The Establishment of Bulgarian–West German Diplomatic Relations Within the Coordinating Framework of the Warsaw Pact
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Central Europe
Central Europe Federal Republic of Germany Domestic Affairs s JULY 1, 1979 Karl Carstens of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) took office as the new president of the Federal Republic. He had been elected by the federal parliament to succeed Walter Scheel. Also in July CDU and the Christian Social Union (CSU), the opposition parties in the federal lower house, chose Franz Josef Strauss as their candidate for chancellor in the 1980 elections. In the state parliament elections in Berlin and Rhineland-Palatinate on March 18, the governing parties retained their majorities; the results in Berlin were CDU, 44 per cent; Social Democratic party (SDP), 43 per cent; and the Free Democratic party (FDP), 8 per cent; the results in Rhineland-Palatinate were CDU, 50 per cent; SPD, 42 per cent; FDP, 6 per cent; and the National Democratic party (NPD), .7 per cent. In the parliamentary election in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, on April 29, CDU maintained its absolute majority against SPD and FDP; the results were CDU, 48 per cent; SPD, 42 per cent; FDP, 6 per cent; and NPD, .2 per cent. In the election for the city-state parliament in Bremen, on October 7, SPD retained its absolute majority, while CDU and FDP lost a number of seats. The election for the first European parliament, in June, produced the following outcome in the Federal Republic: SPD, 40 per cent; CDU, 39 per cent; CSU, 10 per cent; FDP, 6 per cent; and the German Communist party (DK.P), .4 per cent. The voter turnout was 66 per cent. -
German Jews in the United States: a Guide to Archival Collections
GERMAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE,WASHINGTON,DC REFERENCE GUIDE 24 GERMAN JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES: AGUIDE TO ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS Contents INTRODUCTION &ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 ABOUT THE EDITOR 6 ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS (arranged alphabetically by state and then city) ALABAMA Montgomery 1. Alabama Department of Archives and History ................................ 7 ARIZONA Phoenix 2. Arizona Jewish Historical Society ........................................................ 8 ARKANSAS Little Rock 3. Arkansas History Commission and State Archives .......................... 9 CALIFORNIA Berkeley 4. University of California, Berkeley: Bancroft Library, Archives .................................................................................................. 10 5. Judah L. Mages Museum: Western Jewish History Center ........... 14 Beverly Hills 6. Acad. of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Margaret Herrick Library, Special Coll. ............................................................................ 16 Davis 7. University of California at Davis: Shields Library, Special Collections and Archives ..................................................................... 16 Long Beach 8. California State Library, Long Beach: Special Collections ............. 17 Los Angeles 9. John F. Kennedy Memorial Library: Special Collections ...............18 10. UCLA Film and Television Archive .................................................. 18 11. USC: Doheny Memorial Library, Lion Feuchtwanger Archive ................................................................................................... -
The Beginning of the Berlin Wall Erin Honseler, Halie Mitchell, Max Schuetze, Callie Wheeler March 10, 2009
Group 8 Final Project 1 The Beginning of the Berlin Wall Erin Honseler, Halie Mitchell, Max Schuetze, Callie Wheeler March 10, 2009 For twenty-eight years an “iron curtain” divided East and West Berlin in the heart of Germany. Many events prior to the actual construction of the Wall caused East Germany’s leader Erich Honecker to demand the Wall be built. Once the Wall was built the cultural gap between East Germany and West Germany broadened. During the time the Wall stood many people attempted to cross the border illegally without much success. This caused a very unstable relationship between the government of the West (Federal Republic of Germany) and the government of the East (German Democratic Republic). In this paper we will discuss events leading up to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the government that was responsible for the construction of the Wall, how it divided Germany, and how some people tried to escape from the East to the West. Why the Berlin Wall Was Built In order to understand why the Berlin Wall was built, we must first look at the events leading up to the actual construction of the Wall in 1961. In the Aftermath of World War II Germany was split up into four different zones; each zone was controlled by a different country. The western half was split into three different sectors: the British sector, the American sector and the French sector. The Eastern half was controlled by the Soviet Union. Eventually, the three western occupiers unified their three zones and became what is known as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). -
29 March 1961 SPEECH DELIVERED by COMRADE TODOR ZHIVKOV
Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP) January 2008 Records of the Political Consultative Committee, 1955-1991 www.php.isn.ethz.ch Edited by Douglas Selvage and Vojtech Mastny Draft – 29 March 1961 SPEECH 1 DELIVERED BY COMRADE TODOR ZHIVKOV AT THE MEETING OF THE POLITICAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE WARSAW TREATY COUNTRIES HELD IN MOSCOW, 28 – 29 MARCH 1961 Comrades, First of all, I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of the delegation of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria to the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet government for initiating this meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of the Warsaw Treaty countries, and to state that we believe it is very timely, necessary and beneficial. This meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of the Warsaw Treaty countries is taking place nearly four months after the Moscow meeting of representatives from the communist and workers parties. Clearly, our work today will be influenced by the Moscow meeting, by the thorough analysis of the current international situation and the correlation of forces in the international arena, by the theoretical and political conclusions, assessments and common positions on important issues decided upon at the Moscow meeting. Obviously, we should consider the comments of Comrade [Nikita] Khrushchev, who repeatedly underlined that we should protect ourselves from being blackmailed by the imperialists and involved in a war; that we need to strengthen the socialist camp and its defensive capabilities and be prepared to prevent any attempt to start a war. Considering the new capabilities of modern weapons of mass destruction, it is very important not to let the enemy surprise us, to keep our armed forces combat-ready and always to take the initiative. -
There Has Been No Bulgarian Tradition of Any Long-Standing Resistance to the Communist Regime
There has been no Bulgarian tradition of any long-standing resistance to the communist regime. There was neither any political opposition, nor any other kind of an influential dissident movement. Bulgaria never went through the purgatory of the Hungarian uprising of 1956, or the “Prague spring” of 1968. It is indeed difficult to find any counter arguments whatsoever against the cliché that Bul- garia was the closest satellite of the Soviet Union. The fundamental contradictions within the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) coalition were present from the very first day of its inception. There were Marxists who were longing for “socialism with a human face”, intellectuals with liberal ideas, social democrats and Christian democrats, conservatives and radical demo- crats, monarchists and republicans. The members of the center-right coalition did not delude themselves about their differences; they rather shared the clear un- derstanding that only a painful compromise could stand some chances against the Goliath of the totalitarian Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP). It was this unani- mous opposition to the communist regime and its legacy that made the coalition possible. But only for a limited period of time. The United Democratic Forces (ODS) government under Prime Minister Ivan Kostov (1997-2001) completed the reformist agenda of anti-communism. At the end of the ODS term of office, Bulgaria was a country with a functioning market economy, stable democracy, and a clearly outlined foreign policy course towards the country’s accession to the European Union and NATO, which was accepted by all significant political formations, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) included. -
Honecker's Policy Toward the Federal Republic and West Berlin
Scholars Crossing Faculty Publications and Presentations Helms School of Government Spring 1976 Contrast and Continuity: Honecker’s Policy toward the Federal Republic and West Berlin Stephen R. Bowers Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs Part of the Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Political Science Commons, and the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation Bowers, Stephen R., "Contrast and Continuity: Honecker’s Policy toward the Federal Republic and West Berlin" (1976). Faculty Publications and Presentations. 86. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs/86 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Helms School of Government at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 308 STEPHEN R. BOWERS 36. Mamatey, pp. 280-286. 37. Ibid., pp. 342-343. CONTRAST AND CONTINUITY: 38. The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, Volume VIII (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954), p. 1364. 39. Robert Ferrell, 'The United States and East Central Europe Before 1941," in Kertesz, op. cit., p. 22. HONECKER'S POLICY 40. Ibid., p. 24. 41. William R. Caspary, 'The 'Mood Theory': A Study of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy," American Political Science Review LXIV (June, 1970). 42. For discussion on this point see George Kennan, American Diplomacy (New York: Mentor Books, 1951); Walter Lippmann, The Public Philosophy (New York: Mentor Books, TOWARD THE FEDERAL 1955). 43. Gaddis, p. 179. 44. Martin Wei!, "Can the Blacks Do for Africa what the Jews Did for Israel?" Foreign Policy 15 (Summer, 1974), pp. -
October 02, 1958 T. Zhivkov's Report at the Bulgarian Plenary Session On
Digital Archive digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org International History Declassified October 02, 1958 T. Zhivkov’s Report at the Bulgarian Plenary Session on the Middle East Crisis Citation: “T. Zhivkov’s Report at the Bulgarian Plenary Session on the Middle East Crisis,” October 02, 1958, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Archive of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Fond 1, Record 5, File 353. Document obtained by Dr. Jordan Baev; translated and edited by Dr. Momchil Metodiev and Kalin Kanchev. Obtained by the Bulgarian Cold War Research Group. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/113222 Summary: A report based on military intelligence information and on Zhivkov's conversation with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Original Language: Bulgarian Contents: English Translation Scan of Original Document T. Zhivkov's report on the situation in the Middle East, October 2, 1958 Meeting Minutes OF CC BCP PLENUM, HELD ON OCTOBER 2 - 4, 1958 FIRST SESSION, OCTOBER 2, 1958 Presidium of the Plenum: Todor Zhivkov [1], Dimitar Ganev [2], Georgi Tzankov, Anton Yugov [3], Encho Staykov [4], Ivan Mihajlov [5], Boris Taskov [6], Rayko Damyanov [7], Boian Bulgaranov [8]. CHAIRMAN ANTON YUGOV: Enough CC members are present at the Plenum. Only twelve CC members are absent, some of them are abroad, some are unavailable; also seven CC Candidate members are absent. I declare the session open. The agenda is distributed to the comrades. The following items on the agenda are proposed: 1. Report on some issues of the international situation presented by comrade Todor Zhivkov. 2. Report on the political and organizational work in the Bulgarian Armed Forces presented by comrade Misho Mishev [9]. -
Gorbachev), 23 June 1989
Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact (PHP) November 2000 The Irresistible Collapse of the Warsaw Pact www.isn.ethz.ch/php Edited by Jordan Baev and Anna Locher ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Memorandum of Meeting between the General Secretary of the BCP (Zhivkov) and the General Secretary of the CPSU (Gorbachev), 23 June 1989 381/89 INFORMATION on the meeting between Com. Todor Zhivkov – Secretary General of CC BCP and Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and Com. Mikhail Gorbachev –Secretary General of CC CPSU and Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Moscow, 23 June1989, CC CPSU Building In accordance with the restructuring of the socialist system and the new political thinking, the meeting dealt with Bulgarian and Soviet internal state developments, bilateral relations, relations among the socialist countries as well as issues of global, European and Balkan cooperation. […] Com. Gorbachev pointed out that the Soviet leadership must maintain the international prestige and strategic initiative in order to realize its plans for the internal restructuring of the country. He drew attention especially to the necessity of reducing the extremely high defense expenditures, which exceed 18% of the national income. In the last years, the defense expenditures have increased twice as fast as the national income. […] Com. Zhivkov informed [Gorbachev] about the Bulgarian restructuring process. He pointed out the attendant economic difficulties and the "Moslem" problem. He stated that the number of the "Moslems" has been increasing at the rate of 15-16,000 per year and that in 20 years Bulgaria could resemble Cyprus. -
Goodwill Between Neighbors
Chapter 2 Goodwill between Neighbors In 1975, negotiations were underway between experts from Bulgaria and Yugoslavia regarding an exhibition, Prehistoric Art in the Bulgarian Lands , soon to open at the Belgrade History Museum. The museum director expressed concern about the title because “there is a dif- ference between the Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian meaning of [the word] ‘lands’” and required clarification about “which lands you refer to—the pres- ent or the past.” He worried—not without reason—that in Bulgarian schol- arship, the term was used to refer to all the historical kingdoms that extended beyond the current Bulgarian borders. The Bulgarian representative, trying to defuse tensions, “answered jokingly that most probably there would be no artifacts from Macedonia,” pinpointing the exact reason for the misgiv- ings of his Yugoslav colleague. 1 In a compromise, the exhibition premiered in Belgrade under a new title, Prehistoric Art in Bulgaria . 2 The contested place of Macedonia in the historical repertoires of Bul- garia and Yugoslavia caused much controversy once Bulgaria launched its international cultural offensive because it triggered rival interpretations of the past in the two countries. In October 1977, the Croatian journal Oko published a dispatch from New York City reporting on Bulgaria’s Thracian Treasures exhibition that had just opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The article lambasted the exhibition catalog, which featured a map that 62 GOODWILL BETWEEN NEIGHBORS 63 incorrectly showed the Balkan borders. -
Mfs-Handbuch —
Anatomie der Staatssicherheit Geschichte, Struktur und Methoden — MfS-Handbuch — Bitte zitieren Sie diese Online-Publikation wie folgt: Roland Wiedmann: Die Diensteinheiten des MfS 1950–1989. Eine organisatorische Über- sicht (MfS-Handbuch). Hg. BStU. Berlin 2012. http://www.nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0292-97839421302889 Mehr Informationen zur Nutzung von URNs erhalten Sie unter http://www.persistent-identifier.de einem Portal der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek. Vorbemerkung Das Handbuchprojekt »Anatomie der Staatssicherheit« ist eines der ältesten Vorhaben des Forschungsbereiches des Bundesbeauftragten für die Stasi-Unterlagen (BStU). Es wurde bereits im Jahr 1993 begonnen – wenige Monate nach der Gründung der Abteilung »Bil- dung und Forschung« und stellt dem wissenschaftlichen Fachpublikum wie auch anderen interessierten Nutzern von Stasi-Akten in kontinuierlich erscheinenden Teillieferungen umfassendes Grundwissen zum MfS zur Verfügung: die Entwicklung der Gesamtinstituti- on MfS in ihrem historischen Kontext, die Geschichte seiner wichtigsten Arbeitsbereiche, grundlegende Darlegungen zu den hauptamtlichen und inoffiziellen Mitarbeitern sowie verschiedene Übersichten und Materialien zur Struktur des MfS und ihrer Entwicklung, Kurzbiographien des Leitungspersonals und eine Edition der wichtigsten Grundsatzdoku- mente. Das »MfS-Handbuch« folgt der Verpflichtung der BStU zur »Aufarbeitung der Tätigkeit des Staatssicherheitsdienstes durch Unterrichtung der Öffentlichkeit über Struk- tur, Methoden und Wirkungsweise des Staatssicherheitsdienstes« -
Unholy Alliance. the Connection Between the East German Stasi and the Right-Wing Terrorist Odfried Hepp
Unholy Alliance. The Connection between the East German Stasi and the Right-Wing Terrorist Odfried Hepp Bernhard Blumenau Introduction On 18 February 1983, a young man, aged 23, suspected that the police were keeping his apartment under surveillance and took his rucksack, climbed onto an adjacent balcony to hide there until the police were gone. In the depth of night, he left the building and ran ceaselessly through the streets of West Berlin. Finally, to confuse his pursuers, he took several taxis, as well as the U-Bahn, to the Friedrichstraße checkpoint between West Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (GDR), where he arrived just before 6 am. Announcing himself to the East German border guards, he waited in a backroom until he was finally picked up by an officer of the East German State Security, the Stasi.1 This man, Odfried Hepp (aka ‘Friedrich’ in the Stasi files), was one of the most wanted right-wing terrorists2 in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the 1980s. What sounds like an extract from a spy novel is only one of the highlights of a story that has all the basic ingredients of a thriller: murders and bank robberies, a young man driven by – however abhorrent – political and idealistic beliefs, Cold War politics, Palestinian ‘freedom fighters’, boot camps in the Middle East, spies, and fake identities. Yet this story, which is at the centre of this article, is not fiction – it is the very real account of the life of Odfried Hepp as well as a glimpse at radicalisation and political extremism as well as right-wing terrorism in West Germany, the dimensions of the German- German Cold War struggle and the GDR’s relationship with terrorism. -
In Appreciation of Ludwig Erhard
Volume 9. Two Germanies, 1961-1989 The Two German States in the United Nations (September 19, 1973) The Basic Treaty [Grundlagenvertrag], which regulated relations between the two German states, ended East Germany’s international isolation. On the occasion of the two states’ entry into the United Nations, both foreign ministers emphasized – although with different arguments – Germany’s special role in securing peace. I. Speech by Otto Winzer, Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic, on the occasion of the acceptance of the GDR into the United Nations, made before the General Assembly on September 19, 1973 Honored Mr. President, Honored Delegates, The acceptance of the German Democratic Republic into the organization of the United Nations is a historic and happy event in the life of our people. It is a highpoint in the process of the German Democratic Republic’s equal participation in international life. Normal relations under international law and on the basis of the principles of the charter of the United Nations have been created between the majority of the member states of the organization of the United Nations and the German Democratic Republic. This is without a doubt an expression of the favorable developments that have taken place in recent years in the international relations of states and peoples. Thus, it is not presumptuous to maintain that the acceptance of the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, located in the heart of Europe, as two sovereign states independent of each other with different social orders into the organization of the United Nations is yet another significant step on the road to the improvement of the situation in Europe and internationally.