Running Head: OSTPOLITIK
Why was it so difficult for Willy Brandt to pursue
the new Ostpolitik in the 1960s and early 1970s?
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institution]
Why was it so difficult for Willy Brandt to pursue
the new Ostpolitik in the 1960s and early 1970s?
Introduction
The policies of Ostpolitik began to be implemented with the fourth Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany, Willy Brandt, from 1969 to 1974. Ostpolitik was a political stance of normalization of relations between the two parts of Germany that emerged after the World War 1 (Britannica, 2014, p. n.d.). Ostpolitik aimed at reconciliation between government of West Germany known as Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Eastern Europe, particularly with East Germany called as the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (Brandt school, 2014, p. n.d.). From 1949 to 1969, the elected government of West Germany- the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) policies combated the Eastern Germany’s Communist regime and, through Hallstein Doctrine, refused to establish any relations with East Germany and any other country that maintained Diplomatic relations with East Germany (Schweitzer, 1995, p. 111).The Social Democrats of Willy Brandt attempted to establish a certain extent of cooperation between West Germany and East Germany while their efforts were combated by the Christian Democrats. For the new German Republic vis-a-vis the United States, Ostpolitik was a policy that was truly independent foreign policy. Willy Brandt and his social Democrats had to confront difficulties in pursuing the new Ostpolitik in the 1960s and early 1970s.
The historiographical debate
On the historiography of Ostpolitik, there are mainly three trends, the 1970s, the 1980s, and the post-Cold War literature (Lippert, 2005, p. 2). There is great enthusiasm in the 1970s for Ostpolitik and Brandt. During this time, Brandt’s policies were conceived as a great success as they were enthralled...