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Chronicle 1990

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    • 2 March

      1990

      The GDR Council of Ministers decides to turn the border troops into a civilian border protection agency by the end of the year and integrate this latter into the GDR Interior Ministry. more
    • 2 March

      1990

      The honorary chairman of the SPD, Willy Brandt, at an election rally on the “Platz der Republik” in Gera
      The West German chancellor is in high spirits. In Chemnitz, 200,000 people come to his election campaign speech. By 15 March, Helmut Kohl has reached more than a million GDR citizens with his campaign appearances. more
    • 2 March

      1990

      The head of the West German Chancellor’s Office and the heads of the state and senate chancelleries discuss the extent to which the German federal states should be involved in the forthcoming negotiations with the GDR. Some states fear that the federal system of West Germany could be undermined by the negotiations on unification.
    • 5/6 March

      1990

      A GDR government delegation travels to Moscow for talks with Mikhail Gorbachev. As is reported shortly afterwards, the chairman of the Council of Ministers, Hans Modrow, tells the CPSU General Secretary that the Soviet Union should intervene in the domestic aspects of the negotiations on German reunification as well and help secure the GDR’s ownership of property.
    • 5/6 March

      1990

      In Bonn, the coalition parties agree to carry out the reunification according to Article 23 of the Basic Law. more
    • 7 March

      1990

      During the final meeting of the Volkskammer before the elections, a number of laws are passed. They include fundamental economic legislation (including the formation of a transitional privatisation agency and a law on the founding of private companies), a law on the right to assemble and the approval of the “Social Charter” passed at the 15th meeting of the Round Table (5 March). more
    • 12 March

      1990

      In East Berlin, the Round Table assembles for its last meeting and issues a final statement. Results of the 16th meeting of the Round Table of the GDR, 12 March 1990 (in German)
    • 12 March

      1990

      An Infratest survey shows that the SPD is set to easily win the Volkskammer election. It gives the SPD 44% of votes, the CDU 20%, the DSU 5%, Democratic Awakening 1%, the PDS 10%, the FDP 2%, the LDP 2%, the Green Party 1%, the DBD 3% and New Forum 1%.
    • 14 March

      1990

      The “Alliance for Germany” experiences an upheaval shortly before the elections. The chairman and leading candidate of Democratic Awakening, Wolfgang Schnur, is exposed as an “Unofficial Collaborator” with the Stasi. more
    • 14 March

      1990

      In Bonn, senior official-level talks begin ahead of the two-plus-four negotiations on the external aspects of Germany’s reunification.
    • 18 March

      1990

      Ballot paper for Electoral District 1 (Berlin) for the GDR Volkskammer election on 18 March 1990
      Contrary to all predictions, the “Alliance for Germany” wins the Volkskammer election with 47.8% of votes. More than 12.2 million people had the chance to choose between 24 parties, political associations and combined alliances (Listenvereinigungen). Voter turnout is 93.39 per cent. The SPD receives 21.8% and the PDS 16.3 per cent. The election platform of the civil rights movements, “Bündnis 90”, is also among the losers, gaining just 2.9 % of votes. more
    • 19 March

      1990

      The West German press celebrates the election victory of the "Alliance for Germany" in the GDR as a victory for Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

      Rudolf Augstein, the editor of the Hamburg news magazine “Der Spiegel” says of the chancellor: “He again showed his instinct for power; he represented the right cause.” Not long before this, Augstein had described Kohl’s government team as “the clowns of Bonn.” less
    • 20 March

      1990

      The election results lead to a sudden reduction in the number of GDR citizens moving to West Germany. more
    • 22 March

      1990

      The conservative Alliance parties and the liberal parties agree to form a coalition government. On 27 March, the SPD also signalises its willingness to cooperate.
    • March 1989

      At the end of the month, it becomes evident how much the flow of people migrating to West Germany after the Volkskammer elections has diminished: in the month of March, just 46,000 GDR citizens register as migrants to the Federal Republic.
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