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8 | 2012
Unification allemande

German Unification
Edited by Hélène YÈCHE

Following a day conference organised by the MIMMOC research team in October 2009 "The Wall as a  contemporary global paradigm : evolution and perspectives 1989-200" published online in this journal 05 / 2009 - this new issue, devoted to the reception of the fall of the Berlin Wall, looks at the impact of the changes in the autumn of 1989 beyond the frontiers of Germany, looking in particular at the consequences of German Unification in Europe after the 9 November 1989, and above all after the 3rd October 1990.

Due to the unexpected and unheard of nature of the event in the history of Europe in the second half of the twentieth century, the fall of the Berlin Wall led both to enthusiasm, but also to a number of worries. One only has to remember the hesistation that both Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterand expressed when confronted with the perspective of a unified Germany. What was the reaction of different European states following the GDR's unification with the GFR in 1989-1990? What reactions did the event lead to in intellectual and artistic circles? How did nations which are "divided", such as Ireland for example, welcome the news of the fall of the Berlin Wall? What role did German unification play for states in the former Eastern Block? How did nations constituted centuries ago and those whose unity is only a few decades old welcome the German destiny? Above all, can one speak, in reference to the German Sonderweg, of a renewal of the German model in Europe?

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