Internal Westward Migration in Germany: 1989-1994

• Thesis title in English: Internal Westward Migration in Germany: 1989-1994
• Key words: Vnitřní západní migrace, ‘neue Länder’, znovusjednocování Německa, vládní změna, Německá demokratická republika, německá nezaměstnanost, privatizace, genderové role v Německu, vylidňování.
• English key words: Internal westward migration, ‘neue Länder’, German reunification, government transition, German Democratic Republic, German unemployment, privatization, gender roles in Germany, and depopulation.
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2010/2011
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of German and Austrian Studies (23-KNRS)
• Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned by the advisor
• Date of registration: 09.08.2011
• Date of assignment: 09.08.2011
• Date and time of defence: 25.06.2012 12:00
• Venue of defence: Jinonice
• Date of electronic submission: 22.05.2012
• Date of proceeded defence: 25.06.2012
• Opponents: PhDr. Michal Dimitrov, Ph.D.

References

Alsop, Rachel. A Reversal of Fortunes? Women, Work and Change in East Germany. New York: Berghahn, 2000.
Eberstadt, Nicholas. “Demographic Shocks After Communism: Eastern Germany, 1989-1993.” Population and Development Review, Volume 20, No. 1, March 1994, pages 137-152. JSTOR (accessed October 24, 2011).
Garton Ash, Timothy. In Europe’s Name: Germany and the Divided Continent. New York: Random House, 1993.
Heywood, Andrew. Political Ideologies. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007.
Jones, Phillip and Wild, Trevor. “Spatial Impacts of German Unification.” The Geographical Journal, Volume 160, No. 1, March 1994, pages 1-16. JSTOR (accessed October 24, 2011).
Kitchen, Martin. A History of Modern Germany 1800-2000. Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.
Kotkin, Stephan. Uncivil Society: 1989 and the Implosion of the Communist Establishment. New York: Random House, 2009.
Silvia, Stephan J. “German Unification and Emerging Divisions within German Employers’ Associations: Cause or Catalyst?” Comparative Politics, Volume 29, No. 2, January 1997, pages 187-208. JSTOR (accessed October 24, 2011).
Taylor, Fredrick. The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989. Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006.

Preliminary scope of work in English

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification Germany has had to face many challenges. One of these has been the phases of the internal westward migration within the German state since 1989. I would like to research the causes and effects of this westward migration of people from the eastern part of Germany to the western German states from 1989 to 1994. The economic situation in the east has sparked this exodus, but what is significant is the populous that is migrated westward. Young educated women are the highest demographic leaving their lives behind in the east and heading for the west. Germany is a country already with a relatively low birth rate and this trend in migration is greatly affecting the demographics of new German states.

I would like to talk about what has caused the mass exodous of people from the eastern states in Germany to the western states around the time of and directly after German reunification. This internal migration has caused serious problems within the German states and has left many east Germany cities largely abandoned. In addition, there are many extremist groups that have gained popularity over time in the eastern states in part due to this demographic change. While the driving force behind the migration is largely economical there are many other disasterous consequences to extensive relocation of a population.