- Basic Treaty, 1972
The Basic Treaty ( _de. Grundlagenvertrag) is the short-hand name for the "Treaty concerning the basis of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic" ( _de. Vertrag über die Grundlagen der Beziehungen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik).
West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) recognized each other as sovereign states for the first time, an abandonment of West Germany'sHallstein Doctrine in favor ofOstpolitik .After the entry into force of the
Four-Power Agreement from 1971, both states began negotiations over a Basic Treaty. Like the Transit Agreement of 1972, the discussions were led by the Under-Secretaries of StateEgon Bahr (for the FRG) andMichael Kohl (for the GDR). As part of theOstpolitik of Federal ChancellorWilly Brandt , the treaty was signed onDecember 21 ,1972 inEast Berlin . It was ratified the next year in West Germany, despite opposition from hard-line conservatives. It came into effect in June 1973.The signing of the treaty paved the way for both German nations to be recognised by the international commnunity. Diplomatic relations were opened between the
German Democratic Republic and:
*Australia (December 1972),
* theUK ,France and theNetherlands (February 1973),
* theFederal Republic of Germany (February 1974) and the USA (December 1974). Both German nations were also admitted to theUnited Nations , on 18. September 1973.References
* [http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/print_document.cfm?document_id=172 Basic Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR (December 21, 1972)] on the [http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/index.cfm German Historical Institute] Website
Further reading
* [http://www.osce.org/documents/osce/1975/08/15773_en.pdf Address by the Chancellor of the FRG, Helmut Schmidt] (PDF) to the third stage of the
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe ,Helsinki ,20 July to1 August 1975
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