Word: westing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...West Germany, Bonn's Die Welt newspaperreported Soviet military leaders told East Germantroops not to use force against prodemocracydemonstrators in their country
...theoretical, if not downright irrelevant, only weeks ago. Do they want to build the future within the boundaries of the state as it presently exists? Would they be better off if the whole country were, in effect, annexed by Bonn? Could they hold their own in a partnership with West Germany? And perhaps most important, what are they -- East Germans or just Germans...
...Berlin crossing point, the subway train glides through two empty stations bricked up since 1961, when the Wall rose. The platforms are bare, eerily lighted by a few dusty neon tubes. East German border guards have learned to replace their studied sullenness of old with the occasional smile, but West Germans and others still must file through cattle-chute-like passport control points, and are made to exchange 25 deutsche marks ($13.50) for East German marks, at the usurious rate of 1 to 1, one-tenth the black market quote, for every day they spend in the German Democratic Republic...
What East Germans expect first of all from their new leaders is an effort to build "real Socialism" and sweep away the remnants of a corrupt and repressive regime. They want closer relations with their West German brethren, a growing together with the Federal Republic -- but not necessarily reunification; they insist on being accepted as they are. And finally, they demand economic reward, even though they know they are not likely to catch up with the West any time soon...
POSSIBLE German resentment toward the post-war settlement raises other troubling questions. Will East Germans once again look for scapegoats for the disastrous state of their economy? Will West Germany encourage their cousins' potential desires for revenge? More importantly, are Germans as committed to democratic principles as they seem, or are they merely using democratic rhetoric as an excuse to reunify and regain Germany's place...