THE MOTORIST crossing from a Western into an Eastern state of the Fede
ral Republic of Germany is not reminded by any outward signs that this
, until 9 November, 1989, had been the dividing line between the Weste
rn and the Eastern world for more than 40 years-and one of the most he
avily guarded borders. Less than a year after the peaceful revolution
that toppled the East German regime, the German Democratic Republic (G
DR) joined the Federal Republic and by the same act dissolved itself.
This was preceded by the Treaty on the Currency, Economic, and Social
Union (Vertrag uber die Schaffung einer Wahrungs-, Wirtschafts- und So
zialunion) and the Treaty of Unification (Einigungsvertrag) between th
e Federal Republic and the GDR.(1)