On March 18, 1990, the eyes of the world were on the Palace of the Republic. Countless satellite dishes stood in front of the GDR’s magnificent building. Journalists from Germany and the rest of the world reported on the first free election of the GDR parliament. The main issue of the election: would German reunification come quickly or in small steps? Hardly anyone still doubted that it would not come at all. For months, demonstrators on the streets of the GDR had been chanting: "We are one people" and "Germany, united fatherland".
The 24 parties and lists that competed for a seat in parliament went through a short but intense election campaign. Only seven weeks earlier, the Round Table, where representatives of old and new political powers negotiated, had moved the election date forward from May to March. As the problems were huge, the interim government was supposed to be replaced by a democratically elected one as soon as possible. Every day thousands left the GDR for the Federal Republic in the West. More and more details about mismanagement and environmental destruction came to light, as did the extent of surveillance by the secret police. The GDR’s severe crisis with its disrupted system and broken economy made a reunification with the larger West German state even more likely.
Many people in the GDR who were in favour of a rapid unification placed their hopes in the Chancellor of the Federal Republic, Helmut Kohl. He had proposed an economic and monetary union between the Federal Republic and the GDR. Hundreds of thousands cheered when he promised: "Nobody will get worse, but many will get better!" At six large rallies he supported the electoral coalition Alliance for Germany, of which the East German CDU was also part, and which advocates rapid reunification with the Federal Republic. Earlier, the one-party system of the GDR had used parties like the CDU in order to uphold a democratic appearance. All of them de facto had supported the rule of the state party SED. In the election campaign of 1990, the East German CDU now openly committed itself to democracy and formed an alliance with the Alliance for Germany and two other newly founded conservative parties.
In the polls, the SPD was in the lead. It had emerged from the opposition against the SED dictatorship and advocated unity in a similar way. It was also closely aligned with its sister party in the West but not everything that came from that side was helpful. Thus, some West German social democrats warned about the costs of the reunification or spoke out in favour of a more slowly approach. As a result, many GDR voters turned away and preferred to support the CDU.
Finally, the reporters in East Berlin announced the results: CDU 40.8 percent, SPD 21.9 percent, PDS (formerly SED) 16.4 percent. The election result was a triumph for Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The new GDR leadership was now assigned the task of bringing about unity as quickly as possible. The Alliance for Germany formed a large coalition with the SPD and the liberals. Six and a half months later, after tense government work, the unification of the GDR with the Federal Republic took effect on October 3. The people’s representatives fulfilled the promise of a rapid reunification of the states when they voted for joining the Federal Republic on August 23, 1990 in the Palace of the Republic. It would take much longer, however, for East and West to grow together emotionally and socially.
