Transition to democracy -or anschluß. The two Germanies and Europe

Abstract

In this paper, Klaus von Beyme discusses the causes and consequences uf the German unification process. in the frame of transitions to democracy in exsocialist Europe. Firstly, he shows that classical models of democratic transition available in political science are not suitable for the German case, being necessary to deal with specific factors like cultural penetration of the Federal Republic into the Democratic Republic, conditions for a transition were more favourable than in other socialist regimes, and this fact, at the same time, removed any possibility of claiming a «third way» to democratic socialism. Finally, the author goes on from German national context to international situation, analyzing upon wich options world leaders gave at last green light to unification in its present form.