Hallstein_Doctrine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hallstein Doctrine Hallstein Doctrine The Hallstein Doctrine, named after Walter Hallstein, was a key doctrine in the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) after 1955. It said that the Federal Republic would not establish or maintain diplomatic relations with any state that recognized German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany). The doctrine was abolished around 1970 when it became difficult to maintain and the Federal government changed its politics towards GDR. diplomatic relations because of the special significance of the Soviet Union as a victory state of World War II. Now there came up the need to explain why there were relations with this communist state and not others who recognized GDR, too. Hallstein Doctrine Background Walter Hallstein in 1969, accepting the Robert Schuman Prize. The doctrine was named after Walter Hallstein, then "state secretary" (the top civil servant) at the Foreign Office, though largely devised by the head of the political department, Wilhelm Grewe. The doctrine was understood to be that the Federal government would not establish or maintain diplomatic relations with any state that recognised the German Democratic Republic (GDR) - with the exception of the Soviet Union. The doctrine was applied twice, to Yugoslavia in 1957, and to Cuba in 1963. Both had first recognized the GDR. In 1958 the newly founded republic of Guinea accepted a Federal German ambassador and a GDR trade mission. When the country in 1960 sent an ambassador to GDR, the Federal Republic withdrew its own. Guinea then declared that it had never sent an ambassador to the GDR. Konrad Adenauer in Moscow, 1955 In diplomacy the non-recognition of another state, and the discouraging of third states to do the same, is an old instrument. In the first years after the establishing of the communist Soviet Union and Red China, the United States of America refused to have diplomatic contact with them, and similar were the cases of the partitioned states Korea and Vietnam. The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949 with the consideration that it was the only legitimate (democratic) representation of the German people. It did not recognize GDR but tried to achieve German unity under a freely elected, democratic government. The Federal Republic did not have diplomatic contacts with GDR or other communist states. In 1955 the Federal government of Konrad Adenauer visited Moscow and established Problems of the doctrine The doctrine seemed to succeed for a long time in isolating GDR, at least in regard to 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hallstein Doctrine Two German flags at the UNO building in New York, 1973 but it altered the way to achieve these goals. Brandt’s new Ostpolitik tried to negotiate with the GDR government in order to improve the situation of Germans in GDR and support visits from one part of Germany to the other. For that, the Federal Republic recognized GDR de facto, emphasizing that both German states can not be "foreign" to each other, that their relationsships can be only of a special kind. Hallstein doctrine became obsolete. GDR leader Walter Ulbricht in 1965 visiting Egypt important Western or Third World states. But it also limited the Federal government’s politics, and in the 1960s it became more and more difficult to maintain. In several cases, the doctrine was in fact not applied. In 1957 GDR opened in Cairo an office for the contacts to the entire Arab world, but the Federal Republic did not withdraw its ambassador from Egypt. When in 1965 the Federal Republic established diplomatic relations with Israel, many Arab states ceased theirs with the Federal Republic but did not recognize GDR. This did happen indeed after 1967, because GDR had supported the Arab states in the six-day war. The doctrine was also not applied to Cambodia in 1969, although it had recognize GDR. The Federal Republic established diplomatic relations with Romania in 1967 and reestablished those with Yugoslavia in 1968. The government’s argument was the communist states had been in fact forced to recognize GDR and should not be punished for that. Similar situations Similar exclusive mandate policies (One-China policy) were pursued by the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, and the situation in Vietnam during the Vietnam War was somewhat similar. See also • Exclusive mandate References • (German) Explanation of the Hallstein Doctrine, Interview of Wilhelm Grewe, Head of the Political Dept. of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. Interview with Hans Wendt, Editor of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. Erläuterung der sog. "Hallstein-Doktrin" durch den Leiter der Politischen Abteilung des Auswärtigen Amts, Ministerialdirektor Wilhelm Grewe, in einem Interview mit dem Chefredakteur des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks, Hans Wendt, am 11. Dezember 1955; Auszug (transcript (extract)). Norddeutscher Abolition In 1969 Willy Brandt became German Chancellor as head of a social democrat / liberal government. The new government maintained the main political goals such as the German reunification in peace and freedom, 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rundfunk. 11 December 1955. Retrieved on 2009-03-13. Hallstein Doctrine Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallstein_Doctrine" Categories: Foreign policy doctrines, West Germany, Political history of Germany This page was last modified on 24 March 2009, at 06:31 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) 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