Word: east
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...East Germany will also have to deal with the economic consequences of opening up its borders. As goods and labor begin to flow across the Wall, the difference between the strong West German mark and the virtually worthless East German mark will create a powerful black market. Beyond that, East Germany will need Western help to revive its Rust Bowl of antiquated factories. West Berlin's Economic Research Institute says it will cost $250 billion just to bring the country's hopelessly outmoded communications system up to Western standards. Upgrading roads and rails could cost as much or more...
...rulers of the East bloc, opening the floodgates of reform even partway seems certain to result in more than just a cleansing catharsis. If they had expected only to buy time to save their slipping grasp on power, they may soon be proved wrong. Each change begets some other unpredictable change, and as leaders in Poland, Hungary and East Germany have already discovered, suddenly brings on a whole new order. The tide is simply too irresistible...
...Eastern Europe, symbolized by the opening of the Berlin Wall, raises the possibility of a historic turn toward peace and cooperation -- but also the danger of churning instability. So the questions are piling up: What can the West do to strengthen the democratic movements in Poland, Hungary and East Germany? What sort of relationship can be forged between the former Soviet satellites and the capitalist states of Western Europe? How can the pressure for German reunification be kept in constructive channels? Long range, what is the future of NATO in a Europe no longer frightened by the threat of Communist...
...real democracy does come to East Germany, much of the credit should go to Leipzig (pop. 567,000), which has emerged as the driving force for reform. Through more than a month of spontaneous, peaceful demonstrations, which often brought more than half the city's population into the streets, Leipzig's workers precipitated the ouster of repressive party leader Erich Honecker and helped inspire the historic breach of the Berlin Wall. "They call us 'the Leipzig Miracle,' " says Alfred Richter, 38, a supervisor in a hotel kitchen whose wife and two small children joined in the protests...
...rises lies one of the most dismal landscapes in Europe. This is the heart of the rust belt: mile after mile of blackened smokestacks spew sulfurous coal smoke into the yellow sky; workers labor in ramshackle chemical and textile plants under Dickensian conditions of dirt and noise. To the east stretch crumbling tenements built 100 years ago; to the west sprawl ugly new developments virtually devoid of stores, cinemas or restaurants. Average monthly incomes would buy just $30 of goods in the West; "luxuries" ranging from women's shoes to oranges and shampoo are routinely unavailable in the dingy shops...