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Based on recently released archival sources, this book is the first
systematic analysis of the German-Soviet negotiations leading to
the conclusion of the Moscow Treaty of August 1970. This treaty was
the linchpin of the 'New Ostpolitik' launched by Chancellor Willy
Brandt's government as a policy of reconciliation and an attempt to
normalize relations with the countries of the Eastern bloc.
Focusing on the decision-making processes, both within the German
domestic political system as well as within the international
context, this study offers a new interpretation of the shift from
confrontational to detente politics at this time, arguing that the
Moscow Treaty was the product of various interrelated domestic and
external factors.
As Dannenberg shows, the change of government to a Social-Liberal
coalition was the first important precondition for Ostpolitik,
while the speedy conclusion of the Moscow Treaty owed much to the
high degree of secrecy and centralization that characterized
Brandt's policy-making and that of his small coterie of advisors.
However, Brandt's predominance in the decision-making process does
not mean that he alone determined the direction of policy. His room
for manoeuvre was, amongst other things, constrained by his
coalition's narrow parliamentary majority as well as the Western
Allies' special rights. On the other hand, German-Soviet trade
expansion, public opinion, and the emerging international interest
in detente in the mid-1960s were crucial factors favouring
Ostpolitik.
It was in this configuration of circumstances that Brandt placed
himself at the forefront of the movement towards detente between
East and West by introducing his bolddiplomatic design - one that
had the reunification of Germany as its ultimate goal.
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