— Ch. 1 · Origins And Opposition —
Ostpolitik.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
In 1963, Egon Bahr stood before the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing and delivered a speech that would eventually reshape Europe. He proposed change through rapprochement as a strategy to improve life behind the Iron Curtain. This idea challenged the Hallstein Doctrine, which had governed West German foreign policy since 1949. The doctrine stated that any country recognizing East Germany would lose diplomatic ties with West Germany. In 1957, the Federal Republic withdrew recognition of Yugoslavia after it accepted an ambassador from the GDR. By the late 1960s, this rigid stance was failing. When West Germany established relations with Israel in 1965, Arab states retaliated by breaking off their own ties and engaging with East Berlin instead. Willy Brandt, then mayor of West Berlin, argued that collaboration could foster trade and human contact over time. His approach differed sharply from the Christian Democratic Union's refusal to engage with communist governments. Even American advisors like Henry Kissinger urged Bonn to be more flexible. France feared a new Rapallo might make West Germany too powerful. Brandt pressured Paris into endorsing his policy by withholding financial contributions to the European Common Agricultural Policy.
Key Treaties And Implementation
The easing of tensions began with the Soviet Union, the only Eastern Bloc state with formal diplomatic ties to West Germany. In August 1970, Chancellor Willy Brandt signed the Treaty of Moscow, renouncing the use of force and recognizing current European borders. Later that year, he signed the Treaty of Warsaw, formally recognizing Poland and reiterating the Oder, Neisse line. These agreements paved the way for treaties with other Eastern European nations. The most controversial agreement came on the 21st of December 1972, when the Basic Treaty established formal relations between the two German states for the first time since partition. Brandt sought to smooth over the Federal Republic's claim to represent all Germans by stating that while two states existed, they could not regard each other as foreign countries. The conservative CDU opposition refused the treaty, arguing it gave away too many positions. They also criticized flaws in the unintentional publication of the Bahr-Papier, which outlined essential issues agreed upon by Egon Bahr and Soviet diplomat Valentin Falin. Despite these objections, new general elections in November 1972 gave the Brandt government a victory. On the 11th of May 1973, the Federal Parliament approved the Basic Treaty.