What were the key reasons for German reunification in October 1990?

Different levels of prosperity in the GDR and FRG:

• 1980s - FRG was a prosperous, developed member of the EEC; its citizens enjoyed a high standard of living
• 1980s - GDR's economy failed to develop in a sustainable fashion; facing significant difficulties
• FRG enjoyed significant advantages over the GDR:
  • main industrial lands of Germany in the Rurh and Saarland were part of the FRG and fuelled their economic growth
  • GDR lacked any major areas of raw materials and was mainly agricultural
  • GDR had a smaller population
  • GDR suffered more extensively from reparations from the USSR
  • 1960s - GDR attempted economic reforms but these failed to provide a basis for economic growth
  • GDR's economy suffered from massive spending on defence and bureaucracy
  • GDR was committed to providing a social welfare system that was difficult to sustain
• 1970s - growing social welfare costs, a weak economic system and rising fuel costs were causing mounting problems for the GDR
• To solve its economic problems, the GDR borrowed money through foreign loans and ignored the need to invest in its industries
• GDR found itself reliant on financial assistance from the FRG
• However, the GDR had the most successful Eastern European economy
• 1980s - economic system was in decline
• 1983/4 - GDR was forced to negotiate extensive loans from the FRG to prop up its economic system
• To disguise the economic downturn, Honecker kept up spending on the social welfare system, which pushed the GDR into more spiralling debts
• GDR suffered from some of the worst environmental issues in Europe as they could not afford to modernise equipment and reduce pollution
• late 1980s - GDR's level of harmful carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide emissions was the highest in the world
• Forests in the GDR were under threat from acid rain
• Respiratory illnesses caused by pollution were twice of the European average
• 1989 - average lifespan of a GDR citizen was 2.5 years less for men and 7 less for women, compared to the GDR
• mid-1980s - GDR's economy was in a severe crisis:
  • could no longer afford its social welfare system
  • could not invest in modernisation of its industrial technology
  • attempt to build the world's largest microchip cost the GDR one billion marks and failed to achieve its goal
• The ability of the government to supply citizens with consumer goods they wanted was becoming more difficult
• The quality of goods was low and purchased goods took a long time to arrive
• The poor comparison between the GDR and FRG was seen through West German television shows that East Germans were able to watch and through contact with West German citizens
• Problems were accentuated by the policies of Gorbachev; his economic reforms in the USSR put Honecker under pressure to develop similar reforms
• The leadership of the SED refused to accept the need to reform
• As more East Germans travelled and then migrated to the West, there was a growing awareness of the massive divergence between the GDR and the FRG
• The loss of manpower weakened…