ABSTRACT
At first glance, Germany appears to have benefited extraordinarily from the collapse of East European communism. With the accession of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990, Germany was able to overcome one painful result of its defeat in World War II: its split into two opposing parts along the front line of the Cold War. Moreover, reunification seemed to promise that West Germany would reinforce its already strong position among the world’s leading economies.
