Monday March 11th (home learning – ill day)

How successful was Adenauer as chancellor of Germany?

FOREIGN POLICY
Adenauer’s relations with the West have been seen as one of the most successful post-war areas of
policy. West Germany was reintegrated and became an equal and vital partner with other Western
powers. This was very different from the situation after the First World War, in 1919, when Germany
was seen as an outcast, but not so different from the era in the later 1920s when Germany was
reintegrated into Western Europe after the Locarno Pact of 1925. However, critics have argued that
Adenauer abandoned the East and did not reconcile the USSR to West German rearmament.
ADENAUER AND THE WEST
Perhaps Adenauer’s greatest achievement was to make West Germany indispensable to the West.
Instead of ensuring that West Germany would never be in a position to wage war again, the new
international organisations not only helped to manage the developing German economy, but to include
the state in moves towards Western European integration. However, by allying itself so closely to the
West, it rejected closer relations with the East and created antagonism between the two Germanys,
bolstering fear of communism in West Germany.
Unlike the post-First World War period, West Germany was welcomed back into European affairs and
France was more willing to seek a rapprochement than had been the case in the 1920s. West Germany
was accepted as an important partner in the process of economic integration, clearly seen in April 1951
when Franco-German coal and steel production was placed under a common authority. West Germany
was therefore able to remove foreign control from its industry and by joining the ECSC was on an equal
footing with France, something that had eluded it in the 1920s. The growing trust in the new state was
further emphasised by it joining EURATOM; a clear sign of the success of Adenauer’s policy of
building up trust and friendship with France.
Politically, West Germany was also integrated. Not only did Germany join the Council of Europe in
1948, with Adenauer stating that ‘We belong to the West, not Soviet Russia’, but it also joined the EEC
at its founding in 1957. Once again, this did much to reassure France, as not only did Adenauer accept
the division of Germany, but also made it clear that West Germany would not take any independent
steps towards unity.
In many ways military integration was viewed as the most challenging issue. Despite improvements in
relations in other areas, France, and Europe generally, was still militarily suspicious of West Germany.
Internally, too many people in West Germany were unsure about its military position. Adenauer did
succeed in achieving rearmament, a West German army was created in 1955 when Germany joined
NATO and NATO forces were placed on German soil because of the fear of communist aggression
from across the border in the East. He also took step to reassure Europe by stating that West Germany
would not seek reunification by force.
table of organisations West Germany joined:
Time Organisation
1948 Council of Europe
October 1949 Organisation for European Economic Organisation (OEEC)
April 1951 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
May 1955 NATO
March 1957 West Germany signed Treaty of Rome (EEC)
European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)
ADENAUR AND THE USSR
The growing improvement in relations with the West was a major concern for Stalin and the USSR.
Russia was concerned by the rapid integration of the new state into the West and the resultant
strengthening of its Cold War opponents. Stalin went as far as sending a series of notes in 1952 to the
West suggesting that the USSR might give up its control over East Germany in return for a united,
neutral Germany. However, he remained insistent that, once united, Germany could not join the West
because of his security concerns. The Western Allies rejected the offer, which pleased Adenauer even
thought this was seen as a direct snub to Stalin.
Adenauer also chose to ignore the East German risings of 1953 and left fellow Germans to their fate.
He also refused to recognise the DDR as a separate state and refused to have diplomatic relations with
any communist power except the USSR. This policy was known as the Hallstein Doctrine, which was
not abandoned until the 1970s.
Despite this, he did visit Moscow in 1955 and was able to secure the return of former prisoners of war
who were still being held, which won him much support at home. However, his lack of response to the
building of the Berlin Wall was also criticised in West Germany.
There were some setbacks in his foreign policy, particularly his reaction to developments in the East,
but these were far outweighed by his achievements. West Germany was treated as an equal by the West
and was accepted among the community of nations, which was a far cry from its position in the 1920s.
These successes also helped ensure his electoral success, with the return of former German prisoners of
war seen as a major triumph, although the creation of a West German army in 1955 did worry some
that Germany was returning to its militaristic past.