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Ethnic Germans
Ethnic Germans have immigrated to Germany since the end
of World War II. At first, these immigrants were Germans who had resided
in areas that had formerly been German territory. Later, the offspring
of German settlers who in previous centuries had settled in areas of Eastern
Europe and Russia came to be regarded as ethnic Germans and as such had
the right to German citizenship according to Article 116 of the Basic
Law. Because they became citizens immediately upon arrival in Germany,
ethnic Germans received much financial and social assistance to ease their
integration into society. Housing, vocational training, and many other
types of assistance, even language training--because many did not know
the language of their forebears--were liberally provided.
With the gradual opening of the Soviet empire in the 1980s, the numbers
of ethnic Germans coming to West Germany swelled. In the mid-1980s, about
40,000 came each year. In 1987 the number doubled and in 1988 doubled
again. In 1990 nearly 400,000 ethnic Germans came to the Federal Republic.
In the 1991-93 period, about 400,000 ethnic Germans settled in Germany.
Since January 1993, immigration of ethnic Germans has been limited to
220,000 per year.
Because this influx could no longer be managed, especially because of
the vast expense of unification, restrictions on the right of ethnic Germans
to return to Germany became effective in January 1991. Under the new restrictions,
once in Germany ethnic Germans are assigned to certain areas. If they
leave these areas, they lose many of their benefits and are treated as
if they were foreigners. The government has also established programs
to encourage the estimated several million ethnic Germans who still live
in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to remain there. Although
ethnic Germans are entitled to German citizenship by virtue of their bloodlines,
to many Germans they do not seem German, and their social integration
has frequently been difficult.
- Population
- Women In Society
- Marriage
- Social Structure
- Religion
- Urbanization
- Geography (lands and
capitals, climate)
- Society (population, religion,
marriage, urbanization, social structure, immigration)
- Education (elementary,
junior, senior, vocational, higher)
- Economy (the Economic
Miracle, financial system, Bundesbank, business culture)
- Politics (government,
the Chancellor, the President, parties, Bundestag)
- Mass Media (newspapers,
radio and TV)
- Armed Forces (army,
navy, air forces, police)
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