Willy Brandt and Ostpolitik. German-German relations at the time and the British reaction to those relations and Ostpolitik.

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13 February 2007

Germany 's Ostpolitik and British Reactions

Abstract The purpose of this is to study the progression of German-German relations immediately following World War II and during the progression of the Cold War , as well as noting the British reactions to this ongoing relationship . With an historical account that precedes the construction of the Berlin Wall and its subsequent destruction in 1990 , research simply proves that the tensions between the two halves of German society were palpable hundreds of attempts

to leave Communist East Germany for the West German side ended in brutal murders by military forces right up until 1989 . In an attempt to cool these hostilities , the Hallstein Doctrine was introduced after the Berlin Wall was erected , and subsequently abandoned for the more positive Ostpolitik policies of Willy Brandt

Ostpolitik focused not on the sovereignty of West Germany over East Germany , as the Hallstein Doctrine had , but instead on reconnecting the two populations . Brandt 's policies made it possible for West and East Germany to look forward to the future instead of remaining within the shadow of their opposing economic strategies , and Ostpolitik is credited with the reunification of Germany at the end of the Cold War . As a major part of the Allied forces during WWII , Great Britain had much to do with the organisation of the West German state and the subsequent feuds between East and West British government kept a close eye on the relations between the two and measured its own actions accordingly . In the success of the reunited German state , it turns out that Western economic ideology not only prospered but enjoyed a similar success

Germany 's Ostpolitik and British Reactions

Introduction

Following the division of the German state after the Second World War the Capitalist West found itself at odds with the Communist East Germany . The German Democratic Republic (GDR ) was the western half of the nation the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG ) the eastern half (De Blij and Muller , 2001 ,

.68 . Despite a common heritage and culture these divided states upheld conflicting alliances and political frameworks , which each assembled government believed was the best form of legislation possible . While the FRG relied on its ties to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union for trade and political ideology , the GDR looked towards the nations it felt were the great victors of WWII the United States and Great Britain . In doing so , West Germany was the grateful recipient of international Capitalist funding in the rebuilding of its infrastructure in the post-war era , whereas East Germany had to make do largely on its own because of its unpopular Communist status (Ibid .

.68-69

Although international opinion of the divided German state was itself divided , the leaders of the two new nations were eager to establish friendly relations with one another so that they might benefit from local trade . While East Germany looked in particular at prospective trade with its Western neighbour , West Germany , under...