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Stalin Note
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Stalin Note
The Stalin Note, also known as the March Note, was a document delivered to the representatives of the Western Allies (the United Kingdom, France, and the United States) from the Soviet Union in separated Germany including the two countries in West and East on 10 March 1952. Soviet general secretary and premier Joseph Stalin put forth a proposal for a German reunification and neutralisation with no conditions on economic policies and with guarantees for "the rights of man and basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, religious persuasion, political conviction, and assembly" and free activity of democratic parties and organizations.
Conservative CDU/CSU West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and the Western Allies characterized Stalin's offer of reintegration as an aggressive action that attempted to stall the reintegration of West Germany. The readmission of 18.5 million eastern German citizens in the GDR to the voter rolls would have pulled West Germany's 51 million citizens leftward politically. There was debate on whether a legitimate chance for reunification had been missed; six years after the exchange, two West German ministers, Thomas Dehler and Gustav Heinemann, blamed Adenauer for not having explored the chance of reunification.
There is ongoing debate over the sincerity of the note, though declassified documents from the former Soviet archives indicate that there was an intention to incorporate the German Democratic Republic into the Eastern bloc and to blame the division of Germany on the Western occupying powers.[page range too broad]
After the Second World War ended, Germany was divided into what became eventually a Western Zone and an Eastern Zone. By 1949, Germany had a parliamentary democracy in the West, called the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, commonly "West Germany"), and a communist state in the East, called the German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly "East Germany"). Opportunities to reunify both halves appeared unlikely from the Western standpoint. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) feared losing power if free elections were held. Germany had still not signed a peace treaty for the war because of animosity between the three Western Powers and the Soviet Union. The peace treaty with Germany, the Two Plus Four Agreement, was signed only in 1990.
In early 1950, the United States began negotiations for a peace treaty with Japan, which granted long-term US military bases in Japan. The Korean War (1950–1953) surprised the US and contributed to deteriorated relations between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In discussions on reunification, East Germany stressed the importance of a peace treaty, while West Germany focused on the importance of free elections for all of Germany. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer did not believe that reunification was possible under the given conditions. He and his administration pursued a course that allied West Germany with the Western Bloc, particularly in relationship to military policy. Specifically, Adenauer felt that West Germany should maintain an army, which could be integrated into a larger West European military force. The European Defence Community Treaty was signed in May 1952, after the rejection of the Stalin Note, but the proposed European Defence Community never came into being because the treaty was rejected by the French National Assembly.
Stalin and East Germany condemned the treaty, although East Germany had created a pseudo-military force called the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. The Stalin Notes could be seen as a way to draw out the East German propaganda efforts so that reunification would fail.[according to whom?]
On 15 September 1951, East Germany offered to discuss holding elections at a meeting with West Germany. However, West Germany refused to hold talks with the SED because that would have meant the actual recognition of East Germany as an equal country. Contact was always maintained through the Western Powers. Instead, West Germany wanted a commission of the United Nations to see if free all-German elections were possible.
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Stalin Note
The Stalin Note, also known as the March Note, was a document delivered to the representatives of the Western Allies (the United Kingdom, France, and the United States) from the Soviet Union in separated Germany including the two countries in West and East on 10 March 1952. Soviet general secretary and premier Joseph Stalin put forth a proposal for a German reunification and neutralisation with no conditions on economic policies and with guarantees for "the rights of man and basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, religious persuasion, political conviction, and assembly" and free activity of democratic parties and organizations.
Conservative CDU/CSU West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and the Western Allies characterized Stalin's offer of reintegration as an aggressive action that attempted to stall the reintegration of West Germany. The readmission of 18.5 million eastern German citizens in the GDR to the voter rolls would have pulled West Germany's 51 million citizens leftward politically. There was debate on whether a legitimate chance for reunification had been missed; six years after the exchange, two West German ministers, Thomas Dehler and Gustav Heinemann, blamed Adenauer for not having explored the chance of reunification.
There is ongoing debate over the sincerity of the note, though declassified documents from the former Soviet archives indicate that there was an intention to incorporate the German Democratic Republic into the Eastern bloc and to blame the division of Germany on the Western occupying powers.[page range too broad]
After the Second World War ended, Germany was divided into what became eventually a Western Zone and an Eastern Zone. By 1949, Germany had a parliamentary democracy in the West, called the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, commonly "West Germany"), and a communist state in the East, called the German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly "East Germany"). Opportunities to reunify both halves appeared unlikely from the Western standpoint. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) feared losing power if free elections were held. Germany had still not signed a peace treaty for the war because of animosity between the three Western Powers and the Soviet Union. The peace treaty with Germany, the Two Plus Four Agreement, was signed only in 1990.
In early 1950, the United States began negotiations for a peace treaty with Japan, which granted long-term US military bases in Japan. The Korean War (1950–1953) surprised the US and contributed to deteriorated relations between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In discussions on reunification, East Germany stressed the importance of a peace treaty, while West Germany focused on the importance of free elections for all of Germany. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer did not believe that reunification was possible under the given conditions. He and his administration pursued a course that allied West Germany with the Western Bloc, particularly in relationship to military policy. Specifically, Adenauer felt that West Germany should maintain an army, which could be integrated into a larger West European military force. The European Defence Community Treaty was signed in May 1952, after the rejection of the Stalin Note, but the proposed European Defence Community never came into being because the treaty was rejected by the French National Assembly.
Stalin and East Germany condemned the treaty, although East Germany had created a pseudo-military force called the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. The Stalin Notes could be seen as a way to draw out the East German propaganda efforts so that reunification would fail.[according to whom?]
On 15 September 1951, East Germany offered to discuss holding elections at a meeting with West Germany. However, West Germany refused to hold talks with the SED because that would have meant the actual recognition of East Germany as an equal country. Contact was always maintained through the Western Powers. Instead, West Germany wanted a commission of the United Nations to see if free all-German elections were possible.
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