Germany United After 45 Years - October 1990

The reunification of Germany was completed at midnight, October 2-3. Since the end of World War II in 1945 there had been 2 Germanys, but the rush to unification had been swift since the collapse of the hard-line Communist regime in East Germany late in 1989. The new nation, having a population of 78M, would be known formally as the Federal Republic of Germany, previously the official designation of West Germany.