III German Democratic Republic Background and Plans for Reform
Author:
International Monetary Fund
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Language:
English
Print Publication Date:
04 Dec 1990
Keywords:
OP; government; deutsche mark; Germany; enterprise; governments of the FRG; market economy; GDR government account; State treaty; private ownership; Wages; Monetary unions; Commercial banks; Purchasing power; Eastern Europe; Social assistance spending; Public enterprises

Abstract

East Germans had been disenchanted with their country’s economic and political system for many years, but opposition was suppressed. Following major political changes in the U.S.S.R. and reforms in Poland and Hungary, opposition in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) came into the open during 1989. A sizable number of GDR citizens voted with their feet, that is, they emigrated to western Germany; many of those who stayed held mass demonstrations.1 In October 1989, under the pressure of these developments and lacking support from the U.S.S.R., the Secretary General of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) and chief of state Erich Honecker resigned. In an attempt to defuse the crisis, the borders to the west were opened on November 9, paving the way for a massive wave of emigration.2

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Cover German Unification
German Unification
Economic Issues Occasional Paper No. 75
ISBN:
9781557752000
ISSN:
0251-6365
Publication Date:
04 Dec 1990
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781557752000.084
Pages:
192