Safety Valve or Buildup to Confrontation? : The Two Germanies, Cultural Diplomacy, and the New Ostpolitik
Abstract
The period of the 1960s and 1970s saw profound changes in the Federal Republic of Germany's Ostpolitik and the cultural diplomacy. Using the methods of political history, this paper analyzes the interconnections between these two significant policy reforms.
It answers the following research questions: How did the rivalry between the FRG and the GDR influence the reforms in West German cultural diplomacy? How did this reform change the basis of cultural relations of the FRG towards the GDR? Finally, how did the GDR react to these changes? This study aims to conceptualize the intra-German cultural relations in the period of the Cold War as a dynamic process. It offers not only a historical comparison, but also an analysis of the multiple interrelations and mutual influence linking West and East Germany.