Annual Report 2009 | Perspectives 2010

PERSPECTIVES 2009|2010 THE KONRAD-ADENAUER-STIFTUNG USES ITS EXCEPTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND GLOBAL POLITICAL EXPERTISE TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS CURRENT CHALLENGES. THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTIONS ADDRESS SOME OF THE TOPICS THAT GUIDE THE FOUNDATION’S WORK BEYOND THE DAY TO DAY. 14 TWENTY YEARS LATER – WHAT GERMANS THINK OF REUNIFICATION DR. VIOLA NEU Twenty years after the fall of the wall, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung researched the question of how Germans view reunification today. Many contributed to bring down Coordinator, Election Research the wall and bring about German reunification, from civil rights activists in East Ger- and Party Research, Politics and Consulting Department, many to the popular movement to politicians. They often got involved independently Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung of each other – often they also had different political expectations and goals. A lot has changed since then. How are the last twenty years assessed today? How is reunification seen from the perspective of the East and the West? To this end, the KAS – in cooperation with the dimap political research institute – carried out 1,307 interviews by telephone from 21 to 25 September 2009. 603 of these took place with people living in the new German states, 704 in the states in the former West Germany. TWENTY YEARS LATER Regardless of the question, the answers always follow a similar pattern. Supporters of left-wing parties in eastern and western Germany often see things less positively; frequently they express critical to negative views. Backers of the Christian Democratic and Social Democratic parties are the strongest supporters. Young respondents, especially those not yet old enough to have personally experienced the fall of the wall, are often more critical. Just twenty years later, one can apparently no longer expect people to automatically have far-reaching and detailed knowledge of that historic event. Polls reveal that especially younger age groups are less informed about the reasons that caused the fall of the wall and what role the various actors played in it. Older people generally take a far more positive stance. This group experienced both the division of the two Germanys and their reunification, which means their emotional connections are that much stronger. All in all, the answers show only slight differences between the states in the west and the new federal states. Even the differences among social groups are relatively minor. Younger people polled generally view events since reunification more positively, whether the questions focus on freedom and democracy, or on whether people think they are better off materially in the new federal states. Young people clearly think that living The remnants of the Berlin conditions have improved, in contrast to the older generation. So while they do not wall have become one always really know the causes behind the fall of the wall – and thus have less emotional big colourful monument, like here at the East connections to the events of 1989 – younger people view developments since reunifi- Side Gallery. The wall in people’s heads has now shrunk substantially, THE FALL OF THE WALL as a KAS poll revealed. A good decision/a positive event Region Party affiliation West East CDU/ SPD FDP The The Total CSU Green Left Party Party 91 92 92 92 94 99 90 91 cation more positively than middle-aged and older people. It can be deduced that German unity has – by now – become self-evident, and that it is largely the older generation that emphasises differences between the states of east Germany and of west Germany. Virtually no one questions whether it was right that the wall fell. Ninety-one percent 15 say it was a positive event, and there are no differences between people living in the east versus those in the west. There is consensus on this issue among all groups, even among those with different party affiliations. The historic decision to reunite the two countries on the basis of the Basic Law, or West German constitution, continues to receive a high degree of approval. Eighty-seven percent of Germans support it. Some 85 percent of Germans believe it was good to believe in the idea of reunification, even during the time of German division. An over- whelming majority of Germans are proud that the SED, or East German communist regime, fell peacefully. Seventy-nine percent agree with the following statement: “Germans can be proud of having peacefully overcome the East German regime.” REUNIFICATION BASED UPON THE BASIC LAW A good decision/a positive event Region Party affiliation West East CDU/ SPD FDP The The Total CSU Green Left Party Party 89 80 93 88 89 89 75 87 TWENTY YEARS LATER MAINTAINING THE GOAL OF REUNIFICATION AT THE TIME OF A DIVIDED GERMANY A good decision/a positive event Region Party affiliation West East CDU/ SPD FDP The The Total CSU Green Left Party Party 86 82 90 90 85 96 78 85 GERMANS CAN BE PROUD OF HAVING PEACEFULLY OVERCOME THE EAST GERMAN REGIME Completely agree/largely agree Age Region 18 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 54 55 – 64 65+ West East 77 77 78 83 79 79 78 Party affiliation A man and a child look CDU/CSU SPD FDP The The No Total at one of the signs that Green Left indication have been put up to Party Party commemorate the former 84 83 81 84 73 75 79 border that divided Germany und Europe until November 1989. Most Germans think that the main reason that brought down the wall was a desire for freedom. Eighty percent agree with the statement: “The people’s urge for freedom was so great that it could no longer be suppressed by the SED.” There is widespread agreement among those surveyed on this question. People still view the involvement of civil rights activists in ousting the communist regime favourably. Seventy-four percent say, “The civil rights movement played a crucial role in overcoming the East German dictatorship.” But the regime was not just brought down because the people and the civil rights movement were committed to change. Reasons lay within East Germany itself. Seventy- four percent of respondents said: “East Germany’s economic decline substantially contributed to the end of the SED dictatorship.” 16 But Germans also recognise the role statesmen played in reunification. Seventy-three percent say: “That politicians like Helmut Kohl, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev acted in a determined and courageous fashion was critical to the success of reunification.” Many factors and actors Twenty years later, reunification remains an emotional high point for many Germans contributed to the fall of and they have no doubt that it was the right thing to do. But Germans are aware the wall and German reunifi- that a whole host of factors were responsible for causing the fall of the wall: from the cation. Twenty years later efforts of the civil rights movement and the people’s desire for freedom to the fact nearly all Germans view that statesmen acted decisively or for reasons specifically tied to the situation in East reunification as an extremely Germany, such as the country’s economic decline. The long-term fundamental decisions positive event. that the Federal Republic of Germany took are also viewed positively today. Twenty years on, the wall in people’s heads is small. Differences between east and west Germans only exist in a few categories – namely in regards to evaluating the situation in the states of eastern Germany since unification. Only supporters of the Left Party are more reserved in their assessment in nearly every category polled. But even they largely see things positively. People who have few – if any – memories of the fall of the wall because they were too young at the time generally see the developments since then far more positively than the older people polled. But older people are more TWENTY YEARS LATER emotionally attached to their memories than younger people. Since 2008, ambassadors to Germany have “In no other country could so many presented their reflections on Germany in foreigners gain a foothold in public life.” an event series called My Germany held Peter P. van Wulfften Palthe at the Berlin Academy. It provides a multi- (The Netherlands) faceted view of history and the present, of Germany’s art, culture and politics. Here “Germany and Spain share common values a few memorable statements: of freedom and democracy. Their fundamental social and ethical vision is also very “The reunification of Germany was the similar.” crowning moment of one of modern “MY GERMANY” diplomacy’s greatest success stories.” “Spain has a positive attitude toward William R. Timken Jr., (United States) Germany.” Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo (Spain) With its 20,000 jobs, BMW (which Sir Michael Arthur refers to as the British motor works) “There is no other country with which we is one of the biggest employers in Great have such close ties as with Germany. Our Britain. “Long may that last” is how he sums ties are not just political and economic but up the close cooperation between Germany they also extend to the interpersonal level.” and Great Britain. Christian Blickenstorfer (Switzerland) Sir Michael Arthur (Great Britain) “Poland is an important partner for Germany “Today, everyone takes Franco-German because it’s also a difficult partner.” friendship for granted. That is largely thanks to two important men and their political “Misunderstandings in our relationship willpower: Charles de Gaulle and Konrad were often caused by the fact that political Adenauer. These two statesmen represent debates in both countries took place in Franco-German reconciliation.” a non-synchronous fashion.” Bernard de Montferrand (France) Marek Prawda (Poland) VIEWS OF GERMANY 17 FROM THE FALL OF THE WALL TO REUNIFICATION – THE YEAR OF DECISIONS BY PROFESSOR DR.

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