Chapter 380 - 25: West Germany’s Campaign Machine

「3:00 PM, Tuesday, March 6, 1990.」

East Berlin, Marx-Engels Square.

Werner stood on the outskirts of the crowd, looking at the makeshift stage. He held a copy of the New German Newspaper. The headline read: "March 18: 12 Days Until East Germany's First Free Election."

In twelve days, East Germany would hold its first truly free election in history.

The election was originally scheduled for May, but the situation had become too dire. Thousands of people were still fleeing to West Germany every day, factories were shuttered, shops were empty, and the East German Mark was depreciating into worthless paper.

Acting Prime Minister Modro had no choice but to move the election up to March, hoping to quickly form a government with a popular mandate to stabilize the collapsing country.

But this was no ordinary election.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the question was no longer "communism or capitalism." That ship had sailed. The real question was: How, and how quickly, would East Germany join West Germany?

Three main factions were competing in the election:

The German Alliance, led by the East German CDU and backed by the full support of West German Chancellor Kohl.

Their platform was simple: use Article 23 of West Germany's Basic Law to have East Germany directly absorbed into West Germany for a swift reunification and the immediate introduction of the West German Mark. Their slogan was "The West German Mark, the good life."

The Social Democratic Party, which advocated for the two countries to first form a confederation and merge slowly, protecting East German industry and welfare programs to give workers a buffer period. They called it a "measured unification."

And then there was Alliance 90, a coalition of civil rights groups like New Forum and Democratic Awakening. They hoped to preserve some of East Germany's "socialist achievements" and forge a "third way" between capitalism and socialism.

But their voices were growing fainter, because most East Germans no longer wanted to hear about any "third way."

And today, West German Chancellor Kohl himself had come to East Berlin to campaign for the German Alliance.

This in itself was a signal: West Germany was now fully involved in East Germany's election, turning it into a proxy war between West German political parties.

On stage, a tall, imposing figure was giving a speech. He was sixty, with a full head of silver hair, a sharp suit, and a booming voice.

Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of West Germany.

"My friends in East Germany!" Kohl's voice boomed through the loudspeakers across the square. "I come here today not as a foreign leader, but as your countryman!"

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause.

Werner looked at the crowd, at least twenty thousand strong. They were waving black, red, and gold flags and holding signs that said "Welcome, Kohl," their faces etched with anticipation.

"I know you have endured forty years of hardship," Kohl continued. "Forty years of division, forty years of oppression, forty years of poverty. But I am telling you, all of that is about to end!"

Another round of applause.

"On March 18, you will have your first real, free election." Kohl raised his fist. "This is your chance, your chance to decide your own destiny! I ask you, vote for the German Alliance, vote for swift reunification!"

The crowd began to cheer.

"I promise you!" Kohl's voice rose. "After reunification, we will turn East Germany into a blossoming landscape! There will be new factories, new roads, new housing! There will be the West German Mark, there will be stable jobs, and there will be a bright future!"

"Kohl! Kohl! Kohl!"

The crowd chanted in unison, the sound coming in wave after wave.

Werner just stood there, silently watching the scene unfold.

Kohl's promises were grand and seductive. But Werner knew how many of them could truly be fulfilled, and how many were just political rhetoric.

'Blossoming landscapes?'

'Perhaps. But before the blossoming, East Germany would first have to experience a kind of death.'

'Countless factories would go bankrupt, countless workers would lose their jobs, and countless people would discover that everything they had accumulated under the old regime—skills, seniority, connections—was now worthless in the new one.'

But the East Germans didn't want to hear that right now.

They only wanted to hear Kohl's promises. They only wanted to believe that reunification would bring a better life.

After the speech, Kohl descended from the stage and, surrounded by bodyguards, slipped into a sedan. The crowd surged forward, wanting to touch him, to shake his hand, but they were held back by security.

Werner turned and left the square, walking into a coffee shop.

The coffee shop was packed, and everyone was discussing the speech.

"Kohl is right, we need swift reunification!"

"Exactly! I'm sick of the East German Mark! I want the West German Mark!"

"On March 18, I'm definitely voting for the German Alliance!"

Werner found a corner to sit down in and ordered a coffee.

Two middle-aged men at the next table were arguing.

"Do you really believe Kohl?" one of the men, who wore glasses, said. "Blossoming landscapes? You think reunification is a free lunch?"

"Do you have a better alternative?" the other man retorted. "Keep using the East German Mark? Keep watching our factories shut down? Our young people flee to West Germany? Thousands are still leaving every day! We've already lost hundreds of thousands of people!"

"I'm not saying we shouldn't reunify, I'm saying we need to take it slow," the man with the glasses said. "The Social Democratic Party's plan is more prudent. First a confederation, a slow merger, protecting East German industry and welfare—"

"Take it slow?" the other man cut him off. "We can't afford to wait! Acting Prime Minister Modro originally planned the election for May, but now it's in March. Do you know why? Because the situation is desperate! The East German Marks in my savings account are losing value every day! My son wants to go to university in West Germany but we have no money! My wife wants to buy a West German washing machine but we can't afford it! And you're telling me to take it slow?"

The man with the glasses fell silent.

"Besides, do you really think we still have a choice?" the man continued. "East Germany is finished, completely finished. Reunification is the only way out, and swift reunification is the only method. Kohl said we should use Article 23 of West Germany's Basic Law to have East Germany directly absorbed into West Germany—that's the fastest way!"

Werner sipped his coffee, listening to their argument.

This was the state of East Germany now.

The idealists were still discussing the "third way," debating how to preserve the merits of socialism and forge a new path between capitalism and socialism.

But most people no longer cared about the path. They just wanted an outcome: the West German Mark, a job, and a stable life.

And Kohl was the one making them that promise.

*******************

「10:00 AM, Saturday, March 10.」

Werner drove through Leipzig and saw the streets lined with campaign posters.

Enormous, full-color posters, glaringly conspicuous against the drab, gray buildings of East Germany.

"The German Alliance—The Road to the Future!"

"Swift Reunification, the West German Mark, a Good Life!"

"Kohl Understands You, Kohl Helps You!"

Werner stopped his car and walked over to one of the posters.

It was beautifully printed on thick paper. Nearby, a campaign van was parked, its body emblazoned with the German Alliance logo and a loudspeaker on its roof blaring a campaign song.

"Unification! Unification! German unification!"

Several young people were handing out flyers, all wearing matching vests with "German Alliance" printed on them.

"Sir, please support the German Alliance!" a girl said, handing Werner a flyer. "Give us your vote on March 18th!"

Werner took the flyer and glanced at it.

It was printed in color, professionally designed, and listed the German Alliance's campaign platform.

Werner looked at the flyer, contemplating the mechanics at work behind it.

'The outcome of this election was decided before the campaign even began.'

'West German Chancellor Kohl's party—the CDU—had provided the East German CDU with massive resources: millions of Marks in political donations, tons of full-color flyers, state-of-the-art sound systems, and professional PR teams.'

'West German campaign advisors taught the East German CDU step-by-step how to win votes, how to craft slogans, and how to organize rallies.'

'And it wasn't just the CDU. All of West Germany's major parties had found their own proxies in East Germany. The West German Social Democratic Party backed the East German Social Democratic Party, and the West German Liberal Democratic Party backed their East German counterpart. Behind every East German political party stood a wealthy "big brother" from West Germany.'

'Meanwhile, the genuine grassroots East German movements—New Forum, Democratic Awakening, the very civil rights groups that had toppled the dictatorship—had hand-drawn posters, black-and-white flyers, and held their speeches in church basements.'

'This was not a fair fight.'

'It was a local league team playing against the World Cup champions.'

Werner understood. When the East Germans voted for the East German CDU, they were actually voting for West Germany, for Kohl, for the West German Mark, and for the affluent life they imagined.

"Sir, will you be voting for us?" the girl asked.

Werner looked at her young face and said, "I won't be voting."

"Why?"

"Because I am not qualified," Werner said. "I'm a man of the old regime. I have no right to vote for the new one."

The girl was taken aback, unsure what to say.

Werner handed the flyer back to her and turned to leave.

He went into a nearby beer hall, ordered a beer, and sat by the window.

Outside, the campaign van continued to blast its song, the young people continued to hand out flyers, and the posters continued their brazen display on the walls.

'This is democracy.'

'Noisy, clamorous, full of money and calculation.'

But the East Germans seemed to be enjoying it. Because for the first time in forty years, they could choose for themselves.

Even if that choice had already been engineered by West Germany.