Documents on Germany policy
Documents on Germany Policy (DzD) is a project of the Federal Archives . The task of the DzD is the scientifically critical edition of essential documents on the German question.
The open German question was a central problem or concern of German and international politics during the division of Germany (1945–1990). The policy of West Germany on this problem area was and is called 'Germany policy'.
The federal government has published basic sources on this since 1961, especially for scientific research and the interested public. They cover the period from the beginning of the Second World War (September 1, 1939) to reunification (October 3, 1990). There are now 32 volumes in six series and two special volumes. They primarily document developments and decisions from the perspective of the two German states as well as the four victorious powers (" Four Powers ").
History of the DzD
The "Documents on Germany Policy " have been published since 1961. They were published by the Federal Ministry for All-German Issues (BGF) from 1961 , and from 1969 - when Willy Brandt became Chancellor - renamed the Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations. After the restoration of German unity, the Federal Ministry of the Interior took over the editing in 1991 , from 1996 with the participation of the Federal Archives and since 2003 as co-editor.
The project began as early as 1951. In view of the internal political disputes in West Germany about reunification (and ways to get there), the BGF published a collection of documents and files, which in particular contained the first resolutions of the German Bundestag and declarations by the Federal Government on the question of German reunification (Title: "The efforts of the Federal Republic to restore the unity of Germany through all-German elections"). Two more volumes were published by 1958. The publication should initially serve official purposes; soon it was also used as study material. Due to the continued demand for authentic document texts on the German question from November 27, 1958, the BGF decided to prepare a new systematic and better-founded collection. It should include all important national and international statements on Germany policy as close as possible to current events as well as the time of the Second World War from 1941 onwards. On November 27, 1958, Khrushchev issued a Berlin ultimatum ; This was followed by four-power negotiations on Germany at the Geneva Foreign Ministers' Conference in 1959 ; these took place for the first time with the participation of representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR.
First of all, the new publication should appear under the title "Documents on the Germany Question". Four rows were planned:
- the first row for the period from 1941 to the end of the war on May 8, 1945,
- the second row for the years of occupation from May 9, 1945 to May 4, 1955,
- the third row for the years from May 5, 1955 (entry into force of the Paris Treaties) to Khrushchev's Berlin ultimatum on November 9, 1958, and the fourth row from November 10, 1958 continuously.
On May 1, 1959 , a working group began its work.
The task was to compile all official texts, notes , correspondence, declarations, resolutions, contracts and announcements concerning Germany as completely and unabridged as possible. This also included, as far as they were accessible, documents from the Four Power Conferences. The material was to be supplemented by speeches, declarations, essays and interviews by members of the government, parliamentarians, politicians and publicists who were important for the development of the Germany question. The focus was (and should be) the provision of the official material.
Particularly important documents are reproduced in two or more languages if they are not in the original German language. Notes provide text-critical explanations and comments on individual issues according to standard scientific criteria.
The first was the III. Series (1955 to 1958) created. Four annual volumes could be completed by 1969.
The fourth series (from 1959 to the end of the Erhard II cabinet on November 30, 1966) was completed in 1981 with twelve volumes.
Since the end of the 30-year blocking period (customary in archives) , large parts of the official documents of the Western Allied powers relating to Germany policy during the Second World War have been accessible since the early 1980s. Hence the endeavor to begin with the processing of the first row for the war years from 1939 to 1945. The "Documents on Germany Policy" increasingly assumed the character of an edition of contemporary history. From the first series, four volumes were created by 1991, and a fifth volume, which appeared in 2003, concluded the series. At the same time, work on the phase of the CDU / CSU-SPD coalition under Federal Chancellor Kiesinger ( Kiesinger cabinet ) continued in the 1980s with a new V series for the years 1966 to 1969. Two volumes were published by 1987.
The reunification in 1990 resolved the Germany question; it was decided to let the 1990 edition end. In the 1980s, the need to create the missing volumes in the second row for the years 1945 to 1955 grew. After the new administrative assignment to the Federal Ministry of the Interior was completed in 1991, work on the DzD was intensified; by 2003 four volumes could be published. The great national and international interest in the events of the reunification in 1989/90 prompted the Federal Chancellery in 1994 to commission the compilation of a special edition from its files for this phase. The volume was published in 1998. Then work began on the VI. Series for the years of the SPD / FDP coalitions under Federal Chancellors Brandt and Schmidt between 1969 and 1982 ( Cabinet Brandt I , II and III and Cabinet Schmidt I and II ); five volumes appeared. Another special volume appeared in 2012 ("The special humanitarian efforts of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany against the government of the GDR").
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ More on the history of the DzD on bundesarchiv.de: History of the DZD ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ on the context: the Adenauer III cabinet ruled in Bonn, an SED regime under Walter Ulbricht in the GDR , a government under President Charles de Gaulle in France (January 1959-April 1969), and Harold Macmillan in Great Britain .
- ↑ in other words: there are no translations into German for less important documents
- ↑ Volume 1: 1962 to 1969. Prisoners' release, family reunification, exchange of agents. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-486-70719-9 .
