Hallstein Doctrine

E60390

The Hallstein Doctrine was a Cold War-era West German foreign policy that refused diplomatic relations with any country (except the USSR) that recognized East Germany as a sovereign state.

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Statements (42)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Cold War policy
foreign policy doctrine
appliesTo West Germany
surface form: Federal Republic of Germany

East Germany
surface form: German Democratic Republic

German unification question
diplomatic recognition
consequence diplomatic tensions with non-aligned states
limited diplomatic relations for West Germany with some developing countries
reinforcement of German division in international system
corePrinciple West Germany would not maintain diplomatic relations with states recognizing East Germany as a sovereign state
country West Germany
endTime early 1970s
exception Soviet Union
foreignPolicyOrientation anti-communist
pro-Western
goal assert exclusive representation of the German nation by West Germany
prevent international recognition of East Germany
historicalSignificance illustration of Cold War bloc politics in Europe
key element of West German strategy to isolate East Germany internationally
implementedBy German Foreign Office
surface form: West German Foreign Office

West German embassies
influencedBy West German Basic Law claim to represent all Germans
legalBasis interpretation of West German constitutional claim to represent all Germans
mainPeriod Cold War
method breaking diplomatic relations with states recognizing East Germany
namedAfter Walter Hallstein
notableCase break in relations with Cuba in 1963
break in relations with Yugoslavia in 1957
opposedBy Eastern Bloc
surface form: Eastern Bloc states

East Germany
surface form: German Democratic Republic
politicalContext division of Germany after World War II
non-recognition of East Germany
positionHeldBy Konrad Adenauer
surface form: Konrad Adenauer government
region Europe
relatedAgreement Basic Treaty between the FRG and the GDR (1972)
surface form: Basic Treaty (1972)
replacedBy Ostpolitik
replacedUnder Brandt–Scheel coalition government
surface form: Willy Brandt government
startTime 1955
statedIn West German foreign policy
supportedBy NATO
surface form: NATO allies (politically, but not always in practice)
weakenedUnder Kurt Georg Kiesinger government
Ludwig Erhard government

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ostpolitik follows Hallstein Doctrine
Ostpolitik replaces Hallstein Doctrine