German division, Cold War, détente and European integration
This chapter develops shared European and German historical foundations for the period indicated. It does not establish a regional examination blueprint, official source list, authentic paper language or a complete causal explanation of every event. Distinguish evidence, interpretation and competing explanations.
Core rules and concepts
- Bloc formation: Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan 1947, Cominform 1947, Berlin Blockade and airlift 1948–49, NATO 1949, Grundgesetz (23 May 1949) and GDR constitution (7 October 1949), Warsaw Pact 1955, Hallstein Doctrine 1955.
- German-German flashpoints: 17 June 1953 uprising, Berlin Wall 13 August 1961, the Zwei-Staaten-Theorie of the 1970 s.
- Détente: Egon Bahr's 1963 formula "Wandel durch Annäherung"; Brandt's Ostpolitik; Moscow Treaty 1970, Warsaw Treaty 1970 addressing the Oder-Neisse boundary in the 1970 treaty framework, while the final settlement followed in 1990, Basic Treaty 1972, Helsinki Final Act 1975: human-rights commitments in the principles section and separate provisions on human contacts, information and cultural cooperation commonly grouped as BasketIII.
- Integration: ECSC 1951 (Schuman Plan), Treaties of Rome 1957 (EEC and Euratom), merger treaty 1965, Single European Act 1986, Maastricht 1992. Deepening (supranationality, qualified majority) versus widening (British accession 1973) is a permanent tension.
- Endgame: reform pressure in the GDR, Monday demonstrations, 9 November 1989, Ten-Point Programme, currency union 1990, Two-Plus-Four Treaty, unification on 3 October 1990 (Article 23 GG).
Worked example
Assess Bahr's 1963 dictum: "Wandel durch Annäherung." Reasoning: (1) Meaning: contact and recognition of the status quo should erode the GDR from within, not overthrow it. (2) Conditions: it presupposed a firm Western alliance (CDU criticism: recognition legitimises the SED). (3) Evidence: Basic Treaty 1972 regularised contacts; Helsinki 1975 gave dissidents a legal reference point; yet the SED stabilised itself with Western credits in the 1980 s. (4) Judgement: the policy's causal contribution to 1989 is indirect and long-term; avoiding over-attribution earns the marks.
Traps that cost marks
- Conflating détente with the end of bloc confrontation.
- Mixing up ECSC (1951), EEC (1957) and EU (1993, after Maastricht).
- Narrating integration as linear progress without the Empty Chair Crisis (1965) or eurosclerosis.
- Claiming Ostpolitik "caused" 1989 without weighing Gorbachev's role and GDR internal dynamics.