The Quest for ‘Inner Unity’

Abstract

In addition to the problems the legacy of the National Socialist period created for Germany’s national identity in the post-war period, there was also the very obvious and visible problem of German division. Due to the Cold War realities, both German states were not only faced with the challenge of finding a modus operandi for their dealings with each other but also that of constructing collective identities which would take into account the divided nature of the nation of the present without alienating their own citizens as well as those on the other side of the divide and their respective alliance systems. As the self-proclaimed legal successor of the Third Reich, West Germany, in particular, was faced with the difficulty of finding a way to deal with a state the rightful existence of which it was — at least initially — not prepared to acknowledge. Not only was it not prepared to accept the existence of a separate German state, but through the Hallstein Doctrine, it also threatened to break off diplomatic relations with any state that would. Thus the basic dilemma of the FRG in the early years was how to foster relations with the GDR at the same time as avoiding the impression of tacitly approving its existence. Remarkably, within less than twenty years, the FRG’s position changed from one of non-recognition to one of ‘change through rapprochement’ (Wandel durch Annaherung) which maintained formal non-recognition but which recognised through implication.