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Alliance for Germany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Alternative for Germany.

Alliance for Germany
Allianz für Deutschland
LeaderLothar de Maizière
Founded5 February 1990 (1990-02-05)
Dissolved2 October 1990 (1990-10-02)
Merged intoChristian Democratic Union
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing
Member parties

The Alliance for Germany (German: Allianz für Deutschland) was an electoral alliance in East Germany. It consisted of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Democratic Awakening and German Social Union. The German Forum Party was invited to join, but it declined.

The Alliance was formed to contest the 1990 East German general election, the first and only free election in the country's history. It ran on a platform of expediting German reunification and won a plurality of the seats in the Volkskammer. It led a coalition government that lasted until reunification, with Lothar de Maizière of the CDU serving as minister-president of East Germany.

History

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Helmut Kohl at an election rally of the Alliance for Germany

The Alliance for Germany announced its creation in a joint press statement by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Democratic Awakening, and German Social Union on 5 February 1990.[1] The German Forum Party declined an invitation to join.[2] The Alliance stated on 6 March that, if elected in the general election on 18 March, the primary goal of its government would be to expedite German reunification.[3]

The Alliance won a plurality of the votes cast in the election (48.2% in total; CDU 40.9%, DSU 6.3%, DA 0.9%), and consequently a plurality of the seats (192 of 400) in the Volkskammer.[4] The result was a surprise to many observers, who predicted the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to win a majority of votes and seats.[5] The Alliance formed a coalition government with the SPD and Liberal Democratic Party, which lasted until reunification. Several Alliance and SPD leaders in the government were disgraced when their involvement in the Stasi became public; this included Lothar de Maizière of the CDU, who served as minister-president of East Germany.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Roberts, Geoffrey (1 January 1997). Party Politics in the New Germany. A&C Black. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-85567-311-3. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  2. ^ Biesinger, Joseph A. (2006). Germany: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. Infobase Publishing. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8160-7471-6. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  3. ^ Kettenacker, Lothar (14 January 2014). Germany 1989: In the Aftermath of the Cold War. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-317-87565-9. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  4. ^ Merkel, Angela (26 November 2024). Freedom: Memoirs 1954 – 2021. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-250-31991-3.
  5. ^ Jarausch, Konrad Hugo; Gransow, Volker (1994). Uniting Germany: Documents and Debates, 1944–1993. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-57181-011-3. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  6. ^ Kitchen, Martin (2 May 2011). A History of Modern Germany: 1800 to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-470-65581-8. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
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