‘Unification as Salvation’ Drives Europe’s New Order : East Germany: The popular push for unification is urgent, but leadership is lacking to accomplish a smooth transition.

The German revolution is rumbling forward at harrowing speed, altering the international agenda by the force of its own velocity.

Mikhail Gorbachev’s remark that the Soviet Union “in principle” had no objections to German unity, and President Bush’s proposal for deeper cuts in U.S. and Soviet troops in Europe were attempts to keep up with the dynamic pace of developments being set on the streets in Central Europe. Both leaders shifted their positions to retain, not to abandon, their influence in Central Europe, to avoid being saddled with irrelevant positions out of tune with the forces shaping the future of the continent.

Also last week, as the Communist Party of East Germany collapsed completely, a joint decision was made by the crippled government of Prime Minister Hans Modrow and the opposition to advance elections scheduled for May 6 to March 18. That was a wholesale abdication to the demands for immediate unification being heard on the streets and to the pressures generated by East Germany’s ongoing human hemorrhage of close to 3,000 people a day.

The most important new development driving the pace of change in Central Europe is a new tone in the nature of the call for German unification. After the opening of the Berlin Wall, many East Germans viewed gradual association with West Germany as a relatively painless path to prosperity and democracy. The process of unification, they hoped, could itself be the East German road to reform. Association with West Germany would spare East Germans the pain imposed by the type of socialist reforms currently being waged in Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union.

During the past two months, however, the call for unification has taken on an urgent, desperate character. Faced with the relentless exodus of tens of thousands of fellow citizens, a crumbling economy and a catastrophic health-care situation, and confronted daily with revelations of the Old Guard’s systematic abuse of power, the notion of unification as reform has been displaced by the notion of unification as salvation. A deep-rooted fear has taken hold that the peaceful, democratic revolution could end badly unless East Germany is tied irrevocably to a stable and prosperous democracy as soon as possible. The revolution can be saved, many believe, only through quick integration with West Germany and the European Community.

Yet no leadership has emerged that might accomplish the task. The Communist Party has lost all pretense at credibility and will splinter into irrelevance within the next few months. The intellectuals of the democratic opposition who drew crowds into the streets last fall have emerged as wooly-minded idealists; their visions of neutrality and a “third way” have failed to capture the hearts and minds of their countrymen. “The third way,” one man exclaimed, “will lead us into the Third World.” The opposition has failed to produce national leaders who can articulate the hopes and fears of the population. They have done much to damage their position in the popular mind through constant bickering and internal strife. They have done little to instill confidence in the people that a democratically elected government will act quickly to improve their lives. Thus, a democratic East German government can only dampen, not eliminate, the massive outflow of East Germans to the West.

Unification as salvation has now emerged as the driving force from below that is upsetting the measured timetables of diplomats and politicians toward a new European order. Political leaders are struggling to catch up with the much more rapid and sweeping agenda for change being set on the streets.

President Bush’s troop-cut proposal has kept the United States on the right track as we work with our European partners to build a new, legitimate and secure European system that moves beyond the Cold War. But we should fasten our seat belts and be ready for a faster, bumpier ride.