## Infrastructure Challenges After Reunification - The fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] led to an immediate surge in demand for cross-border travel, requiring the rapid construction of new immigration checkpoints and the reopening of previously sealed [[Metro station | subway stations]]. [(00:01:24)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=84s) - The [[Berlin U-Bahn | Berlin Subway]], originally a single system, had been painstakingly separated, with some lines split and others sealed off at the border. [(00:01:32)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=92s) - East Germany's rail [[Infrastructure | infrastructure]] was in disrepair due to [[Soviet Union | Soviet]] dismantling of rail lines and electrification infrastructure as war reparations, leaving the country reliant on inefficient single-tracking methods and outdated technology. [(00:05:22)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=322s) - Travel times between East and [[West Germany | West German]] cities were very long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, sometimes taking over 4 hours for journeys that took less than half that time in the 1930s. [(00:05:50)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=350s) - Following reunification, the German government invested heavily in infrastructure, with $20 billion allocated for rail lines and an additional $16 billion for highways. [(00:06:27)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=387s) ## Political and Economic Challenges After Reunification - In the first free elections in [[East Germany]] since the 1930s, the [[Alliance for Germany]], advocating for reunification and a market economy, won 192 out of 400 seats. [(00:07:41)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=461s) - Many East German state employees lacked skills and were too closely tied to the [[Stasi]], leading to a system of "politicized incompetence". [(00:11:56)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=716s) - In June 1991, East Germany had a significantly higher ratio of state employees to residents compared to West Germany, necessitating cuts to the bloated bureaucracy. [(00:12:33)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=753s) - Following reunification, East [[West Germany | German]] companies struggled to compete in the free market, resulting in a surge in unemployment and a decline in industrial production in former East Germany. [(00:14:28)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=868s) ## Social and Cultural Challenges After Reunification - Many East Germans feel like second-class citizens and feel rejected and left behind after reunification. [(00:17:46)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=1066s) - Academics suggest that the poor economic prospects in [[East Germany]] and increased diversity in the past three decades have been conflated by many, leading to anti-immigrant views and xenophobia. [(00:18:15)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=1095s) - The political and cultural divide that existed between East and West Germany is expected to remain for years to come. [(00:18:59)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA&t=1139s) ## Sources - [website](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5aGyiTCxDA)