Introduction: Postunification Challenges to German Democracy

Abstract

Abstract The collapse of the Communist regime in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, were welcomed around the world. But the rapid unification of East and West Germany brought ambivalent reactions, especially from Germany’s European neighbors. On the one hand there were fears of the political and economic dominance of a united Germany in the center of Europe. On the other hand recollections of the devastating consequences of German national unification movements of the past were rekindled. Voices were heard even within Germany that warned of the emergence of a new sense of nationalism that would slacken ties to Western democracies and promote a new chapter of German assertiveness-one that would seek, for example, to repress memories of World War II and the Holocaust. Such anxiety was directed in particular toward East Germans because very little was known of their political attitudes. Because they had lived under the conditions of a second dictatorship, they were expected to harbor antidemocratic, authoritarian, and intolerant views. In response to these fears, numerous empirical studies were begun in 1990 in the former GDR on voter profiles, issues regarding the political culture, and attitudes toward foreigners.

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