Peace Chancellor

As "Peace Chancellor" Willy Brandt writes one of the most important chapters in the history of post-war Germany: the reconciliation with the East.

Second German on German summit between Willy Brandt and Willi Stoph in Kassel on May 21, 1970 �Bundesbildstelle

In August 1970 Willy Brandt and Leonid Brezhnev sign the "Moscow Treaty" about the renunciation of force and the inviolability of existing borders. The Federal Republic renounces its "assertion of the right of exclusive representation" (Alleinvertretungsanspruch - that is, its claim to represent all Germans including also those in the DDR). It declares in addition that it has no territorial claims against third countries. The border along the Oder and Neisse rivers claimed by Poland is thereby recognized as the western border of Poland. The Federal Republic and the USSR proclaim their desire to build their relationship on the basis of friendship and mutual advantage.

Foreign Minister Scheel, the Soviet Minister President Kosygin, Brandt, and Secretary General Brezhnev �Bundesbildstelle

The Moscow Treaty is by international law not a peace treaty that would confirm the partition between East and West Germany. A "Letter on German Unity", delivered by Foreign Minister Walter Scheel to his Soviet treaty counterpart in Moscow, states that "the Federal government asserts that this treaty does not stand in contradiction to the political goal of the Federal Republic of Germany, to work for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will be able to regain its unity through free self-determination."

In December 1970 a further milestone is reached on the road to reconciliation of the Federal Republic and its eastern neighbors. Willy Brandt travels to Poland to sign the "Warsaw Treaty". The day of treaty signing becomes a moving demonstration of the Federal Chancellor's desire for reconciliation. Willy Brandt falls spontaneously to his knees as he lays a wreath at the memorial for the Jews murdered in 1943 by SS units in the Warsaw Ghetto. The photograph of this gesture is seen by the entire world.

Willy Brandt kneeling down in Warsaw �Bundesbildstelle

In the Treaty of Warsaw the Federal Republic and Poland obligate themselves to keep inviolate the existing borders and to refrain from the use of force. The two states undertake to develop and nurture friendly relations.

Willy Brandt brings movement also to German policies. In March 1970 he meets the DDR Prime Minister Willi Stoph in Erfurt. This is the first German on German summit conference. Many see great hopes for humanitarian relief in partitioned Germany. A second meeting takes place in May 1970 in Kassel. Both meetings don�t lead to a breakthrough in the mutual relations.

In December 1972 after strenuous negotiations the Federal Republic of Germany and the DDR sign a basic treaty. It is agreed to construct "good neighborly relations". The two German states forego the use of force and each agrees to respect the sovereignty of its treaty partner. The Federal Republic and the DDR assemble a list of objectives concerning which they will in the future collaborate to "mutual advantage" and which will be the subject of further agreements. An example is the introduction of "minor border traffic regulations" which are designed to facilitate visits by family members to relatives in the neighboring German state.

The Federal Republic proclaims to the DDR leadership that the two German states in relations with each other should not be regarded as "foreign". The relationship must always have a "special character". Bonn and East Berlin agree to exchange permanent representation in place of embassies in the two capitals.