West Germany

prior to the fall of the berlin wall, why did people want to escape from east germany in to west germany?

I know it had something to do with the communist government in east germany, but was life in east germany really that bad? If so what made it so unbearable?

Life really was that bad.

Just consider that before the actual wall was built, some 2-3M people escaped from East Germany (the GDR) to West Germany (the FRG), and freedom. Most of those who left were young and educated, which also caused a “brain drain”, meaning those who were in the best position to run everything in the future, from universities to industry to the government itself simply upped and left. “Brain drains” usually kill a country if they continue too long, because the best leave, virtually allowing for no hope of a healthy future for the country. That put a serious strain on those left behind, and also made the communist system look bad. Escape was easy then because Berlin was still under control of the four powers (Soviet Union, England, US, and France) who had originally developed the sector system after WWII. You could literally leave a Soviet-controlled area, move through buildings and alleys, and get to one of the other zones, where you simply applied for asylum, which was always given. You were then allowed to leave and go wherever you chose.

Because it was on the border of the Iron Curtain, the Russians took a particular interest in the GDR. The Stasi, the Secret Police, was a huge organization, and they recruited informants among the civilians in droves, because pay was very low, and the small amounts of money they paid (with larger amounts for solid leads on things) was a real perk. I’ve read that at times 1 in 3 people (that’s 33% of the entire population) were informants.

Consumer goods were not readily available in the GDR, despite the fact that they were still producing tons of quality goods–they were simply shipped to other communist nations for those in high stations to enjoy. Quality food was scarce, and the bread lines we tend to associate with the Soviet Union were also present there. Medical and dental care was poor. Housing was assigned, and despite the size of your family, you might wait years and years to get into a place which wasn’t cramped. Most telephones were bugged, so you couldn’t even have a private conversation, because you didn’t know who was listening–it’s one thing when you call to tell someone you’ll be there at a certain time, but quite another when you want to say something private. Movement was restricted, and people had to have their papers on them at all times, because the police (both the Stasi and normal police) were allowed to stop you at any time and ask to see them–you had to have them or you risked jail. Really want to go to see Paris, or Rome? Tough. You might seek asylum and never come back. And freedom of expression, or to speak out against the conditions? Non-existent. Essentially, it was a clone of the Soviet Union.

I had a teacher in high school with whom I was very close. I used to eat lunch in his office and we’d chat about things. He told us in class about visiting the GDR several times with the help of his father-in-law, who worked in that area, but he told me more details when we were alone. His father-in-law worked for the CIA, and his “official” job was to debrief people who escaped to the free zone, but it’s more likely, given the time and place, that he was a spy himself. My teacher and his wife visited several times before they had kids, and several times after. Before I graduated from high school in 1986, his most recent visit had been in 1984.

He said he was blown away by how bad things were. They were assigned a Stasi driver, and they traveled with his father-in-law. They actually went to see historical sites, but just driving through Berlin was like being in a third-world country. Buildings were falling apart, the people were dressed poorly, there were long lines in front of every store, and if you saw a car which wasn’t falling apart, it most likely belonged to the government.

The wall was built in 1961 to stop people from escaping, and at first it worked, because the only way out was through a checkpoint (Checkpoint Charlie being the most famous, and also the one my teacher went through each time). By the 70s, things were so bad that guards, who were assigned to their area of the wall in pairs, got new partners every two weeks. Officials had found that when two men worked together for longer than that, they often developed a close enough relationship that one would turn his back and let the other take his family, and himself, over the wall.

People will always seek freedom, and that’s especially the case under a repressive regime. People who lived along the wall could literally look out their windows and over the wall and see freedom just yards away. Everyone knew it was so close that many decided to try for it. I have read more than once that people felt it was better to die trying to escape than to continue existing in the GDR, because what they had there really was just existence, not life.

I hope that helps.

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Import Export in Germany

After the end of World War II, Germany took various steps in order to reconstruct its economy and has certainly achieved significant economic success. This magical economic recovery has put Germany into the third spot after US and Japan in among the world’s largest economies. The careful choice of fiscal and monetary policies adopted by the German government has played a crucial role in turning around the economy. Utilizing Marshall Plan aid to the optimum, building friendly relations with the social partners and adopting plans for rebuilding played a major role in reviving the economy after the damage suffered by it in World War II. Germany adopted an economic policy with main focus on creating social market economy. This idea involved letting the market forces govern the growth of the economy, while the government, mainly focuses on improving the status of poor and neglected, and checking the flaws in the market.

Germany had a thriving economy, which though, suffered huge set backs when the East and West Germany were united in the year 1990. The decline in economy was mainly because of the differences between the economic structures of two parts of Germany.

This together with ageing population and rising unemployment contributed in further deterioration of the economy. The labor market suffering from slow economic growth and unclear incentives is the main hindrance in both hiring and taking work. However, the business reforms and increasing capital markets are providing the much need impetuous that will help Germany to attain its long-terms goals and meet the challenges of European and Global economies.

Public sector reforms and fiscal consolidation and interconnecting them, and to further enhance the capacity of the economy in order to create more employment opportunities and to boost the productivity growth are the major challenges that Germany faces today. Innovative economic steps are also needed for creating new business enterprises and widening the competition in product markets. Reducing administrative costs and removing entry barriers should boost more competitive product markets.

Germany still remains one of the leading exporters of the world. However, its export declined in beginning months of 2009, German exports to USA declined by 27.4% or $4.1 billion in comparison to the same period in 2008. This may be attributed to the allover weakness witnessed by major economies throughout the world lately.

The GDP or Gross Domestic Product is greatly related to the international trade. Germany’s GDP in 2009 was $2.8 trillion. 95% of Germany’s GDP comes from its export and import. $1.5 trillion is the figure for Germany’s worldwide exports and $1.2 trillion is the amount of its imports. In comparison, exports and imports constitutes about 23% of USA’s GDP.

United States imported about 7.5% of the total German exports, making it the second largest consumer of the German goods. France, Britain, Italy, Holland, Austria, Belgium and Spain are the other major consumers of German goods.

$1.2 trillion worth of goods was imported by Germany in the year 2008. Major part of imports was from European Union with China and USA being the other leading countries.

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