Eight-eight-year-old Hans-Dietrich Genscher is a highly regarded elder statesman of German foreign policy. Last September, his party, the Free Democratic Party – FDP (Freie Demokratische Partei), honored him for his role in German detente politics. Genscher’s proposals frequently set the tone and direction of foreign affairs among Western European democracies. He was instrumental to the final accord reached at the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki in August 1975, the Two Plus Four Treaty (Zwei-Plus-Vier-Vertrag) signed in Moscow in 1990 and to the first parliamentary elections held in the reunified Germany that same year.
German statesman Hans-Dietrich Genscher – photo by 50jahre.freiheit.org
Genscher’s life
Born in 1927 in Halle, Germany, (which became part of East Germany in the post-World War II era), Genscher served in the German Army during the Second World War and studied law and economics in Leipzig and Halle after the war. In 1952, he fled to West Germany, joined the Free Democratic Party and began practicing law in Hamburg, West Germany. Throughout his political career, he held several key posts in the FDP, including that of party chairman. In 1974, he became foreign minister and Vice-Chancellor of West Germany and retained those positions until 1992 when he stepped down for health reasons.
Genscher’s “Ostpolitik”
Beginning in 1969, Hans-Dieter Genscher helped shape West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt’s vision of easing hostilities between West Germany and the communist East. The de-escalation of hostilities and normalization of strained relations between the West and Eastern Europe is commonly referred to as Ostpolitik.
Genscherism
As Foreign Minister, Hans-Dieter Genscher promoted compromise between East and West. He advocated compromise and negotiated settlements to international problems. During the Cold War, skepticism about detente with the East was widespread. Genscher’s tendency to seek a happy medium often annoyed US policy-makers. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was especially fearful of a reunified Germany. Genscherism is a term that was coined in London at that time. It was meant to be derogatory and referred to Genscher’s quasi-neutralism. But despite diplomatic conflicts, Genscher was able to stay the course. And on March 4, 1991, the Soviet Union became the last treaty partner to ratify the Two Plus Four Treaty. Genscherism, it seems, won out after all.
Genscher and the Two Plus Four Treaty
Representing the Federal Republic of Germany, Genscher, was one of the six foreign ministers who signed the historic Two Plus Four Treaty. Officially known as The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, this document embodies one of the great moments in diplomacy. It was signed on September 12, 1990 and is an agreement between the four victorious parties (United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union) and the two defeated parties (East and West Germany) of the Second World War. The treaty ended 45 years of German division. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/two-plus-four-treaty/ Hans-Dietrich Genscher is credited with being one of the main players to organize German reunification following the fall of the Wall. In a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Two Plus Four Treaty, Christian Lindner, current Chairman of the FDP, honored Mr. Genscher by calling him “detoxifier of East-West relations.” http://www.dw.com/en/german-unity-genscher-and-the-two-plus-four-agreement/a-18709829
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
