PARTITION, DIE WENDE, AND GERMAN UNIFICATION

This paper provides a geographical context and overview of the critica l steps leading to German unification on 3 October 1990, It examines t he extent to which the whole process was typical of the sequence of ev ents in other states that have been partitioned and have subsequently reunited, with particular reference to the so-called Wende in East Ger many, This was a spontaneous, popular movement for internal reform whi ch, spurred on in late 1989 by the impending collapse of the East Germ an government and its protector, the Soviet Union, became a rallying p oint for German unification, (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.