We are here in the section 1972, détente: Ostpolitik.
Behind me, you see an icon of détente,
Willy Brandt kneeling at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial.
We have a relatively long lead-in here in this area,
where we actually describe possibility space,
what détente actually meant in the post-war period
in the Federal Republic.
In 1940, 12 million displaced persons came to the West,
some of them also in the GDR as resettlers,
and in the Federal Republic, of course,
these 12 million displaced persons
were a significant political factor.
They also had a strong representation of interests,
their own associations of expellees.
And ultimately that led, in the further course,
namely with the emergence of Willy Brandt,
who set himself the goal of seeking reconciliation
with the east, with the eastern neighbor, in the policy of détente.
But that was accompanied by the fact
that he would have accepted or has accepted that
there are certain borders like the Oder Neisse border
in the east of the country as the final border.
And the expellees associations were very strong,
could not accept that.
Willy Brandt came under increasing pressure.
He was called a traitor to the people,
and the domestic political disputes
took on an incredible harshness.
On the other hand, Willy Brandt
also received the Nobel Peace Prize for his policy of détente.
That actually shows the enormous range that existed.
In the end, the resistance was so great
that Willy Brandt had to fear for his chancellorship.
On April 24, 1972,
the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag
tabled a vote of no confidence in Willy Brandt
under Article 67 of the Basic Law.
This did not succeed.
Willy Brandt was confirmed in office with two votes.
This was due to the fact that these two votes
had been bought by the State Security
for 50,000 DM each.
Willy Brandt stayed as Chancellor and his opponent,
the parliamentary group leader of the CDU CSU,
Dr. Rainer Barzel, who had certainly
counted on becoming Chancellor, did not become Chancellor.
What would have happened
if Rainer Barzel had become Chancellor?
Presumably, the policy of détente
would have received considerable pushback.
The Cold War would probably have come back sooner.
And whether the treaties that were then concluded with
the Eastern European neighbors
would have been passed in the same way,
that is written in the stars.