Annus Mirabilis: 1989 and German Unification

This article focuses on the wonder years enjoyed by Germany in 1989 that followed the great German unification. In 1989–1990, the two Germanies underwent a series of remarkable changes that would signal the end of the postwar division of Europe. East Germans peacefully toppled the hard-line Socialist Unity Party that had ruled with an iron fist for forty years. This article traces the revolutions that raged East Germany and its effects on the other part of the country. East Germany witnessed mass exodus resulting in labor shortages and other such problems. As East Germans fled in the summer of 1989, pro-democracy activists formed civic groups calling for reform. This article also explains the involvement of the two states in bringing down the iron curtain and unifying Germany. This article also explains the form of chancellor democracy, new economy that came to dominate the new found Germany.