East German pragmatism, China’s policy of differentiation, and Soviet miscalculation: Hermann Matern’s 1961 trip to China revisited

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper shows that Hermann Matern’s 1961 visit to China was mainly a trade mission whose connection with political affairs was minor and who had only an indirect influence on the Berlin Crisis. It further demonstrates that there was no Sino-East German rapprochement during Matern’s visit, but quite the contrary –relations between the two countries actually deteriorated, resulting in the East German delegation failing to achieve their goals. Yet, Soviet miscalculation and misunderstanding of China’s policy led them to substantially increase their economic assistance to East Germany, so as to ‘win their German comrades back’ to the Soviet side.