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Die Wende
 
 
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Die Wende marks the complete process of the change from socialism
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 and planned economy
Planned economy

A planned economy or directed economy is an economic system in which the government or workers' councils manages the economy. It is an economic system in which the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods and services....
 to democracy
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
 and capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
 in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process. These processes and events are:

In hindsight, the German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 word Wende (meaning "change", "turning point") then took on a new meaning; Seit der Wende; "since reunification" or "since the Wall fell"; or "since the change".






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Die Wende marks the complete process of the change from socialism
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 and planned economy
Planned economy

A planned economy or directed economy is an economic system in which the government or workers' councils manages the economy. It is an economic system in which the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods and services....
 to democracy
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
 and capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
 in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process. These processes and events are:
  • Peaceful Revolution (German)
    Peaceful revolution

    The Peaceful Revolution was a series of peaceful political protests against the authoritarian government of the German Democratic Republic of East Germany....
    , a time of massive protest and demonstrations (Montagsdemonstration) against the political system of the GDR and for civil rights
    Civil

    Civil may refer to:*Civic virtue, or civility*Civilian, someone not a member of armed forces*Civil war*Civil disobedience*Civil law, multiple meanings...
     and human rights
    Human rights

    Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
    . in Fall 1989.
  • the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 following a press conference held by the Politburo during which Günter Schabowski
    Günter Schabowski

    G?nter Schabowski was an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , the ruling party during most of the existence of the German Democratic Republic....
     announced the opening of the border checkpoints.
  • the transition to democracy in East Germany following the Peaceful Revolution on 18 March 1990 and leading to the only democratic elections to the Volkskammer
    Volkskammer

    file:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0419-418, Berlin, Volkskammer w?hrend Regierungserkl?rung von Lothar de Maiziere.jpgThe People's Chamber was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic ....
     in the GDR on 18 March 1990.
  • the process of German Reunification
    German reunification

    German reunification took place twice after 1945: first in 1957, the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany, and again on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic joined the Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state....
     leading to the Einigungsvertrag (Treaty of Unification) on 31 August 1990, the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
    Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany

    The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany was negotiated in 1990 between the West Germany , the East Germany , and the Allied Control Council which Military occupation Germany at the end of World War II in Europe: France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union ....
     on 12 September 1990 and finally the joining of the five re-established East German Länder
    Länder

    ----L?nder refers to one or any of:* Colloquially used for States of Austria, the technically correct German language name for the federal states of Austria is Bundesl?nder, which is hardly used in Austria....
     to the Federal Republic of Germany.


In hindsight, the German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 word Wende (meaning "change", "turning point") then took on a new meaning; Seit der Wende; "since reunification" or "since the Wall fell"; or "since the change". This period is marked by West German aid to East Germany, a total reaching an estimated $775 billion over 10 years. This burden greatly diminished much of the initial enthusiasm the Westerners felt for the prospect of reunification
German reunification

German reunification took place twice after 1945: first in 1957, the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany, and again on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic joined the Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state....
.

This "turning point" has marked the reunification of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. The term was first used publicly in East Germany on 18 October 1989 in a speech by interim GDR leader Egon Krenz
Egon Krenz

Egon Krenz is a German former Communism, who briefly served as leader of the German Democratic Republic in 1989 before the end of Communist rule....
 (the term having been used on the cover of influential West German news magazine Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel is a German weekly magazine, published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest weekly magazines with a circulation of more than one million per week....
 two days previously). Whilst it initially referred to the end of the old East German government, Die Wende has become synonymous with the fall of the Wall and of the East German state, and indeed of the entire Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain

The Iron Curtain was the symbolic, ideological, and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991....
 and Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc

During the Cold War, the terms Eastern Bloc, Communist Bloc or Soviet Bloc were used to refer to European annexed or expanded Soviet Socialist Republics of the USSR and Satellite state states, including members of the Soviet-dominated organizations Comecon and the Warsaw Pact....
 state socialism
State socialism

State socialism, broadly speaking, is any variety of socialism which relies on control of the means of production by the state, either through state ownership or regulation....
.