The East German ruling regime and Ostpolitik in the context of superpower detente, 1969-1973

The bold decision of Willy Brandt, the West German chancellor, to recast relations with East Germany by using engagement instead of confrontation represented a turning point in the Cold War. This dissertation shows how the East German ruling regime, the SED, reacted to Brandt's initiatives, called Ostpolitik. Drawing on previously inaccessible sources which became available after the fall of the Berlin Wall---namely the party, state and secret police (or Stasi) archives, as well as interviews with leading policymakers---this study explores the motives of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and its Soviet backers in responding to Brandt.; The following questions are the focus of this study: How did Ostpolitik negotiations proceed, and how did they relate to superpower detente? What did the East German leaders and their Soviet allies hope to gain? What did they expect to concede in return? How did they go about pursuing their aims, and to what extent did those aims diverge? What degree of success did the SED obtain?; This investigation expands on previous literature in various ways. It offers an internal perspective on how the leadership of a socialist state conducted its political affairs and external relations. It details the interrelationship among the German-German negotiations, USSR-West German bilateral relations, the Quadripartite Agreement of 1971, the progress of the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks, and the Sino-Soviet rivalry. It also provides new documentation on Soviet dealings with China and the US.; This dissertation challenges previous historiography on several counts: The degree of initiative shown by SED leader Walter Ulbricht in negotiating with the West contributed significantly to his ouster. US anxiety about a putative West German plan to establish a "neutral Germany" via Ostpolitik was largely unfounded. Soviet apprehension about German rapprochement haunted Moscow's thinking during the bipolar era more than previously appreciated. Finally, most English-language historiography on the Cold War emphasizes bipolar politics, while German-language work highlights German-German relations. This dissertation demonstrates that personalities and regional politics, themselves shaped by world events, in turn exerted a decisive influence on global decision-making in the era of detente.