Developments in the FRG 1969-88

Ostpolitik

Ostpolitik aimed to develop relations between the FRG and the GDR with a policy of 'papprochement' rather than a policy of strength.
It was very controversial and there was significant opposition from much of the CDU, from some of Brandt's own SPD and from many of the public.
Ostpolitik was only possible because of a thaw in superpower relations between the USA and the USSR following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Ostpolitik led to a series of agreements which addressed some of the key foreign policy issues and improved relations between the FRG and the GDR
It gave the GDR a considerable economic advantage, from 1972 to 1989 the GDR received loans of nearly DM15 billion.
The GDR developed its own seperate identity and became known as 'The Workers' and Peasants' State'.

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