After World War Two, Germany lost and was occupied by the victorious allies. Eventually, the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the US could not agree on what to do with Germany, so they made up two Germanys, West and East. Germany had two flags, two governments and two economies. This made the Germans sad because they couldn't travel to the other country and sometimes families were separated. Life in the East was hard and sometimes people had to escape over fences and avoiding soldiers.
In Berlin, where Western Germany was surrounded by East Germany, this created severe hardships because things had to be flown into the city. But the West Berliners didn't give up. And the US helped the West Berliners, helping the Germans and the Americans to become strong friends.
But in 1990, the Soviet Union stopped supporting the Eastern Government and the Germans simply went out and pulled down the walls with picks and hammers.
And then the reason for two Germanys dissolved and Germany became one country again.
So now on October 3rd every year, the Germans celebrate the day when Germany became at last became one country again and the capital was moved back to Berlin from Bonn. It is like the Fourth of July in the US or Bastille Day (July 14th) in France.
There are lots of important and famous German Americans, too. Count Von Steuben, who helped George Washington, President Eisenhower, Albert Einstein, Charles Lindbergh, Marlene Dietrich and Lou Gehrig. German Unity Day is a good time to learn about history and how our countries became friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment