9781422285848

INTRODUCTION T he Republic of Germany is the seventh largest country in Europe and the continent’s most prosperous economy. Although Germany has gone through many transformations in its history, one of its most challenging came when the victorious allied nations of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Soviet Union divided the nation at the end of World War II (1939–1945). The resulting ColdWar, an ideological battle between the Western democracies led by the United States and communism, fostered by the Soviet Union, tore German society apart. Perhaps no one symbol so dramatically illustrated the division than the Berlin Wall, a barrier of concrete watchtowers, razor wire, machine-gun emplacements, bunkers, and guard dogs. The 96-mile (155km) barricade, first built in 1961, separated communist East Berlin and noncommunist West Ber- lin. For more than forty years, most East Germans suffered under the yoke of communist rule. By the fall of 1989, however, communism was beginning to implode as the liberalizing policies of Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev began to take root. Many Germans believed unification was possible. On November 8, 1989, East Germany announced it would open its border and allow its citi- zens to travel freely to the West. The next day, thousands of Berliners flocked to the wall and began slowly dismantling the barrier. Families that hadn’t seen each other in decades crossed the border and found joyous celebration in each other’s arms. “It was the great- est street party in the history of the world,” one journalist said as the jubilant masses sang “ Wir sind ein Volk —we are one people.” East and West reunited soon after. Germany’s rebirth should not come as a surprise, however. The nation has remade itself before.

7

INTRODUCTION