Brandt and the Policy of Ostpolitik

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Brandt and the Policy of Ostpolitik Brandt and the policy of Ostpolitik Learning objective: to identify how relations between East and West Germany improved Today’s Challenges summarise Brandt’s career examine Ostpolitik policy assess the success of Brandt’s policy Key learning: Why was Willy Brandt important in causing the reunification of Germany? LO: Starter: Complete To describe the Cold War tension your date, key which surrounded Berlin 4/5 learning and starter sheet. Be To explain how Willy Brandt ready to share improved relations with your ideas! East Germany and the USSR 6/7 To evaluate the success of Willy Brandt’s policies 8/9 Disagreements over how to deal with the German Disagreements over how to deal with the German question resulted in tension and arguments that led to question resulted in tension and arguments that led to the Cold War. the Cold War. Stalin’s fear of a strong unified Germany put him at odds Stalin’s fear of a strong unified Germany put him at odds with American policy to establish an economically strong with American policy to establish an economically strong state which was able to trade effectively and freely with state which was able to trade effectively and freely with the West. the West. The resulting Berlin blockade increased tension further, The resulting Berlin blockade increased tension further, with the possibility of Marshall Aid planes being shot with the possibility of Marshall Aid planes being shot down by the Red Army. down by the Red Army. The poor relations between East and West Germany and The poor relations between East and West Germany and the dangerous Cold War atmosphere of the Berlin Wall the dangerous Cold War atmosphere of the Berlin Wall persuaded some West German politicians to find ways of persuaded some West German politicians to find ways of improving relations between east and west. improving relations between east and west. What caused tension between Stalin/USSR (East Germany) and USA What caused tension between Stalin/USSR (East Germany) and USA (West Germany)? (West Germany)? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Why did some German politicians begin to find ways to improve Why did some German politicians begin to find ways to improve relations between East and West Germany? relations between East and West Germany? _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Challenge: Why was the Cold War such a tense time? Challenge: Why was the Cold War such a tense time? _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Key learning: Why was Willy Brandt important in causing the reunification of Germany? Challenge: Why was Berlin a point of tension within the Cold War? LO: To describe the Cold War tension Watch the clip and answer on your whiteboard. which surrounded Berlin 4/5 Be ready to share your knowledge! To explain how Willy Brandt improved Berlin caused tension within the Cold War because… relations with East Germany and the USSR 6/7 To evaluate the success of Willy Brandt’s policies 8/9 Key learning: Why was Willy Brandt important in causing the reunification of Germany? Brandt adopted a policy of “Ostpolitic”. Keyword: Ostpolitik meant reconciliation/making amends with East Germany and the USSR. LO: To describe the As part of his Ostpolitic, Brandt had a number of policies aimed at Cold War tension reconciliation with East Germany. Arrange them in order from most which surrounded Berlin 4/5 to least successful and be ready to justify your answer! To explain how Challenge: Why was Willy Brandt Willy Brandt so eager improved to make amends with relations with East Germany and East Germany and the the USSR 6/7 USSR? To evaluate the success of Willy Brandt’s policies 8/9 Key learning: Why was Willy Brandt important in causing the reunification of Germany? Task: Watch the clip and use your card sort to answer the following question: LO: How successful were Willy Brandt’s policies in rectifying To describe the Cold War tension relations between East and West Germany? which surrounded Berlin 4/5 Willy Brandt’s policies were successful because… To explain how Willy Brandt improved relations with East Germany and the USSR 6/7 To evaluate the success of Willy Brandt’s policies 8/9 Key learning: Why was Willy Brandt important in causing the reunification of Germany? Explain why Brandt’s policy of Ostpolitik led to the reunification of Germany in 1991 (8 marks) LO: To describe the Cold War tension which surrounded Berlin 4/5 To explain how Willy Brandt improved relations with East Germany and the USSR 6/7 To evaluate the success of Willy Brandt’s policies 8/9 Key learning: Why was Willy Brandt important in causing the reunification of Germany? Answer the question on your whiteboard. Try to answer in 240 characters or less! LO: Willy Brandt was important in causing the reunification of Germany because… To describe the Cold War tension which surrounded Berlin 4/5 To explain how Willy Brandt improved relations with East Germany and the USSR 6/7 To evaluate the success of Willy Brandt’s policies 8/9 Brandt’s policy: OSTPOLITIK • Brandt organized a non-aggression treaty between West Germany and the USSR. This was known as the Treaty of Moscow. By signing the treaty (agreement) both the Allies, West Germany and the USSR pledged not to use any force against eachother. • Brandt organized an agreement with Poland that ensured that Poland would have land returned back to them which was taken in WWII. • Brandt kneeling in homage at the memorial to Polish Jews killed by the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto showed the world that West Germany was apologetic for its actions in WWII. • Acceptance of the four-power division of Berlin as permanent. The Agreement laid the foundation for a series of East-West agreements which accompanied in the period usually known as Détente (cooperation). It also reestablished ties between the two parts of Berlin, improved travel and communications between the two parts of the city and brought numerous improvements for the residents of the Western Sectors. • Brandt organize a Basic Treaty in 1972 between East and West Germany in which they agreed to exchange diplomatic missions, increase cross-border contacts and respect each other’s independence. Brandt organized a non-aggression treaty between Brandt organized an Brandt kneeling in West Germany and the USSR. This was known as the agreement with Poland that homage at the memorial Treaty of Moscow. By signing the treaty (agreement) ensured that Poland would to Polish Jews killed by both the Allies, West Germany and the USSR pledged have land returned back to the Nazis in the not to use any force against eachother. them which was taken in Warsaw ghetto showed WWII. the world that West Germany was apologetic for its actions in WWII. Acceptance of the four-power division of Berlin as Brandt organize a Basic permanent. The Agreement laid the foundation for a Treaty in 1972 between East series of East-West agreements which accompanied and West Germany in which in the period usually known as Détente (cooperation). they agreed to exchange It also reestablished ties between the two parts of diplomatic missions, increase Berlin, improved travel and communications between cross-border contacts and the two parts of the city and brought numerous respect each other’s improvements for the residents of the Western independence. Sectors. Was the policy successful? Brandt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 in recognition of his efforts. The results of Ostpolitik saw improved relations between East and West Germany. Both countries were now part of the United Nations. Travel and communications were easier and trade increased throughout the 1970s. ASK Plenary… A – what has your attitude to learning been in today’s lesson? How do you know this? How will you improve or maintain this next lesson? S – what skills have you used in today’s lesson? Where else can you use them? K – what do you know now that you didn’t know before today’s lesson? Today’s Challenges summarise Brandt’s career examine Ostpolitik policy assess the success of Brandt’s policy.
Recommended publications
  • Bulletin of the GHI Washington Supplement 1 (2004)
    Bulletin of the GHI Washington Supplement 1 (2004) Copyright Das Digitalisat wird Ihnen von perspectivia.net, der Online-Publikationsplattform der Max Weber Stiftung – Stiftung Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland, zur Verfügung gestellt. Bitte beachten Sie, dass das Digitalisat urheberrechtlich geschützt ist. Erlaubt ist aber das Lesen, das Ausdrucken des Textes, das Herunterladen, das Speichern der Daten auf einem eigenen Datenträger soweit die vorgenannten Handlungen ausschließlich zu privaten und nicht-kommerziellen Zwecken erfolgen. Eine darüber hinausgehende unerlaubte Verwendung, Reproduktion oder Weitergabe einzelner Inhalte oder Bilder können sowohl zivil- als auch strafrechtlich verfolgt werden. OSTPOLITIK:PHASES,SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVES, AND GRAND DESIGN Gottfried Niedhart I International history in the late 1960s and early 1970s was shaped by an enormous amount of worldwide conflict and change.1 It was a period of transition in many respects. Although the superpowers were still unri- valled in military power, China, Japan, and Europe emerged as new centers of power, heralding a new multipolar structure. There was also the crisis and end of the Bretton Woods system, as well as the protest movements of the 68ers in many countries.2 As for East-West relations, both the United States of America and the Soviet Union were interested in relaxing tensions. Neither side could achieve superiority. Furthermore, the events in Vietnam (the Tet offensive in January 1968), Eastern Europe (the questioning of Moscow’s control by Romania and Czechoslovakia), East Asia (the Soviet-Chinese clash over the Ussuri border), and the Middle East (the Israeli-Arab conflict) marked the limits of American and Soviet power and the dangers of imperial overstretch.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin of the GHI Washington Supplement 1 (2004)
    Bulletin of the GHI Washington Supplement 1 (2004) Copyright Das Digitalisat wird Ihnen von perspectivia.net, der Online-Publikationsplattform der Max Weber Stiftung – Stiftung Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland, zur Verfügung gestellt. Bitte beachten Sie, dass das Digitalisat urheberrechtlich geschützt ist. Erlaubt ist aber das Lesen, das Ausdrucken des Textes, das Herunterladen, das Speichern der Daten auf einem eigenen Datenträger soweit die vorgenannten Handlungen ausschließlich zu privaten und nicht-kommerziellen Zwecken erfolgen. Eine darüber hinausgehende unerlaubte Verwendung, Reproduktion oder Weitergabe einzelner Inhalte oder Bilder können sowohl zivil- als auch strafrechtlich verfolgt werden. “WASHINGTON AS A PLACE FOR THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN”: THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND THE CDU/CSU OPPOSITION, 1969–1972 Bernd Schaefer I. In October 1969, Bonn’s Christian Democrat-led “grand coalition” was replaced by an alliance of Social Democrats (SPD) and Free Democrats (FDP) led by Chancellor Willy Brandt that held a sixteen-seat majority in the West German parliament. Not only were the leaders of the CDU caught by surprise, but so, too, were many in the U.S. government. Presi- dent Richard Nixon had to take back the premature message of congratu- lations extended to Chancellor Kiesinger early on election night. “The worst tragedy,” Henry Kissinger concluded on June 16, 1971, in a con- versation with Nixon, “is that election in ’69. If this National Party, that extreme right wing party, had got three-tenths of one percent more, the Christian Democrats would be in office now.”1 American administrations and their embassy in Bonn had cultivated a close relationship with the leaders of the governing CDU/CSU for many years.
    [Show full text]
  • Access/Checkpoint Issu
    1325_INDEX 11/30/07 1:16 PM Page 1103 310-567/B428-S/11005 Index References are to document numbers Abrasimov, Pyotr A., 54, 261 Acheson, Dean—Continued Bundesversammlung in West Berlin, Ostpolitik, 143, 146, 149, 150, 155 2 Soviet-U.S. relations, 254 Four Power talks/negotiations on Ackerson, Col. Frederick, 279 Berlin: Adenauer, Konrad, 164, 335 Access/checkpoint issues, 293, 295 Adzhubei, Alexei, 138 Acrimonious discussions between Africa, 335 Soviet-British-French Agnew, Spiro T., 6, 126 ambassadors, 291 Agriculture, 335 Agreement (final), 327, 329 Ahlers, Conrad, 15, 16, 79, 115, 154, 254 Agreement (tentative), 281, 296 Akalovsky, Alexander, 212, 214, 270, 323 Air corridors to Berlin closed, 121 Albania, 335 Ambassadorial meetings, Allott, Gordon, 196 December 11, 1970, 144 Alphand, Hervé, 153 Ambassadorial meetings, May 25, Alsop, Joseph R., Jr., 22 1971, 242 Anderson, David, 362 Ambassadorial meetings, August Apollo missions: 10-12, 1971, 284, 286, 287 11, 22 Ambassadorial meetings, August 12, 44 16-18, 1971, 293, 295 13, 78 Draft agreement, Soviet, 210, 215, Arabs. See Middle East. 222 Arendt, Walter, 150 Draft agreement, Western, 242 Argentina, 336 Kissinger-Dobrynin meetings, 152, Ash, Roy L., 378 168 Audland, Christopher J., 199 Kissinger-Ehmke meetings, 151 Austria, 372 Kissinger’s assessments, 166 Nixon-Soviet leadership Bahr, Egon, 44, 228 communications, 166 Brandt, no-confidence motion Passport issues, 281, 296 submitted against, 358 Private negotiation channels, 207, Brandt’s review of global affairs, 208, 210, 211, 212,
    [Show full text]
  • New Documents on Mongolia and the Cold War
    Cold War International History Project Bulletin, Issue 16 New Documents on Mongolia and the Cold War Translation and Introduction by Sergey Radchenko1 n a freezing November afternoon in Ulaanbaatar China and Russia fell under the Mongolian sword. However, (Ulan Bator), I climbed the Zaisan hill on the south- after being conquered in the 17th century by the Manchus, Oern end of town to survey the bleak landscape below. the land of the Mongols was divided into two parts—called Black smoke from gers—Mongolian felt houses—blanketed “Outer” and “Inner” Mongolia—and reduced to provincial sta- the valley; very little could be discerned beyond the frozen tus. The inhabitants of Outer Mongolia enjoyed much greater Tuul River. Chilling wind reminded me of the cold, harsh autonomy than their compatriots across the border, and after winter ahead. I thought I should have stayed at home after all the collapse of the Qing dynasty, Outer Mongolia asserted its because my pen froze solid, and I could not scribble a thing right to nationhood. Weak and disorganized, the Mongolian on the documents I carried up with me. These were records religious leadership appealed for help from foreign countries, of Mongolia’s perilous moves on the chessboard of giants: including the United States. But the first foreign troops to its strategy of survival between China and the Soviet Union, appear were Russian soldiers under the command of the noto- and its still poorly understood role in Asia’s Cold War. These riously cruel Baron Ungern who rode past the Zaisan hill in the documents were collected from archival depositories and pri- winter of 1921.
    [Show full text]
  • Shaken, Not Stirred: Markus Wolfâ•Žs Involvement in the Guillaume Affair
    Voces Novae Volume 4 Article 6 2018 Shaken, not Stirred: Markus Wolf’s Involvement in the Guillaume Affair and the Evolution of Foreign Espionage in the Former DDR Jason Hiller Chapman University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/vocesnovae Recommended Citation Hiller, Jason (2018) "Shaken, not Stirred: Markus Wolf’s Involvement in the Guillaume Affair nda the Evolution of Foreign Espionage in the Former DDR," Voces Novae: Vol. 4 , Article 6. Available at: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/vocesnovae/vol4/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Chapman University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Voces Novae by an authorized editor of Chapman University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hiller: Shaken, not Stirred: Markus Wolf’s Involvement in the Guillaume A Foreign Espionage in the Former DDR Voces Novae: Chapman University Historical Review, Vol 3, No 1 (2012) HOME ABOUT USER HOME SEARCH CURRENT ARCHIVES PHI ALPHA THETA Home > Vol 3, No 1 (2012) > Hiller Shaken, not Stirred: Markus Wolf's Involvement in the Guillaume Affair and the Evolution of Foreign Espionage in the Former DDR Jason Hiller "The principal link in the chain of revolution is the German link, and the success of the world revolution depends more on Germany than upon any other country." -V.I. Lenin, Report of October 22, 1918 The game of espionage has existed longer than most people care to think. However, it is not important how long ago it started or who invented it. What is important is the progress of espionage in the past decades and the impact it has had on powerful nations.
    [Show full text]
  • Local Expellee Monuments and the Contestation of German Postwar Memory
    To Our Dead: Local Expellee Monuments and the Contestation of German Postwar Memory by Jeffrey P. Luppes A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Germanic Languages and Literatures) in The University of Michigan 2010 Doctoral Committee: Professor Andrei S. Markovits, Chair Professor Geoff Eley Associate Professor Julia C. Hell Associate Professor Johannes von Moltke © Jeffrey P. Luppes 2010 To My Parents ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing a dissertation is a long, arduous, and often lonely exercise. Fortunately, I have had unbelievable support from many people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor and dissertation committee chair, Andrei S. Markovits. Andy has played the largest role in my development as a scholar. In fact, his seminal works on German politics, German history, collective memory, anti-Americanism, and sports influenced me intellectually even before I arrived in Ann Arbor. The opportunity to learn from and work with him was the main reason I wanted to attend the University of Michigan. The decision to come here has paid off immeasurably. Andy has always pushed me to do my best and has been a huge inspiration—both professionally and personally—from the start. His motivational skills and dedication to his students are unmatched. Twice, he gave me the opportunity to assist in the teaching of his very popular undergraduate course on sports and society. He was also always quick to provide recommendation letters and signatures for my many fellowship applications. Most importantly, Andy helped me rethink, re-work, and revise this dissertation at a crucial point.
    [Show full text]
  • Schießbefehl and the Issues of Retroactivity Within the East German Border Guard Trials Keegan Mcmurry Western Oregon University, [email protected]
    Western Oregon University Digital Commons@WOU Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) Department of History 2018 Schießbefehl and the Issues of Retroactivity Within the East German Border Guard Trials Keegan McMurry Western Oregon University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his Part of the Diplomatic History Commons, European History Commons, Legal Commons, and the Political History Commons Recommended Citation McMurry, Keegan, "Schießbefehl and the Issues of Retroactivity Within the East German Border Guard Trials" (2018). Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History). 264. https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his/264 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at Digital Commons@WOU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@WOU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Schießbefehl1 and the Issues of Retroactivity Within the East German Border Guard Trials Keegan J. McMurry History 499: Senior Seminar June 5, 2018 1 On February 5th, 1989, 20-year old Chris Gueffroy and his companion, Christian Gaudin, were running for their lives. Tired of the poor conditions in the German Democratic Republic and hoping to find better in West Germany, they intended to climb the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Berlin using a ladder. A newspaper account states that despite both verbal warnings and warning shots, both young men continued to try and climb the wall until the border guards opened fire directly at them. Mr. Gaudin survived the experience after being shot, however, Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Introduction
    Notes 1 Introduction 1. What belongs together will now grow together (JK). 2. The well-known statement from Brandt is often wrongly attributed to the speech he gave one day after the fall of the Berlin Wall at the West Berlin City Hall, Rathaus Schöneberg. This error is understandable since it was added later to the publicized version of the speech with the consent of Brandt himself (Rother, 2001, p. 43). By that time it was already a well known phrase since it featured prominently on a SPD poster with a picture of Brandt in front of the partying masses at the Berlin Wall. The original statement was made by Brandt during a radio interview on 10 November for SFP-Mittagecho where he stated: ‘Jetzt sind wir in einer Situation, in der wieder zusammenwächst, was zusammengehört’ (‘Now we are in a situation in which again will grow together what belongs together’). 3. The Treaty of Prague with Czechoslovakia, signed 11 December 1973, finalized the Eastern Treaties. 4. By doing this, I aim to contribute to both theory formation concerning inter- national politics and foreign policy and add to the historiography of the German question and reunification policy. Not only is it important to com- pare theoretical assumptions against empirical data, by making the theoretical assumptions that guide the historical research explicit, other scholars are enabled to better judge the quality of the research. In the words of King et al. (1994, p. 8): ‘If the method and logic of a researcher’s observations and infer- ences are left implicit, the scholarly community has no way of judging the validity of what was done.’ This does not mean that the historical research itself only serves theory formation.
    [Show full text]
  • Bd. 5: Deutsch- 29 Hs
    willy brandt Berliner Ausgabe willy brandt Berliner Ausgabe Herausgegeben von helga grebing, gregor schöllgen und heinrich august winkler Im Auftrag der Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung band 1: Hitler ist nicht Deutschland. Jugend in Lübeck – Exil in Norwegen 1928 – 1940 band 2: Zwei Vaterländer. Deutsch-Norweger im schwedischen Exil – Rückkehr nach Deutschland 1940 – 1947 band 3: Berlin bleibt frei. Politik in und für Berlin 1947 – 1966 band 4: Auf dem Weg nach vorn. Willy Brandt und die SPD 1947 – 1972 band 5: Die Partei der Freiheit. Willy Brandt und die SPD 1972 – 1992 band 6: Ein Volk der guten Nachbarn. Außen- und Deutschlandpolitik 1966 – 1974 band 7: Mehr Demokratie wagen. Innen- und Gesellschaftspolitik 1966 – 1974 band 8: Über Europa hinaus. Dritte Welt und Sozialistische Internationale band 9: Die Entspannung unzerstörbar machen. Internationale Beziehungen und deutsche Frage 1974 – 1982 band 10: Gemeinsame Sicherheit. Internationale Beziehungen und deutsche Frage 1982 – 1992 willy brandt Berliner Ausgabe band 5 Die Partei der Freiheit Willy Brandt und die SPD 1972 – 1992 Bearbeitet von karsten rudolph Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf. GmbH Die Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung bedankt sich für die groß- zügige finanzielle Unterstützung der gesamten Berliner Ausgabe bei: Frau Ursula Katz, Northbrook, Illinois Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung, Essen Otto Wolff von Amerongen-Stiftung, Köln Stiftungsfonds Deutsche Bank im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e. V., Essen Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Herlitz AG, Berlin Metro AG, Köln Schering AG, Berlin Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; dataillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar.
    [Show full text]
  • Journalists and Religious Activists in Polish-German Relations
    THE PROJECT OF RECONCILIATION: JOURNALISTS AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVISTS IN POLISH-GERMAN RELATIONS, 1956-1972 Annika Frieberg A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by: Dr. Konrad H. Jarausch Dr. Christopher Browning Dr. Chad Bryant Dr. Karen Hagemann Dr. Madeline Levine View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Carolina Digital Repository ©2008 Annika Frieberg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT ANNIKA FRIEBERG: The Project of Reconciliation: Journalists and Religious Activists in Polish-German Relations, 1956-1972 (under the direction of Konrad Jarausch) My dissertation, “The Project of Reconciliation,” analyzes the impact of a transnational network of journalists, intellectuals, and publishers on the postwar process of reconciliation between Germans and Poles. In their foreign relations work, these non-state actors preceded the Polish-West German political relations that were established in 1970. The dissertation has a twofold focus on private contacts between these activists, and on public discourse through radio, television and print media, primarily its effects on political and social change between the peoples. My sources include the activists’ private correspondences, interviews, and memoirs as well as radio and television manuscripts, articles and business correspondences. Earlier research on Polish-German relations is generally situated firmly in a nation-state framework in which the West German, East German or Polish context takes precedent. My work utilizes international relations theory and comparative reconciliation research to explore the long-term and short-term consequences of the discourse and the concrete measures which were taken during the 1960s to end official deadlock and nationalist antagonisms and to overcome the destructive memories of the Second World War dividing Poles and Germans.
    [Show full text]
  • Ostpolitik Revisited1 Karl Cordell, University of Plymouth Stefan Wolff, University of Nottingham
    A Foreign Policy Analysis of the “German Question”: Ostpolitik Revisited1 Karl Cordell, University of Plymouth Stefan Wolff, University of Nottingham Abstract Taking a constructivist approach to foreign policy analysis and using German policy vis-à-vis Poland and Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic as an example, we examine Ostpolitik since the 1960s as a case of a norm-driven foreign policy. We argue that the content of Ostpolitik, including changes over time, can be explained by reference to a prevailing norm consensus in Germany about the country‘s foreign policy towards Central and Eastern Europe, which began to develop in the 1960s. 1 The authors wish to thank the British Academy for their support through LRG-35361 in the preparation of this paper. They also extend their thanks to Klaus Bachmann, Andrzej Dybczyński and Zdeněk Hausvater. This article partially draws on findings presented in Cordell and Wolff (2005a). 1 1. Introduction During his historic visit to Warsaw in December 1970 for the signing of the second of the so-called Ostverträge,2 German Chancellor Willy Brandt undertook a momentous and unprecedented gesture. During a commemorative act for the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April/May 1943, he fell to his knees in an act of apology for German atrocities committed against Poland and especially Polish Jews during the Second World War. Some 24 years later, In August 1994 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the (Home Army‘s) Warsaw Uprising of August/October 1944, German President Roman Herzog similarly apologised for German actions during the war in a speech in Warsaw and expressed Germany‘s unconditional support for Polish accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).
    [Show full text]
  • A State of Peace in Europe
    Studies inContemporary European History Studies in Studies in Contemporary Contemporary A State of Peace in Europe A State of Peace in Europe European European West Germany and the CSCE, 1966–1975 History History West Germany and the CSCE, 1966–1975 Petri Hakkarainen In a balanced way the author blends German views with those from Britain, France and the United States, using these countries’ official documents as well. His book represents a very serious piece of scholarship and is interesting to read. It excels with a novel hypothesis, a very careful use of varied archival sources, and an ability not to lose his argument in the wealth of material. Helga Haftendorn, Free University, Berlin Petri Hakkarainen I don’t know of any other book that deals so thoroughly with German CSCE policy in the years described here…The author has done a vast amount of research, using documents from different archives and different countries…While he is of course not the first scholar to write about the origins of the CSCE, the author does contribute new elements and interpretations to the topic. Benedikt Schönborn, University of Tampere, Centre for Advanced Study From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s West German foreign policy underwent substantial transformations: from bilateral to multilateral, from reactive to proactive. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was an ideal setting for this evolution, enabling A StateofPeaceinEurope the Federal Republic to take the lead early on in Western preparations for the conference and to play a decisive role in the actual East–West negotiations leading to the Helsinki Final Act of 1975.
    [Show full text]