Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the policies of William Brandt. who became chancellor of West Germany in 1969. The paper specifically discusses how his Eastern policy affected his Western policy. It also discusses Brandt's main objectives surrounding Ostpolitik (his Eastern policy) and the differing effects it had on his Western policy. In addition, the paper looks at the effects of Brandt's Eastern policy on his West policy after his resignation.

From the Paper:

"Brandt's contribution to settling the European question must not be underestimated. His work with the East paved the way for Western countries to wok with the Eastern bloc to settle political debates. The question of German reunification and European detente were two different aims during Brandt's chancellorship, as suggested by Scheel in 1974 when he commented that 'Europe is concerned about the bloc divide, but not concerned about the German divide' . Brandt's innovative Warsaw treaty saw the first recognition of post-WW2 territory with regards to the Polish Oder-Neisse line; this sent a message to the rest of Europe that the continent must move on, a notion supported by Turner . Moreover Brandt's famous kneeling salute in Warsaw reverberated around the Western world and it was realised that better relations with the East were possible and must proceed. Brandt's Ostpolitik laid the groundwork for the influential Helsinki Conference, which by 1975 included all European countries and continued until 1982, becoming a crucial factor in eventual European unification. Moreover the Four Power economic summit included West Germany in 1979 under the work of Helmut Schmidt, who continued the policies founded by Brandt."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Rosolowsky, Diane, West Germany's Foreign Policy: The impact of the Social Democrats and the Greens (Greenwood, 1987) p. 65
• Ashton, S.R., In Search of Detente: The Politics of East-West Relations since 1945, (Macmillan, 1989) p.109
• Ash, Timothy, In Europe's Name: Germany and the Divided Continent, (Jonathan Cape, 1993) p.51
• Krell, Gert, 'West German Ostpolitik and the German Question', in Journal of Peace Research Volume 28 No. 3 (Aug 1991) pp.315
• Turner, Henry, The two Germanies since 1945, (Yale University Press, 1987) p. 147

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