Partition, die Wende, and German unification

This paper provides a geographical context and overview of the critical steps leading to German unification on 3 October 1990. It examines the extent to which the whole process was typical of the sequence of events in other states that have been partitioned and have subsequently reunited, with particular reference to the so-called Wende in East Germany. This was a spontaneous, popular movement for internal reform which, spurred on in late 1989 by the impending collapse of the East German government and its protector, the Soviet Union, became a rallying point for German unification.