Domestic Constraints on West German Ostpolitik
The Role of the Expellee Organizations in the Adenauer Era
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9645372 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pertti Ahonen (0009-0009-5492-1685, Institute of History and Archaeology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 31-63 |
| Publication date | 1998-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Central European History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-9389 • E-ISSN: 1569-1616 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008938900016034 |
| OpenAlex | W1988508551 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 12 |
The Ostpolitik of the early Federal Republic presents a puzzle: why did West Germany—a country that consistently denounced the brutal Eastern policies of the Third Reich and sought to present itself as a new, peace-loving entity—refuse to normalize its relations with most East European countries until the early 1970s? The existing literature has explained Bonn's behavior primarily with reference to foreign policy calculations, such as the need to isolate the GDR and its satellite allies and to avoid granting unilateral concessions to the Soviet bloc. Although such Staatsräson considerations were very significant for the Federal Republic's policymakers, they do not tell the whole story. Movement on Eastern policy was also significantly hindered by domestic factors, the most important of which was the influence of the Vertriebenenverbände —the pressure organizations purporting to represent the millions of Germans expelled from Eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War II. The role of these organizations has typically received passing reference in general studies of Ostpolitik , but the specialized literature on the topic has remained weak
Cold war · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Federal republic · Foreign policy · German · Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Nazi Germany · Political science · Politics · West germany · World War II · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · European history and politics · German History and Society · History · Law
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2026 (25) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |