The PDS: an Unexpected Intruder from the East

Abstract

The unification of Germany was accompanied by many popular expectations. One of them was that the integration of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) would be swift and painless. Another was that the future Federal Republic of Germany would not be very different from West Germany, except that it would be slightly larger and have its capital in Berlin (which in fact transpired at last in 1999, ten years after the fall of the Wall). A third expectation was that prosperous West Germany could convert the economy of the East and bring about better conditions in a relatively short time. Instead, the amalgamation of the two German states has proven more difficult than anyone had believed and this, combined with the pressures of international economic competition, created the highest unemployment rate in all of Germany since the end of the Second World War. At the same time, Europe changed as well. The Soviet bloc fell apart, opening new opportunities and challenges in the East, while the Maastricht Treaty moved inexorably to produce greater coordination in the West. Both the European Union and NATO expanded, but neither expansion was considered to have reached its limit, and no one dared to predict the future size or even nature of either institution. In Eastern Germany the Socialist Unity Party (SED), the governing Communist Party, failed to disappear. Instead it survived, renamed itself the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and mutated, garnering more than 20 per cent of the Eastern vote and even entering the Bundestag. The traditional West German party system suddenly had an unwelcome and significant intruder. Not only did this happen on the local and regional scene, but also in national politics, and the established parties were forced to take it into account.KeywordsGrand CoalitionGerman Democratic RepublicSocial Market EconomySocial Democratic PartyElection StrategyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.