1989/90년 독일통일 과정 시 서독 좌파의 비판과 대안들

Already in the 1980s most leftist politicians as well as critical intellectuals in West Germany shut the door on the idea of a German reunification based on the mobilization of people through nationalist sentiments and a national identity. They claimed fervently that with the looming idea of a unified Europe or a common European security system, the German Problem must be solved within these supra-national prospects in mind. These ideas had a significant influence on the plans and politics that West German political leaders carried out in the process of German Unification in 1989/1990. The West German leftists obviously were not able to accurately gauge contemporary conditions, specially the strong will of the East German people for the national unification, and they could not respond changes of the international and German constellations flexibly or practically. Buried on their own idea that the concept of a unified Europe and the overcoming of the German division must develop and grow together via a German confederation, they stubbornly held on the idea even when the two did not move forward with the same force or at the same pace. The SPD und the Green Party as well as critical intellectuals were unable to put forth practical suggestions and countermeasures at the right times. When we look at Germany today, 20 years since its reunification and choose to focus on the problems of unification through absorption, it is important to recall the warning the West German leftists continuously have emphasized, which was that the “Goliath West Germany” should not lopsidedly ‘tutor’ “David East Germany.” The critism and alternatives from the West-German Left during the unification in 1989/90 would be taken count of as important historical experiences for the reflection on a more democratic process and form of the national unification.