Détente policy

Under detente means the policy of conciliation of different countries at the diplomatic level. The participating states try to resolve disputes with the help of neutral mediators by way of compromise and to anchor them in contracts. Furthermore, one tries to counteract an escalation of political and military disputes and crisis situations by reaching agreements beforehand. Hardliners and conservatives , who fear a loss of their own strengths, express criticism of the policy of détente .

Relaxation and rapprochement on the German-German question

In Germany, the reign of Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt was shaped by the policy of détente. Due to the Cold War , the arms race and the constant confrontation between the Eastern and Western powers, he held talks with Poland in 1969 and initiated negotiations to renounce violence with the USSR , GDR and the other Warsaw Pact states . The Erfurt summit meeting with GDR head of government Willi Stoph was the symbolic prelude. With the Eastern Treaties , the new borders such as the Oder-Neisse border were recognized. Willy Brandt's kneeling at a wreath-laying ceremony in Warsaw was a further step on the way to mutual recognition. Richard Nixon , US President from the beginning of 1969 to 1974, supported (after initial skepticism) Brandt's Ostpolitik. On December 7, 1970, the Warsaw Treaty was signed by Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel (Foreign Ministers). Despite strong criticism, the initiated path was continued by the successors, which led to the reunification of Germany .

Stations of détente policy during the Cold War

• 1963: Establishment of the hot line between Moscow and Washington
• 1963: Treaty banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in space and underwater , comes into force on October 10, 1963
• 1968: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty , comes into force on March 5, 1970
• October 28, 1969 (one month after the 1969 Bundestag election and a few days after the Brandt I cabinet was appointed ): the new Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt makes far-reaching announcements in his first government statement
• 1972: Salt I Treaty , which regulates the number of strategic weapons and defense systems on both sides
• Autumn 1972: Poland and the Federal Republic set up diplomatic missions
• 1973: Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War, which requires immediate consultation between the superpowers in the event of a conflict
• 1970 to 1973: Eastern Treaties in which the Federal Republic of Germany de facto recognizes the status quo in Europe and regulates its relationship with the Soviet Union
• 1975: CSCE process in which security issues for Europe are settled (renunciation of force, territorial integrity of states, etc.)

literature

• Thomas Ekman Jørgensen: Peaceful growing apart. Thoughts on a social history of relaxation 1960-1980 , in: Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History 3 (2006), pp. 363-380.
• Gottfried Niedhart :
  • Relaxation in Europe: The Federal Republic of Germany and the Warsaw Pact . De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2014, ISBN 978-3486856378 ( reading sample )
  • Relaxation in Europe. The Federal Republic of Germany and the Warsaw Pact 1966 to 1975. Federal Agency for Civic Education, 2014

Footnotes

1. ↑ Full text of the declaration
2. ↑ page 108
3. ↑ www.bpb.de: Volume 1461