The last Soviet leader Gorbachev and his revolution and policy of openness: Perestroika and Glasnot were the heralds for the change in society. East Germany felt with unification there would come freedom and prosperity. Where did this thinking come from? It was the constant interchange between the East and West from the time of the division. The East wanted to be included in the West. The citizen revolution in the East brought about the unification of the country.
In 1970 the policy of rapprochement with East Germany brought about a thaw and the interchange that brought about the unification to the country. In the beginning of the interchange East Germany was lukewarm because of the structure of their government but this changed and they overcame the difficulties.
The unification brought many problems to the fore. West Germany thought only of money. Economic unity was important but gradually they realized that mutual understanding was more important. With the unification the West took all the important positions in the government. The West also took a great deal of the responsibility for social security and payments towards the social welfare programs.
Germany in helping the East for ten years remained without growth and the East felt that they were second class citizens.They were treated like the West and yet they felt they were deprived and this feeling grew.
Efforts were made to win the hearts of the East. The East wanted unification and the surrounding nations agreed and yet after unification there were many problems.
Here in Korea the North South divide without interchanges, without travel between the North and South, and little efforts to win favor of the other, there is little resemblance to the preparation that preceded German unification. If suddenly we had unification, with our own differences in the South, and the North/South division, does any one think it will be a blessing?
