The History Briefing on the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Elena Souris' piece on East German political power since the fall of the Berlin Wall was covered by History News Network.

Elena Souris, a research associate for the political reform program at New America, wrote an intriguing narrative in the Made by History section of the Washington Post connecting the fall of the wall to the increasingly polarized state of German politics today. She argued that the reunification process was largely western-led; that has resulted in disproportionate representation in government. When a quick reunification process was decided on, East Germans were left without the infrastructure and business education to keep up with the development of West Germany. Souris highlights some surprising statistics that show this historical underrepresentation: in the elections of 1990, 19 percent of the new parliament was from the eastern half of the country despite constituting 25 percent of the population. She also connects the rise of far-right political parties in the last few years to the effects of reunification. Germans from the east typically make less than those from the west and in 2015, eastern states had poverty levels higher than the national average. As a result, Souris contends that the recent success of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party in the east can partly be attributed to easterners’ dissatisfaction with their lack of representation over the past three decades. Her article adds to the news story of the anniversary by showing its lingering results are not all feel-good stories for the people who have actually lived through it.