Germany's international treaties
In German history, Germany and its states have concluded a large number of international treaties with other states . An overview of the most important existing and expired international treaties of the Federal Republic of Germany (since 1951) and the most important historical international treaties of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (962-1806), the Kingdom of Prussia , the North German Confederation (1866/67 –1871), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the “ Third Reich ” (1933–1945) with a brief explanation of the content of the contract.
Existing international treaties of the Federal Republic of Germany
In the following, a selection of important existing treaties between the Federal Republic of Germany and several states ( multilateral treaties ) and with individual states ( bilateral treaties ) is listed.
Multilateral Treaties
| Contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | Agreed end of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General tariff and trade agreement | 1951 | International agreement on world trade and the dismantling of tariffs and trade barriers | ||
| Antarctic Treaty | 1979 | 2041 | International agreement that stipulates that uninhabited Antarctica between 60 and 90 degrees south is reserved exclusively for peaceful use, particularly for scientific research. | |
| Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty | 1969 | no | International treaty that bans the proliferation of nuclear weapons, obliges them to disarm, and the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy . | |
| Bern Convention for the Protection of Works of Literature and Art | 1886 | |||
| Bioweapons Convention | 1983 | Convention on the prohibition of the development, manufacture and storage of bacteriological (biological) weapons and toxin weapons and on the destruction of such weapons | ||
| Budapest Memorandum | 1994 | In return for renouncing nuclear weapons, the US , Great Britain , France , Germany , Russia and China undertake to guarantee the economic and political security of Kazakhstan , Belarus and Ukraine . | ||
| United Nations Charter | 1973 | United Nations (UN) “Constitution” . | ||
| Charter of Paris | 1990 | International treaty on the creation of a new peaceful order in Europe after the reunification of Germany and the end of the East-West confrontation . | ||
| Chemical Weapons Convention | 1992 | International agreement of the member states of the Geneva Disarmament Conference that prohibits the development, manufacture, possession, transfer and use of chemical weapons . | ||
| Germany Treaty (Treaty on Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Three Powers) | 1952 | 1955 | 2-year notice period | The treaty regulates the end of the occupation statute in the Federal Republic of Germany and in this context gave it the rights of a sovereign state . |
| FEU Treaty (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) | 1957 | 1958 | no | originally the EEC Treaty , renamed the EC Treaty in 1993 , renamed the AEU Treaty in 2009; Originally treaty for the establishment of the European Economic Community , later changes also founding treaty of the European Union (EU). |
| ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) | 1951 | 1953 | no | Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which contains a catalog of fundamental and human rights. The European Court of Human Rights monitors compliance . |
| EURATOM Treaty (Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community) | 1957 | 1958 | no | Treaty creating the conditions necessary for the rapid formation and development of nuclear power industries to raise the standard of living in the Member States and to develop relations with other countries. |
| EU Treaty (Treaty on European Union) | 1992 | 1993 | no | In the treaty, the European Union (EU) has been used as an umbrella network for the European Communities , the common foreign and security policy and cooperation in justice and home affairs established. |
| International Plant Protection Convention | 1952 | Should control and prevent the spread and introduction of diseases in plants and plant products | ||
| International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling | 1946 | International treaty regulating whaling | ||
| North Atlantic Treaty | 1954 | 1955 | International treaty that founded NATO . | |
| Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property | 1903 | One of the first international treaties in the field of industrial property protection . | ||
| Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties | 1969 | Regulates the law of international treaties between states. | ||
| Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations | 1961 | Codification of diplomatic law developed according to customary law . | ||
| Vienna Convention on Consular Relations | 1963 | Codification of the customary developed consular law . | ||
| Two-plus-four contract (contract on the final regulation with regard to Germany) | 1990 | Treaty that made German reunification possible. | ||
| Children's Rights Convention | 1989 | 1990, 2010 | In 1990, Germany formulated a reservation that the law on foreigners would take precedence over the Convention, since Germany was the only European country apart from Austria to practice detention. This reservation was withdrawn in 2010 so that the contract has been fully legal since then. |
Bilateral treaties
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | Agreed end of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| German-Polish border treaty | 1991 | The German-Polish border treaty guarantees the inviolability of the borders and thus represents a renunciation of force. | ||
| German-Polish neighborhood agreement | 1991 | Supplement to the German-Polish border agreement negotiated in autumn 1990 . | ||
| Elysee Treaty | 1963 | 1963 | Treaty on Franco-German cooperation, political consultations between the two governments and enhanced cooperation in foreign and defense policy. | |
| Basic contract | 1972 | 1973 | 1989 | Treaty on the Basis of Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic . The treaty was preceded by a number of other treaties within the framework of the new Ostpolitik ( Eastern Treaties ). Under Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt , a U-turn was initiated from the Hallstein Doctrine to the domestic German policy of “change through rapprochement”. |
| Luxembourg Agreement | 1952 | Treaty between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany . The content of the agreement included payments, export goods and services with a total value of DM 3.5 billion to support the integration of destitute Jewish refugees, as well as the voluntary commitment of the Federal Republic of Germany to restore assets. The Federal Republic of Germany thus de facto recognized the State of Israel. | ||
| Moscow Treaty | 1970 | 1972 | Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union. The parties invoked the Charter of the United Nations and pledged to resolve their conflicts peacefully. In this sense, the two states undertake to respect the existing borders of the European states and not to raise any territorial claims against other states. In particular, the Oder-Neisse line as the western border of the People's Republic of Poland and the border between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany was declared inviolable. | |
| Prague treaty | 1973 | 1973 | Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and Czechoslovakia . In the treaty, the parties referred to the Charter of the United Nations and declared that they had no territorial claims against each other, acknowledged the inviolability of their common border and established a future cooperation. The treaty established diplomatic relations between the countries. | |
| Treaty with Poland to protect the German minorities | 1991 | Protection of the German minority on Polish territory | ||
| Treaty with the Czech Republic for the protection of German minorities | 1991 | Protection of the German minority on Czech territory | ||
| Treaty with the Slovak Republic for the Protection of German Minorities | 1991 | Protection of the German minority on Slovak territory | ||
| Treaty with Hungary for the protection of the German minorities | 1991 | Protection of the German minority in Hungarian territory | ||
| Treaty with Romania for the protection of the German minorities | 1992 | Protection of the German minority in Romanian territory | ||
| Warsaw Treaty | 1970 | 1972 | Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People's Republic of Poland . Basis of the treaty: Charter of the United Nations . In it, the contracting parties confirm the Oder-Neisse line agreed between the victorious powers at the Potsdam Conference as the de facto western border of Poland. The two countries affirm that their borders are inviolable and they undertake not to lay claim to territories and to resolve their conflicts peacefully. |
Historical international treaties
The most important historical international treaties of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (962–1806), the Kingdom of Prussia , the North German Confederation (1866 / 67–1871), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919– 1933), the “ Third Reich ” (1933–1945).
Holy Roman Empire (962–1806)
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | End of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augsburg Imperial and Religious Peace | 1555 | Treaty between Ferdinand I , who represented his brother Emperor Charles V , and the imperial estates . As an imperial law for the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , it guaranteed the supporters of the Confessio Augustana peace and their possessions. | ||
| Peace of Baden | 1714 | One of the peace agreements at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession . He followed the Peace of Utrecht to the Emperor Charles VI. initially had not agreed. With the Peace of Baden he recognized him after a short continuation of the war on March 7, 1714. The War of the Spanish Succession was over. | ||
| Passau Treaty | 1552 | The formal recognition of Protestantism was between the Roman-German King Ferdinand I and the Protestant imperial princes under the leadership of Moritz von Sachsen after the prince uprising . | ||
| Treaty of Bonn | 921 | The treaty ended a dispute between the western and eastern parts of the Franconian Empire that had lasted almost exactly a decade . | ||
| Peace of Westphalia | 1648 | Peace treaties that ended the Thirty Years War in Germany and the Eighty Years War of Independence in the Netherlands. |
Kingdom of Prussia
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | End of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Treaty | 1728 | Secret treaty between King Friedrich Wilhelm I and Emperor Karl VI. in which Prussia completely gave up anti- Austrian politics. | ||
| Holy alliance | 1815 | The term "Holy Alliance" denotes the alliance that the three monarchs of Russia , Austria and Prussia concluded during their stay in Paris on September 26, 1815 ; France joined the alliance in 1818. | ||
| Congress of Vienna | 1815 | The treaty redefined the borders in Europe and defined new states. The reason was the defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte , who had previously changed the political map of the continent considerably. |
North German Confederation (1866–1871)
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | End of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August contracts | 1866 | A series of treaties between Prussia and the other north German states that ultimately led to the establishment of the North German Confederation . |
German Empire (1871-1918)
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | End of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three emperor agreement | 1873 | Consultative pact between the three monarchically ruled states of Russia , Austria-Hungary and the German Empire . |
Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | End of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Treaty | 1926 | Friendship treaty concluded between the Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union . It was the continuation of the Rapallo Treaty . | ||
| Versailles Peace Treaty | 1919 | 1920 | Agreement that formally ended the state of war between the German Reich and the powers of the Triple Entente and their allies after the First World War . | |
| Rapallo Treaty | 1922 | Treaty between the German Reich and the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (later founding member of the Soviet Union ) was concluded. The treaty normalized the relations between the two states, which wanted to break their international isolation with it. | ||
| Locarno Treaties | 1925 | 1926 | Seven international agreements. The final protocol of the contracts comprised a so-called guarantee pact between the German Reich, France and Belgium. Germany thereby recognized the western border established in the Versailles Treaty, which was guaranteed by Great Britain and Italy |
"Third Reich" (1933–1945)
| Official contract name | Year of joining | Come into effect | End of contract | Explanations on the content of the contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reich Concordat | 1933 | International treaty between the Holy See and the German Empire . In it the relationship between Germany and the Roman Catholic Church was regulated. It is still considered valid for the Federal Republic of Germany today . | ||
| Anti-Comintern Pact | 1936 | 1945 | International treaty between the German Reich and the Japanese Empire to defend against the Communist International (Comintern). Italy joined the pact in 1937, and other countries followed suit. | |
| Berchtesgaden Agreement | 1938 | 1945 | Agreement between the German Reich and the corporate state of Austria , which came about under pressure and laid down a series of measures to favor the Austrian National Socialists. | |
| Tripartite Pact | 1940 | 1945 | At the initiative of Adolf Hitler , the German Reich signed a treaty with the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy . The pact, which was initially valid for ten years, expanded the Anti-Comintern Pact to include extensive military cooperation. | |
| Munich Agreement | 1938 | 1945 | Treaty between Great Britain , France , Italy and the German Empire for the connection of the Sudetenland in the Munich Führerbau on Königsplatz . Representatives of the Czechoslovak Republic were not invited. Although not agreed in the agreement, the Munich Agreement effectively meant the end of the multinational Czechoslovakia that was formed in 1918. The agreement was declared null and void by the "normalization treaty" between the Federal Republic of Germany and Czechoslovakia (ČSSR) in 1973 . |