MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01278_103.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.4 KB | 213 lines

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Kohl was fortunate
to inherit a good
economic situation.
And the free-market
policies of his party
(the CDU) seemed to
promote prosperity
during the Eighties.
He looked set for a
successful term as
chancellor even
before the historic
changes which over-
took Germany later
in the decade
#
By the end of the
decade, Kohl's luck
seemed to have run
out. There was a
widespread sense
of disillusion with
his government.
The extreme right
was making gains
by criticising his
open-armed policy
towards political
refugees from the
communist lands
of eastern Europe.
By 1989 there was
talk in the CDU of
replacing Kohl
#
The reforms of
Mikhail Gorbachev
in the USSR soon
had an impact on
the countries of
the Eastern bloc.
By 1989, the East
German regime
was losing its
grip. In November
the East German
leader, Egon Krenz,
announced that
anyone was free
to leave. Many
stepped across
the border to a
new life as West
German citizens
#
For nearly 30 years
Berliners had lived
in half a city. For
those in the East,
most of the suburbs
of their hometown
had been as distant
as if they were had
been transported to
another continent.
Suddenly this was
over, and the Wall,
always an eyesore,
was transformed
into a snaking
concrete absurdity
#
Since people in
East Berlin were
now free to cross
to the west, the
Berlin Wall no
longer served any
purpose. It was
only a matter of
time before the
citizens of Berlin
took the initiative
and started to
dismantle the
wall themselves
#
The extraordinary
scenes of November
1989, when the
people of Berlin
took down the
Berlin Wall with
their own hammers
and chisels, were a
heaven-sent gift to
Kohl. He was about
to be dumped by his
party, and now, by
an accident of
history, he came
to be seen as the
architect of German
reunification,
#
In 1990, Kohl
was poised for
election victory.
The problemsof
uniting the two
Germanys, with
four decades of
separate economic,
political and
cultural develop-
ment, still lay
ahead; but Kohl's
career had been
rescued from
the doldrums
@
Kohl needed to
allay fears about
a revived "greater
Germany", with
its echoes of the
Third Reich. He
visited Poland
to argue that a
united Germany
would be a safe
prospect for its
neighbours. Kohl
showed there,
however, that
diplomacy was
not his strong suit
#
With Britain
uncertain about
its role in Europe,
the Franco-German
axis became, in the
words of Francois
Mitterrand "the
motor of European
construction". The
French president
feared Germany,
would be distracted
by reunification,
and so lack strong
commitment to an
integrated Europe
#
Fears about
German plans for
further European
integration (as
expressed by the
British right and
Mrs Thatcher in
particular) proved
unfounded, or at
least premature.
Since 1992 there
has been little
enthusiasm for
European unity,
even from Kohl
#
Reunification did
not go smoothly,
because the gulf
between the two
economies was so
great. Germans
from the East
found themselves
in competition for
jobs with workers
from Poland and
Turkey. And once
the novelty had
worn off, West
Germans found
that they had
less affection
for the 'Ossis'
than they had
shown at first
#
Reunification has
not been smooth.
Germans have
found that unity is
going to be painful:
the mere fact of
being German was
not enough to make
the two nations
one overnight. The
redrawing of the
map of Europe was
easy: redrawing
the borders in the
hearts and minds
of Europeans is
proving harder
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