Editing German reunification (section)

===Constitutional merger===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-1003-008, Berlin, Brandenburger Tor, Vereinigungsfeier, Feuerwerk.jpg|thumb|right|Fireworks at Brandenburg Gate after the reunification]]
The process chosen was one of the two options set out in the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|West German constitution]] ({{langx|de|Grundgesetz|label=none}} or Basic Law) of 1949 to facilitate eventual reunification. The Basic Law stated that it was only intended for temporary use until a permanent constitution could be adopted by the German people as a whole. Under that document's (then existing) Article 23, any new prospective {{langx|de|Länder|label=none}} could adhere to the Basic Law by a simple majority vote. The initial 11 joining states of 1949 constituted the Trizone. West Berlin had been proposed as the 12th state, but this was legally inhibited by Allied objections since Berlin as a whole was legally a quadripartite occupied area. Despite this, West Berlin's political affiliation was with West Germany, and, in many fields, it functioned de facto as if it were a component state of West Germany. On 1 January 1957, before the reunification, the territory of [[Saarland]], a [[Saar Protectorate|protectorate of France]] (1947–1956), united with West Germany (and thus rejoined Germany) as the 11th state of the Federal Republic; this was called "Little Reunification" although the Saar Protectorate itself was only one [[disputed territory]], as its existence was opposed by the Soviet Union.

The other option was set out in Article 146, which provided a mechanism for a permanent constitution for a reunified Germany. This route would have entailed a formal union between two German states that then would have had, among other things, to create a new constitution for the newly established country. However, by the spring of 1990, it was apparent that drafting a new constitution would require protracted negotiations that would open up numerous issues in West Germany. Even without this to consider, by the start of 1990 East Germany was in a state of economic and political collapse. In contrast, reunification under Article 23 could be implemented in as little as six months. Ultimately, when the treaty on monetary, economic, and social union was signed, it was decided to use the quicker process of Article 23. By this process, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and to join West Germany, and the area in which the Basic Law was in force was simply extended to include its constituent parts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Germany Today – The German Unification Treaty |url=http://europe-today.com/germany/gerunif.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720183143/http://www.europe-today.com/germany/gerunif.html |archive-date=20 July 2008 |access-date=19 October 2010 |website=Europe-today.com}}</ref> Thus, while legally East Germany as a whole acceded to the Federal Republic, the constituent parts of East Germany entered into the Federal Republic as five new states, which held their first elections on 14 October 1990.

Nevertheless, although the Volkskammer's declaration of accession to the Federal Republic had initiated the process of reunification, the act of reunification itself (with its many specific terms, conditions, and qualifications, some of which required amendments to the Basic Law itself) was achieved constitutionally by the subsequent Unification Treaty of 31 August 1990; that is, through a binding agreement between the former GDR and the [[West Germany|Federal Republic]] now recognizing each another as separate sovereign states in [[international law]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kommers |first1=Donald P. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9780822395386 |title=The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany |last2=Miller |first2=Russell A. |date=2012-11-09 |publisher=Duke University Press |doi=10.1515/9780822395386 |isbn=978-0-8223-9538-6 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213043001/https://chooser.crossref.org/?doi=10.1515%2F9780822395386 |url-status=live }}</ref> This treaty was then voted into effect by both the [[Volkskammer]] and the [[Bundestag]] by the constitutionally required two-thirds majorities, effecting on the one hand, the extinction of the GDR, and on the other, the agreed amendments to the Basic Law of the Federal Republic. Hence, although the GDR declared its accession to the Federal Republic under Article 23 of the Basic Law, this did not imply its acceptance of the Basic Law as it then stood, but rather of the Basic Law as subsequently amended in line with the Unification Treaty.

Legally, the reunification did not create a third state out of the two. Rather, West Germany effectively absorbed East Germany. Accordingly, on Unification Day, 3 October 1990, the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist, and five new federated states on its former territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany. East and West Berlin were reunited as the third full-fledged federated city-state of the enlarged Federal Republic. The reunited city became the capital of the enlarged Federal Republic. Under this model, the Federal Republic of Germany, now enlarged to include the five states of the former GDR plus the reunified Berlin, continued to exist under the same legal personality that was founded in May 1949.

While the Basic Law was modified, rather than replaced by a constitution as such, it still permits the adoption of a formal constitution by the German people at some time in the future.