2 ms·

except West Germany was not the winner. It was the people of East Germany.

• cjbenedikt 2y ago
  That appears to be debatable by some. The people that took to the streets in East Germany (and risking their lives) before the wall came down weren't asking for unification. They wanted a democratic East Germany.The protesters were anything if quiet, so there's no shortage of evidence of what they believed and demanded at the time. The evidence shows that they were by no means a "reunification movement." The "Awakening '89" (Aufbruch 89) declaration, signed in September of 1989 at the founding of the New Forum, is illustrative. The declaration articulated a vision of reform and humanitarian socialism: "We want leeway for economic initiative but no degeneration into a dog-eat-dog society," it announced. "We want free, self-confident people who nevertheless act community-conscious[ly]. We want to be protected against violence and thereby not put up with a state of bailiffs and police spies." Notably, nowhere in the declaration is German reunification listed as a demand.