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How far could a historian make use of Sources 12 and 13 together to investiage attitudes towards the German reunification in the years ? A2 History Pearson Edexcel$5.87
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Unit 2E.2 - The German Democratic Republic, 1949-90
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How far could a historian make use of Sources 12 and 13 together to investiage attitudes towards the German reunification in the years ? A2 History Pearson Edexcel
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Unit 2E.2 - The German Democratic Republic, 1949-90
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How far could a historian make use of Sources 12 and 13 together to investigate attitudes towards the German reunification in the years ? A2 History Pearson Edexcel.
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Unit 2E.2 - The German Democratic Republic, 1949-90
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H/W 8th March 2018
Study Sources 12 and 13 before you answer this questonn
How far could a historian make use of Sources 12 and 13 together to investgate attitudes
towards the German reunifcaton in the years 1989-90? (20 marks)
The German reunifcaton came with mixed reactons from various perspectvess some of the
attitudes that came about from the prospect of reunifcaton are apprehensive and source 12 shows
this reservaton towards the idea, and would give a historian a considerably accurate representaton
of the attitudes of the French politcal system towards the reunifcaton. Other politcal powers were
less reserved about this idea, and source 13 shows the positvity the East Germans had towards the
‘alliance’ partcularly as it was published in a politcal magazine by Kohl.
The reunifcaton was an event that provoked strong but diferent opinions from the Western
powers, with America wantng to allow the reunifcaton, but the Britsh and French hesitant about
the consequences of it. The apprehension of the French is put into context when analysing source
12, which is a set of comments made to the French adviser by the French president in response to
the opening of the Berlin Wall, and the prospect of reunifcatons it is therefore an extract from
official documents, and because of this a historian would be able to make use of this to a great
degree, as they would not be considered propaganda or censored. In this light the source can be
viewed as a true view of the negatve attitudes of the French politcal system towards a reunited
Germanys president Miterand commented to his adviser ‘I do not need to oppose it, the Soviets will
do it for me.’ This statement from source 12 gives evidence to the idea that the French were
unhappy with the possibility of the reunifcaton, especially how Miterand believes that ‘the present
situaton is perhaps more dangerous than before,’ suggestng that he considered a reunited
Germany to be dangerous and ‘the opposite [of peace] awaits’ them, which would give some
clarifcaton as to why the French would not want to have a reunited Germany if they felt this way. It
is possible these feelings of apprehension and hesitance from the French is due to how the seconds
World War caused a vast amount of damage and cost to France, as well as the threat of Germany to
the USSR If they were to join together. It explains the comment ‘the Soviets will [oppose] it for me,’
as this would have led to a lef-from-centre government that would undermine Gorbachev and the
USSR economic meltdown, ultmately leading to the Soviets having no way to grow their economy or
further investments they had made.
Opposing this view is source 13, which is an artcle for a politcal magazine writen by chancellor
Kohls the artcle implies that the East German people – possibly even West Germans as well – are
overwhelmed yet happy with the prospect of being reuniteds as this source does not show any
critcisms against the West, and is mainly focussed on the proposals of Kohl’s next steps toward the
reunifcaton, a historian would be able to gather that this is accurate to what was happening at the
tme. You can infer from this that the attitudes of the East Germans at least were mainly positve,
and willing to complete the reunifcaton of the two German states. Kohl is ‘convinced that this will
happen,’ suggestng that they are determined to push forward the idea of reunifcaton, and with the
backing of the American president and government, it would prevent the French and Britsh
critcisms from taking any afect. Source 13 goes on to say how the East Germans ‘no longer want
socialism’ and that ‘they want freedom and unity.’ For a historian, this source is useful to a greater
degree, as it can inform them on the attitudes of the actual people who live in the states that are to
be reunited. The fact that Kohl claimed the East Germans didn’t want socialism implies that many
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