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Name Date CHAPTER 14, LESSON 4 Summary: Germany A Divided Germany Today, Germany is one of the largest countries in Europe. The country was once divided. When World War II ended in 1945, British and American soldiers had control of West Germany. Soviet soldiers controlled the eastern part. The United States helped West Germany set up a democracy. West Germany also received loans from the United States. Within 20 years, West Germany rebuilt its factories. It became one of the world’s richest nations. East Germany remained poor. Most East Germans knew that people in West Germany and Western Europe had better lives. The Communist government of East Germany tried to keep them from having contact with the West. By 1989, the Soviet Union was growing weaker. It was losing control of Eastern Europe. Then Hungary loosened its borders with Western Europe. East Germans began crossing Hungary’s border. Eventually, they made their way into West Germany. The Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Later, even more East Germans moved to West Germany. Reunified Germany The reunification of East and West Germany took place in 1990. The German government has worked hard to rebuild the eastern part of Germany. They have spent lots of money to build roads, factories, housing, and hospitals. Reunification also caused tensions between former West and East Germans. There are few jobs in the eastern part of Germany. Housing is very expensive. People in the western part have to pay heavy taxes to rebuild the nation. Germany has many rich traditions. Its people are proud of their music and literature. Germans are famous for designing cars and other high-quality products. They are also known for designing appliances and other complex machinery. Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, and Ludwig van Beethoven are three of Germany’s best-known composers. Rainer Maria Rilke was one of Germany’s greatest writers. His poems are still admired and studied today. Both Günter Grass and Thomas Mann won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Resources for Reaching All Learners Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Circle the vocabulary word. reunification noun, the uniting again of parts REVIEW Why did East Germany need to be rebuilt and not West Germany? Draw a box around the reasons why East Germany needed to be rebuilt and why West Germany did not.