Master Thesis
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CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies B.A. Eric Holtschke The Democratic Transition of Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic and their Successor States, with Particular Focus on the Geopolitical Framework after 1989 Master thesis Prague 2014 Author : B.A. Eric Holtschke Supervisor : Mgr. Martin Riegl, PhD. Academic Year : 2013/2014 Bibliographical Note HOLTSCHKE, Eric. The Democratic Transition of Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic and their Successor States, with Particular Focus on the Geopolitical Framework after 1989. 120 pages. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies. Supervisor Mgr. Martin Riegl, PhD. Abstract In 1989-1990 the communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed, opening up the road to democracy, came about by means of mass demonstrations, the first of which took place in Plauen (GDR) on 7 October 1989. Only a few months later, no-one could be sure how the world would develop. The so-called ‘voice’ was followed by ‘exit’ in the German Democratic Republic – and the Czechoslovakians were close to the events taking place in the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Prague. The end of the autocratic system was followed by the process of democratisation, characterised by upheavals and the restructuring of political conditions. Free and independent elections marked the end of democratisation in both the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia. The consolidation period was determined by the dissolution of both of the aforementioned countries. The author’s focus was on economic consolidation, as well as on political consolidation with regard to regional integration by means of the countries’ membership of international organisations and regional and sub-regional bodies. Finally, a comparison has been made of the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia and their successor states. Key words Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, regionalism, NATO, European Union, international organisations, transition Range of thesis: 304,941 symbols, 44,327 words, 134 pages Declaration of Authorship I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work, based on the sources and literature listed in the appended bibliography. The thesis as submitted is 304,941 keystrokes long (including spaces), i.e. 134 manuscript pages. Prague, 14 May 2014 ____________________________ (Eric Holtschke) Institute of Political Science Master Thesis Proposal Democratic Transition of Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic and their Successor States with a Particular Focus on the Geopolitical Framework since 1989 by Eric Holtschke Title/Topic of the Thesis: Democratic Transition of Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic and their Successor States with a Particular Focus on the Geopolitical Framework since 1989 Thesis Supervisor: Ph.D. Mgr. Martin Riegl Date of Submission: May/June 2014 Date of Defense: June 2014 Number of Pages: approximately 60 Structure: 1. Introduction 1.1 Subject of Study 1.2 Problem Statement 1.3 State of Research 1.4 Structure 1.5 Methodology 2. Theoretically-based Rapprochement: Definitions 2.1 System 2.2 Transition 3. Czechoslovakia and its Successor States in Transition 3.1 Historical Rapprochement 3.2 The Emergence of the Process of Transition 3.3 Czech Republic and Slovakia within the Transition 3.3.1 (Geo-)Political Effects 3.3.2 Transition Today? 4. German Democratic Republic and its Successor State in Transition 4.1 Historical Rapprochement 4.2 The Emergence of the Process of Transition 4.3 “Neue Länder” of Federal Republic of Germany in Transition 4.3.1. (Geo-)Political Effects 4.3.2 Transition Today? 5. Comparative Studies 5.1 Two different transitions? 5.2 Evaluation 6. Conclusion 6.1 Summarisation 6.2 Outlook 7. Bibliography Key Questions/Hypotheses: 1. How can the development of the transitional process of Czechoslovakia and German Democratic Republic and their successor states be outlined? 2. What are the similarities between these mentioned states, what are the differences regarding to the level of transition and where do these countries stand today? 3. How can the geopolitical impacts of the transition be analyzed and evaluated (regarding to the membership of these mentioned states in international organisations)? Reasons and Purpose of Thesis: The author would like to outline the chosen topic due to his former area of interests. During his Bachelor Studies at University of Technology in Chemnitz (Germany) in the field of political science the writer was focussed on transition studies with regarding to countries in Middle and Eastern Europe. His Bachelor thesis, rated with 1.8, was dealing about a very special topic. Titled as “Continuity between Yesterday and Today? Transition of ‘Junge Welt’ from the Central Organ of FDJ [Free German Youth] to a left-wing extremist Daily Paper with Particular Focus on the years 1989/1990”, Eric Holtschke discussed the development and the changing point of a former central organ of the communist youth movement to an ultra left-wing newspaper in reunited Germany. The purpose of the current Master thesis is lying in the survey of the development and comparison of the processes of transition as well as consolidation in both former communist countries Czechoslovakia and German Democratic Republic and their three successor states. An enormous lack of scientific investigation can be found referring to the transition of the German Democratic Republic due to the reunification with (West) Germany; nevertheless significant distinctions between the West and the East of Germany in regard to society, economy and politics are still more than visible which shall be in the focus of the thesis. Concerning Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovakia, the thesis shall follow a geopolitical framework and its aftermaths with respect to the membership in North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union and Eurozone. Due to the Master Program in Prague the author tries to connect and to combine his country of origin and his current state of living to look behind the history happened in the past and to look for the future which will determine the transitional process tomorrow. Description of Contents: The Master thesis shall consists of seven ideally numbers of content. In the beginning the thesis should introduce the main area of interest which is going to be discussed in the further text. The introductory chapter will be especially focussed on the core problem statement and on an evaluation of the current state of research. Furthermore the thesis presents the structure and the methods which will be used during the thesis’ drawing up. The first content-related aspect will introduce the main terminologies. It seems to be very important for the topic’s understanding to bring the readers of the final assignment closer to the theory behind the essay. The author of the thesis would like to be concentrated on several definitions with regard to the terms “system” and “transition”. In the third chapter Czechoslovakia and its successor states Czech Republic and Slovakia will be in the focus of discussion. In this and the following chapter the main content- related work of the thesis will be done. The writer will be particular orientated on a historical rapprochement starting in the mid 1980’s before the emergence of the process of transition towards geopolitical effects regarding to territorial changes and membership in different international organizations will be in contemplation. Afterwards a brief evaluation of the today’s level of transition will be added. The same structure is going to be used for the German Democratic Republic and later on the new-born federal states of reunited Germany. In point 5 a comparison of both transitional processes will be given by the author before the thesis will be finished by a final evaluation. The main content is followed by a conclusion. The conclusion shall be used firstly to summarize the main topic and, secondly, to maintain a further outlook regarding to the future of both transitional states. The thesis finally ends by a bibliographical overview. Description of Methodology: The final assignment consists of two methods. The main method which will be used within the thesis consists of comparative studies of all three current countries in transition or parts of a country in transition. This method will be supplemented with the measurement of the level of transition given by the organisations “Freedom House” and “Bertelsmann Stiftung”. Both “Freedom House” and “Bertelsmann Stiftung” are focussed on nations in transition and their progresses. Not only the evolution of Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and German Democratic Republic and its successor will be compared; the author is going to be concentrated on the two different assessments of both organisation which will be included in the comparative studies, too. Furthermore, the second method consists of two interviews with contemporary witnesses and their experience within the process of the exchange of the political systems in Czechoslovakia and German Democratic Republic. It will be done by means of a journalism fact interview underlain by certain formulation of questions. Selection of Bibliography: Printed Books: Alena Novosadová: DDR-Nostalgie in den neuen Bundesländern und die Geschichtspolitik der PDS, Praha 2012. Barbara Lippert/Peter Becker: Towards EU-Membership. Transformation and