The Peaceful Revolution () – also called (, "the turn") – was one of the peaceful revolutions of 1989 at the peak of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. It was a process of sociopolitical change that led to, among other openings, the opening of East Germany's borders to the Western world.
These events were precipitated by Solidarity's peaceful revolution in Poland and enabled by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's decision to abandon intervention in the Soviet sphere of influence and other shifts to the Soviet Union's foreign policy.
In East Germany—the former German Democratic Republic (GDR or DDR)—the peaceful revolution marks the end of the ruling by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1989 and the transition to a parliamentary system. This peaceful transition later enabled the German reunification in October 1990. The peaceful revolution was marked by nonviolent initiatives and demonstrations.
The GDR's lack of competitiveness in the global market economy, as well as its sharply rising national debt, hastened the destabilization of the SED's one-party state, similar to destabilization of such regimes in other Eastern Bloc countries.
Reunification Because of its hostile response to the reforms implemented within its "socialist brother lands", the SED leadership was already increasingly isolated within the Eastern Bloc when it permitted the opening of the border at the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. Through a change in leadership and a willingness to negotiate, the SED attempted to win back the political initiative, but control of the situation increasingly lay with the West German government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
From December 1989, the GDR government of Prime Minister Hans Modrow was influenced by the Central Round Table, which put into action the dissolution of the Stasi and prepared free elections. After an election win for a coalition of parties that supported German reunification, the political path within the GDR was clear.
Despite previously hoping to rehabilitate their nation, East German activists eventually supported reunification. East German citizens welcomed the German reunification following 40 years of repression and inaction by the East German elites.
Timeline
Significant events:
Late 1980s – The period of Soviet bloc liberalisation (Glasnost) and reform (Perestroika).Childs, David (2014) The Fall of the GDR. Abingdon: Routledge. 27 June 1989 – The opening of Hungary's border fence with Austria.On this day: 27 June – the Iron Curtain was breached. European Parliament, 26 June 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2019 19 August 1989 – The Pan-European Picnic at the Hungarian-Austrian border, when hundreds of East Germans, who were allowed to travel to Hungary but not to the west, escaped to West Germany via Austria.Walker, Shaun (18 August 2019) How a pan-European picnic brought down the iron curtain on Guardian Online. Retrieved 20 August 2019 From 4 September 1989 – Monday demonstrations in East Germany calling for the opening of the border with West Germany and greater human rights protections. 7 October 1989, the day of the 40th anniversary of the GDR, about 15,000 residents of the Saxon city of Plauen were the first to take to the streets en masse to express their dissatisfaction with the conditions in the GDR. 18 October 1989 – Erich Honecker removed as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. 9 November 1989 – The fall of the Berlin Wall, enabling East Germans to travel freely to the west. 1 December 1989 – The Volkskammer removes section of the East German Constitution granting the SED a monopoly of power, thus ending Communist rule in East Germany. 3 December 1989 – The Socialist Unity Party's stepping down.How ordinary people smashed the Stasi in The Local.de, 4 December 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2019 4 December 1989 – Citizens' occupations of Stasi buildings across the country, starting in Erfurt. The Stasi headquarters in Berlin were occupied on 15 January 1990. 13 January 1990 – The dissolution of the Stasi. 18 March 1990 - The 1990 East German general election, which was also a quasi-referendum on reunification, in which the Alliance for Germany, which supported reunification, got the highest proportion of votes.Illmer, Andreas (18 March 2010) on DW.com. Retrieved 8 August 1990
1 July 1990 – The Währungs-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialunion (Monetary, Economy and Social Union) accord between East and West Germany, came into effect.Bromley, Joyce E. (2017) German Reunification: Unfinished Business. Abingdon-on-Thames:Routledge on Google Books. Retrieved 8 August 2019. East Germany adopted the West German currency on this day. 31 August 1990 – The signing of the Einigungsvertrag (Treaty of Unification) between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany on 31 August 1990 and the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany on 12 September 1990. 3 October 1990 – German reunification achieved with the five re-established East German states integrated into the Federal Republic of Germany.
Soviet policy toward the Eastern Bloc A fundamental shift in Soviet policy toward the Eastern Bloc nations under Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s was the prelude to widespread demonstrations against the Socialist Unity Party, which had ruled East Germany since the country was founded on 7 October 1949. Previous uprisings – East Germany (1953), Czechoslovakia (1953), Poland (1956), Hungary (1956) and the Prague Spring (1968) – were harshly put down by Soviet troops.Kramer, Mark (2011) ((December 2011) "Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective: The Demise of the Soviet Bloc". In The Journal of Modern History 83 (December 2011), pp. 788–854. Retrieved 22 August 2019 The Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981 was already one of non-intervention.Mastny, Vojtech (1998) The Soviet Non-Invasion of Poland in 1980/81 and the End of the Cold War . Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (PDF). Retrieved 22 August 2019
Having initiated a policy of glasnost (openness) and emphasized the need for perestroika (economic restructuring), in July 1989, Gorbachev permitted the Warsaw Pact nations to initiate their own political and economic reforms within the terms of the treaty.Nelsson, Richard (10 Jul 2019) Gorbachev's vision for a 'common European home'- archive, July 1989. Retrieved 22 August 2019
The policy of non-interference in Soviet Bloc countries' internal affairs was made official with Gorbachev's statement on 26 October 1989 that the "Soviet Union has no moral or political right to interfere in the affairs of its East European neighbors". This was dubbed the Sinatra Doctrine, by Gorbachev's spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov who joked "You know the Frank Sinatra song, 'I Did It My Way'? Hungary and Poland are doing it their way."Keller, Bill (26 October 1989) Gorbachev, in Finland, Disavows Any Right of Regional Intervention. in New York Times. Retrieved 22 August 2019
East German reaction to Soviet reforms
Following the reforms, by 1988 relations had soured between Gorbachev and Honecker, although the relationship of KGB and the Stasi was still close.Alexander, Martin S. (1998) Knowing Your Friends: Intelligence Inside Alliances and Coalitions from 1914 to the Cold War. London: Frank Cass. Retrieved 22 August 2019
In November 1988, the distribution of the Soviet monthly magazine Sputnik, was prohibited in East Germany because its new open political criticisms annoyed upper circles of the GDR leadership. This caused a lot of resentment and helped to activate the opposition movement. After a year, the sale of the magazine was reinstated, and censored editions of the issues from the preceding year were made available in a special edition for East Germans.DDR Museum. The magazine "Sputnik" as a paper based ambassador of the USSR. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
Economy of East Germany East Germany's economy was stronger than other Eastern Bloc countries and it was the most successful of the CMEA countries. It was the Soviet Union's most important trading partner, although it was very much subordinate. It was a net exporter of technology. Its shared language, cultural and personal connections with West Germany helped to boost its economy.Baylis, Thomas A. (1986) Explaining the GDR's Economic Strategy in International Organization, Vol. 40, No. 2, "Power, Purpose, and Collective Choice: Economic Strategy in Socialist States" (Spring, 1986), pp. 381–420. Retrieved 22 August 2019 Its trade with West Germany was 50 to 60 percent of its total trade with Western nations.Protzman, Ferdinand (15 May 1989) (East Germany Losing Its Edge in New York Times Retrieved 22 August 2019
Although it was hailed as a communist success story, by the late 1980s its economic growth had slowed to less than 1% per year and the government's economic goals were not reached. It had to deal with increasing global competition with run-down industrial infrastructure, and shortages of labour and raw materials. From 1986, its products were often seen as inferior and orders delivered to the Soviet Union were increasingly rejected due to poor quality control standards. Other communist countries were pursuing market-led reforms, but the government of Erich Honecker rejected such changes, claiming they contradicted Marxist ideology. More than one-fifth of the government's income was spent on subsidising the costs of housing, food and basic goods.
Poor sewerage and industrial infrastructure led to major environmental problems. Half the country's domestic sewage was untreated, as was most industrial waste. Over a third of all East Germany's rivers, and almost a third of its reservoirs and half of its lakes were severely polluted. Its forests were damaged by sulphur dioxide and air pollution in cities was a problem.Bryer, Keith (11 November 2015) East Germany provides bleak ideological lesson in Business Report. Retrieved 22 August 2019 Protests about these environmental problems played a large part in the Peaceful Revolution.Der Bundespräsident. The 25th anniversary of the peaceful revolution, 9 October 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2019
Workers in East Germany earned more than those in other communist countries and they had better housing than most of them. But East German workers compared themselves with West Germans, who were much better off, which was another cause of dissatisfaction.
Electoral fraud in the GDR
In practice, there was no real choice in GDR elections, which consisted of citizens voting to approve a pre-selected list of National Front candidates. The National Front was, in theory, an alliance of political parties, but they were all controlled by the SED party, which controlled the Volkskammer, the East German parliament. The results of elections were generally about 99% "Yes" in favour of the list. However, before the 7 May 1989 election there were open signs of citizens' dissatisfaction with the government and the SED was concerned that there could be a significant number of "No" votes. The number of applications for an Ausreiseantrag (permission to leave the country) had increased and there was discontent about housing conditions and shortages of basic products.Wahlfälschung 1989 Die Angst der SED vor tausend Nein-Stimmen, 9 May 2019 in LR online. Retrieved 23 August 2019
In the weeks before the election, opposition activists called for it to be boycotted, and distributed a leaflet criticising Erich Honecker's regime. Nevertheless, the result of the election was proclaimed as 98.5 percent "Yes". Clear evidence of electoral fraud was smuggled to the West German media. When this information was broadcast, it was picked up in East Germany, instigating protests.Hawley, Charles (7 May 2009) 99 Percent for the Communists: How the End of East Germany Began in Spiegel Online International. Retrieved 23 August 2019