Wandel durch Annäherung

E60391

Wandel durch Annäherung is a Cold War-era West German foreign policy concept advocating that political and social change in Eastern Europe could be achieved through gradual engagement and rapprochement rather than confrontation.


Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Cold War policy concept
West German political doctrine
foreign policy doctrine
aimsAt improving human contacts across the Iron Curtain
long‑term German reunification
promoting political liberalization in Eastern Europe
reducing East–West tensions
appliesTo Eastern Europe
East Germany
surface form: German Democratic Republic

Soviet Union
associatedWith Willy Brandt
contrastsWith policy of containment only
policy of isolation
coreIdea gradual transformation via cooperation
political change through engagement
rapprochement instead of confrontation
countryOfOrigin West Germany
criticizedBy conservative politicians in West Germany
criticizedFor allegedly recognizing the status quo in Eastern Europe
field international relations theory
firstFormulatedBy Egon Bahr
firstFormulatedIn Tutzing speech
formulatedBy Egon Bahr
formulatedIn 1960s
hasKeyElement linking practical cooperation to long‑term transformation goals
historicalSignificance contributed to East–West détente in Europe
foundation of West German Ostpolitik in the late 1960s and early 1970s
ideologicalBasis Ostpolitik
realpolitik
implementedBy Brandt–Scheel coalition government
Social Democratic Party of Germany
influenced Ostpolitik
surface form: Brandt government foreign policy

Ostpolitik
surface form: West German Ostpolitik

treaty policy with Eastern Bloc states
languageOfName German
literalMeaning change through rapprochement
method cultural exchange
economic cooperation
political dialogue
treaty‑based normalization of relations
politicalContext Cold War
relatedConcept détente
rapprochement
supports acceptance of existing borders as a precondition for change
step‑by‑step agreements with Eastern Bloc states
usedAs paradigm for engagement policies with authoritarian regimes
yearOfFirstFormulation 1963

Referenced by (4)

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

Egon Bahr authorOf Wandel durch Annäherung
Egon Bahr conceptCoined Wandel durch Annäherung
Egon Bahr hasWork Wandel durch Annäherung
Ostpolitik slogan Wandel durch Annäherung