Migration and Migration Policy: West Germany and the Recruitment of Foreign Labour, 1945–61

Abstract

Between 1945 and 1961 West Germany experienced one of the greatest waves of emigration in German history. However, before the emigration of Germans to European and overseas countries had even reached its zenith, German migration policy had laid the foundations for the immigration of foreign workers, and the era of organized recruitment had begun, which lasted until 1973. This article analyses how the migration agreements with Italy (1955), Spain (1960), Greece (1960) and Turkey (1961) came about. Based on official documents it will argue (a) that the Mediterranean countries had initiated the negotiations about these agreements in order to regulate at least parts of their outward migration according to the needs of their own labour markets, and (b) that German politicians and ministerial civil servants involved held no fundamental debate during their period of deliberation about the possible length of the employment of foreign workers, and avoided a public discussion about migration and migration policies.