Unification of Germany in 1990

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. American Geographical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Geographical Review. ABSTRACT.Unification of East and West Germany was achieved peacefully in 1990. Agreements on international problems of the eastern boundary, military alliances, size of military forces, and foreign troops were codified in a treaty signed on 12 September by the four post-World War II occupying powers and the two Germanies. Internal problems of unification were addressed by treaties between the two Germanies on 18 May and 31 August. These dealt with state boundaries, the capital, environmental pollution and costs, and a host of economic, political, social, and judicial factors. United on 3 October, the new Germany promises to play a significant role in international affairs. AnewGermany came into existence on 3 October 1990 (Fig. 1). This Germany had not existed previously, at least not in these boundaries with this population, society, economy, government, and international ties. With an area of 357,043 square kilometers, it is two-thirds the size of the Germany of 1871. It is much smaller than France but slightly larger than the United Kingdom or Italy. It has a population of 78 million, compared with 56-57 million for each of these other countries. It also has a stronger economy than any other country in the European Community. In a central position in Europe between east and west and north and south, it has more international boundaries than any other country in Europe: land boundaries are with France, The full geographical effects of unification will not be apparent until some time in the future. The economic geography of the new Germany cannot now be written adequately. Many enterprises in East Germany are so outmoded that their production is being sharply reduced or closed altogether. But if massive investments are made in state-of-the-art facilities, new factories in East Germany could become the most competitive not only in Germany but also in Europe. The fear in East Germany is of current unemployment; the hope is for massive investment and improved competitiveness. This article deals with the process of unification in 1990 and with the problems involved. THE DECISION TO UNITEThe tide of political change in east-central and eastern Europe finally reached East Germany in summer 1989. Breathtaking events followed in

Air Quality in Postunification Erfurt, East Germany: Associating Changes in Pollutant Concentrations with Changes in Emissions

“…Due to the absence of other available vehicles, the car fleet in East Germany was largely composed of "Trabants" prior to unification. These were small cars with 26 horsepower, two-stroke engines and visibly high exhaust emissions (1). After unification the fleet was replaced with vehicles produced largely by Western countries (1), which had comparatively modern engine technology, including three-way catalysts.…”

“…These were small cars with 26 horsepower, two-stroke engines and visibly high exhaust emissions (1). After unification the fleet was replaced with vehicles produced largely by Western countries (1), which had comparatively modern engine technology, including three-way catalysts. Additionally, during this same period, diesel-powered vehicles have become more common throughout Western Europe (22,23).…”

Partition, secession and peace in our time

“…The historical approach has been and remains most popular among political geographers. The reference frame is how a partition occurred and what parallel cases are known from history (Christopher 1994;Galnoor 1991Galnoor , 1995Harris 1991;Katz 1991). An alternative is a law and ethics approach that looks at whether it is tolerable and legally compatible to deny unity or independence to nations that desire it; this is often used in the study of national self-determination (e.g.…”

“…There is still only a relatively small literature and most of this is still case specific, looking at Europe in general (Murphy 1991;Hadjipavlou-Trigeorgis and Trigeorgis 1993), Germany (Harris 1991;Smith 1994), Yugoslavia (Lendvai 1991;Pettifer 1992), USSR (Emizet and Hesli 1995), Palestine (Galnoor 1991(Galnoor , 1995Katz 1991), South Africa (Christopher 1994), and the Third World (Mayall and Simpson 1992). Some work has been of a more general nature, examining state realignments (Waterman 1989), national identity and partition (Christie 1993), and secession and irredentas (Horowitz 1992).…”

State Hegemony in Transforming the Rural Landscapes of Eastern Germany: 1945–1994

“…This paper shows h o w the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) privatized the socialist agriculture of the former GDR following German reunification in 1990. Although the broad political and economic changes since the Cold War (Tuathail and Luke 1994) and for Germany in particular (Harris 1991;Corson and Minghi 1994) have been described, detailed empirical studies of this most recent transformation have not been made. To document the rural landscape and structural manifestations of reprivatization, I use three sources of data: 1) questionnaires collected b y a German agricultural research institute from a representative sample o f 728 farms throughout eastern Germany; 2) topographic and cadastral maps; and 3) field work at nine farm or village sites.…”