti-Semitic in nature. Gorbachev also announced that Soviet Jews wishing to migrate to Israel would be allowed to do so, something previously prohibited. 

In February 1990, both liberalisers and Marxist-Leninist hardliners intensified their attacks on Gorbachev. A liberaliser march took part in Moscow criticising Communist Party rule, while at a Central Committee meeting, the hardliner Vladimir Brovikov accused Gorbachev of reducing the country to anarchy and ruin and of pursuing Western approval at the expense of the Soviet Union and the Marxist-Leninist cause.

Gorbachev was aware that the Central Committee could still oust him as General Secretary, and so decided to reformulate the role of head of government to a presidency from which they could not remove him. He decided that the presidential election should be held by the Congress of People's Deputies. He chose this over a public vote because he thought the latter would escalate tensions and feared that he might lose it; a spring 1990 poll nevertheless still showed him as the most popular politician in the country.

The New York Times announced the end of the USSR

At the 28th Communist Party Congress in July, hardliners criticised the reformists but Gorbachev was re-elected party leader with the support of three-quarters of delegates and his choice of Deputy General Secretary, Vladimir Ivashko, was also elected.

Seeking compromise with the liberalisers, Gorbachev assembled a team of both his own and Yeltsin's advisers to come up with an economic reform package: the result was the 500 Days programme. This called for further decentralisation and some privatisation.

Gorbachev described the plan as modern socialism rather than a return to capitalism but had many doubts about it. In September, Yeltsin presented the plan to the Russian Supreme Soviet, which backed it. Many in the Communist Party and state apparatus warned against it, arguing that it would create marketplace chaos, rampant inflation, and unprecedented levels of unemployment.

The 500 Days plan was abandoned. At this, Yeltsin rallied against Gorbachev in an October speech, claiming that Russia would no longer accept a subordinate position to the Soviet government.

By mid-November 1990, much of the press was calling for Gorbachev's resignation and predicting civil war. Hardliners were urging Gorbachev to disband the presidential council and arrest vocal liberals in the media.

  More information: The University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill

In November, he addressed the Supreme Soviet where he announced an eight-point program, which included governmental reforms, among them the abolition of the presidential council. By this point, Gorbachev was isolated from many of his former close allies and aides. Yakovlev had moved out of his inner circle and Shevardnadze had resigned. His support among the intelligentsia was declining, and by the end of 1990 his approval ratings had plummeted.

Amid growing dissent in the Baltics, especially Lithuania, in January 1991 Gorbachev demanded that the Lithuanian Supreme Council rescind its pro-independence reforms. Soviet troops occupied several Vilnius buildings and clashed with protesters, 15 of whom were killed.

Gorbachev was widely blamed by liberalisers, with Yeltsin calling for his resignation. Gorbachev denied sanctioning the military operation, although some in the military claimed that he had; the truth of the matter was never clearly established. Fearing more civil disturbances, that month Gorbachev banned demonstrations and ordered troops to patrol Soviet cities alongside the police. This further alienated the liberalisers but was not enough to win-over hardliners.

Wanting to preserve the Union, in April Gorbachev and the leaders of nine Soviet republics jointly pledged to prepare a treaty that would renew the federation under a new constitution; six of the republics -Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia- did not endorse this. A referendum on the issue brought 76.4% in favour of continued federation but the six rebellious republics had not taken part. Negotiations as to what form the new constitution would take took place, again bringing together Gorbachev and Yeltsin in discussion; it was planned to be formally signed in August.

The fall of the USSR

On 30 October, Gorbachev attended a conference in Madrid trying to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.

The event was co-sponsored by the U.S. and Soviet Union, one of the first examples of such cooperation between the two countries. There, he again met with Bush. En route home, he travelled to France where he stayed with Mitterrand at the latter's home near Bayonne. After the coup, Gorbachev continued to pursue plans for a new union treaty but found increasing opposition to the idea of a continued federal state as the leaders of various Soviet republics bowed to growing nationalist pressure. Yeltsin stated that he would veto any idea of a unified state, instead favouring a confederation with little central authority. Only the leaders of the Kazakhstan and Kirghizia supported Gorbachev's approach. On 1 December a referendum in Ukraine produced over 90% support for secession from the Union; Gorbachev had expected Ukrainians to reject independence.

Without Gorbachev's knowledge, Yeltsin met with Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk and Belarusian President Stanislav Shushkevich in Belovezha Forest, near Brest, Belarus, on 8 December and signed the Belavezha Accords, which declared the Soviet Union had ceased to exist and formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as its successor.

Gorbachev only learned of this development when Shushkevich phoned him; Gorbachev was furious. He desperately looked for an opportunity to preserve the Soviet Union, hoping in vain that the media and intelligentsia might rally against the idea of its dissolution.

More information: Business Insider

Ukrainian, Belarussian, and Russian Supreme Soviets then ratified the establishment of the CIS. On 10 December, he issued a statement calling the CIS agreement illegal and dangerous. On 20 December, the leaders of 11 of the 12 remaining republics -all except Georgia– met in Alma-Ata and signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, agreeing to dismantle the Soviet Union and formally establish the CIS. They also provisionally accepted Gorbachev's resignation as president of what remained of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev revealed that he would resign as soon as he saw that the CIS was a reality.

Yeltsin was tasked with overseeing the transfer of power from Gorbachev to its successor states. He and Gorbachev agreed that the latter would formally announce his resignation as Soviet President and Commander-in-Chief on 25 December, before vacating the Kremlin by 29 December.

Yakovlev, Chernyaev, and Shevardnadze joined Gorbachev to help him write a resignation speech. Gorbachev then gave his speech in the Kremlin in front of television cameras, allowing for international broadcast. In it, he announced, I hereby discontinue my activities at the post of President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

He expressed regret for the breakup of the Soviet Union but cited what he saw as the achievements of his administration: political and religious freedom, the end of totalitarianism, the introduction of democracy and a market economy, and an end to the arms race and Cold War.

Gorbachev was only the second Soviet leader, after Khrushchev, not to die in office.

The Soviet Union officially ceased to exist at midnight on 31 December 1991.

More information: The Guardian

Sometimes it's difficult to accept, to recognise one's own mistakes,

but one must do it. I was guilty of overconfidence and arrogance,

and I was punished for that.

Mikhail Gorbachev