Ella and Harold,
My friend Dorothee, to whom I conveyed your question "why?", Ella, has not written back, but I would like, and feel duty-bound, to respond.
As I mentioned earlier, when unification came, suddenly and without advance fanfare, many Germans both in the West and in the East were surprised. And the fact is that many prosperous West Germans were not very welcoming to the idea or the reality, skeptical if or how their impecunious, down-trodden brothers and sisters in the East would adjust.
Like the Nazi leaders had done, the Communists ruled East Germany with an iron fist, keeping people in line through fear and intimidation. The state was a hot bed of espionage. Members of the intelligentsia were well advised to join the one remaining party, the Communists, and everybody was always under surveillance; informants were feared because on their say-so alone people could be thrown in jail. It is not too much to say that East and West were two different worlds. There was no democracy in the East and the name GDR = German Democratic Republic was ludicrous.
Of course, after four decades of oppression and suppression, it could not be expected that the German reunification would be realized over night. But Germans are known for their thoroughness, and the Government has achieved a great deal in the last decade. Berlin is once again the capital and no longer in exile in Bonn (which was always a sleepy university town).
Ella, one last answer : Germany is considered the strongest nation in the European Union and no longer feared as a war monger. Not all nations have adopted the Euro - Britain still has the pound and Switzerland the Swiss franc. The union has weak members, notably Greece, we hear, Spain and possibly Portugal. It is gratifying that the relationship between France an Germany, equal partners in the EU, has been normalized after decades of rivalry and fighting between two arch-enemies over the Rhineland and Alsace-Lorraine.
Incidentally, after World War I, and as stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles, the Rhineland was occupied by French and Moroccan troops continuously until 1931. I remember the Moroccans patrolling the streets in their blue uniform and a red fez.
Thank you, Ella and Harold, and all the participants for another enlightening discussion.
Traude
