The Federal
Republic of Germany's Basic Law has been the longest-lived
constitution in Germany's history. Intended to be a short-lived,
temporary document, the Basic Law gained legitimacy as West Germany
continued to march towards becoming a major economic power and
effective democratic society. There seemed to be, at first, a tension
between the Basic Law's explicit support of re-unification and its
promise to transfer sovereignty to a supranational institution that
would be created. The conflict between West Germany's goals of
national unity and international integration remained the main issue
in the country's politics for many years.
As Preuss notes, "It will be extremely difficult to escape the
economic and, in the long run also political, implications of this
double-bind situation of Germany, one that remains a legacy of the
postwar order" (51). Since the unification of Germany was
accomplished through accession, it meant, strangely enough, that
neither West nor East Germany had a say in the other's decision on
whether to form a unified state or what conditions such a unification
would be contingent upon, respectively. Put simply, the net effect of
the extension of the Basic Law to all of Germany did not guarantee the
implementation of a new joint governing policy or a new constitution
for the country. It seemed, as a result of some esoteric articles of
the Basic Law, that the GDR would cease to exist legally and the FRG
would survive. It was impossible to draw the conclusion that both
would die out and be replaced by a new political identity. Many of
the Federal Republic's laws immediately applied in the GDR (Gloebner
153). Article 146 of the Basic Law, put simply, allowed for the
annulment of the Basic Law, to be replaced with another governing
system, without previously binding the people to any specific rules. Seemingly, it sanctions revolution, and, "as proved to be the case in
1990, this is not a purely theoretical conclusion" (Preuss 52). Some
suggest that, by unifying through accession, Germany has made problems
which could end up overshadowing the benefits of unification. The
suggestion is that the implementation of a constitution by a society
without experience in utilizing it, without the necessary institutions
and without the corresponding value system will bring about more harm
than good (politically). The imposition of the Basic Law was the root
for much of the mistrust between East and West Germans following
unification.