German Question

Report Outline
New Discussion of German Reunification
Unification of Germany by Bismarck
Problem of Joining the Two Germanys

New Discussion of German Reunification

Allied Declaration on the German Question

Eunification of Germany on the basis of self-determination was declared, in a tripartite declaration of policy issued simultaneously in Washington, London and Paris on June 28, to be a “fundamental objective” of the United States, Great Britain and France. The declaration was the response of the three Western powers to the 20-year treaty of friendship and cooperation signed by Russia on June 12 with the (East) German Democratic Republic. The West German government was closely consulted in its preparation.

The declaration held to the position that the Federal Republic of Germany was “the only German government freely and legitimately constituted and therefore entitled to speak for the German people in international affairs.” The treaty signed by the Russians with the East Germans had reiterated the Soviet position that reunification could be achieved “only through negotiations on an equal footing and agreement between both sovereign German states.”

While these recent events made no change in positions that have been maintained by East and West over the past 15 years, the Western declaration of June 26 did say that the United States, Britain and France were “always ready to take advantage of any opportunity which would peacefully re-establish German unity and freedom.” Such a settlement, the Western powers said, “should be sought as soon as possible…[and] should include progressive solutions which would bring about German reunification and security in Europe.”