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Alliance 90 () was a
political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...
of three non-communist political groups in
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
. It was formed in February 1990 by the
New Forum New Forum () was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded on 9 September 1989 and was the first independent (non- National Front) political movement to be rec ...
,
Democracy Now ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...
and the
Initiative for Peace and Human Rights The Initiative for Peace and Human Rights () was the oldest opposition group in East Germany. It was founded on 24 January 1986 and was independent of the churches and state. On 7 February 1990 it joined with New Forum and Democracy Now (East Germ ...
. It received 2.9% of the vote in the 1990
Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initia ...
elections. For the first all-German federal election it formed a joint list with the
East German Green Party The Green Party () in East Germany was founded in February 1990. At the first free Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the ...
. It was this coalition that merged with the West German Green Party in 1993 to form
Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...
.


History

On 7 February 1990, the
New Forum New Forum () was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded on 9 September 1989 and was the first independent (non- National Front) political movement to be rec ...
,
Democracy Now ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...
and the
Initiative for Peace and Human Rights The Initiative for Peace and Human Rights () was the oldest opposition group in East Germany. It was founded on 24 January 1986 and was independent of the churches and state. On 7 February 1990 it joined with New Forum and Democracy Now (East Germ ...
agreed upon the creation of the strategic partnership Alliance 90 ("Bündnis 90") for the
1990 East German general election Elections in Germany#German Democratic Republic, General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. They were the first free elections in the region since November 1932 German federal election, 1932, and were the first and only free el ...
. On 18 March 1990, in the next and final free election of the former
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, the Alliance 90 received 2.9% of the vote, thus securing 12 seats. By far the best result for Alliance 90 was in constituency of
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
with 6.3%. In the remaining constituencies results ranged from 1.6% in
Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...
to 3.8% in
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
. Together with the eight elected mandates from the " Green Party in the GDR", they created the "Alliance '90/Greens Party" Faction (''Fraktion Bündnis 90/Grüne''). In the East German
Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...
elections on 14 October 1990 the differently-composed electoral alliances made their entry into every Landtag except
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
, where the New Forum did not participate in the alliance. In
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
, the three civic groups of the Alliance 90 took office alone. In other states, the Greens also successfully took part in the electoral alliances. In Brandenburg from 1990 until 1994, Alliance 90 participated in a
traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...
with the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
and Free Democrats. In the 1990 federal election held on 2 December 1990, the first election following the
reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...
, 6.1% of voters in the Eastern electoral area (1.2% across Germany) cast their ''
Zweitstimme In Germany, the second vote ( ''German'': ''Zweitstimme'') is generally the decisive vote for the allocation of seats to the political parties. With it, the voter chooses a party whose candidates are put together on a state list. In addition to ...
'' (the vote for a party, as opposed to for a person) for the group "Alliance 90/Greens – Citizens' Movement" (''Bündnis 90/Grüne – BürgerInnenbewegung''), which entered into the German Bundestag with eight East German elected members: Klaus-Dieter Feige, Ingrid Köppe, Gerd Poppe, Christina Schenk, Werner Schulz, Wolfgang Ullmann, Konrad Weiß and Vera Wollenberger. Werner Schultz took over the function of Speaker of the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
group, which he held for the entirety of the legislative period. Its West German partners, the Greens, fell short of election to the parliament. On 21 September 1991, the party Alliance 90 was founded, which brought together parts of the New Forum, Democracy Now and the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights. On 14 May 1993 came the agreement to create the union of ''
Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...
'' with the Greens which had been a cross-German party since the end of 1990. One part of the Brandenburg state alliance advocated against a unification with the Greens, including future
Minister-President of Brandenburg The minister-president of Brandenburg is the head of government of the German state of Brandenburg. The office was created in 1990 after the German reunification and the joining of Brandenburg in the Federal Republic of Germany. The current and ...
Matthias Platzeck Matthias Platzeck (born 29 December 1953) is a German politician. He was Minister-President, Minister President of Brandenburg from 2002 to 2013 and party chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD from November 2005 to April 2006. ...
, Günter Nooke, Ute Platzeck, Peter Schüler, Manfred Kruczek and Gerd Gebhardt. However, they were unsuccessful in their case and founded the ''Citizens' Alliance'' ("Bürger Bündnis"), headed by Günter Nooke, Matthias Platzeck und Wolfgang Pohl. The party Alliance 90/The Greens in
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
had already been established on 27 September 1991, one and a half years before the unification at federal level.


See also

*
List of political parties in Germany The Federal Republic of Germany has a plural multi-party system. Historically, the largest by members and parliament seats are the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Socia ...


Sources

* {{Authority control 1990 establishments in East Germany Alliance 90/The Greens Defunct political party alliances in Germany Peaceful Revolution Organizations of the Revolutions of 1989 Political opposition alliances Political parties established in 1990 Political parties in East Germany