WEBVTT

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We are here in the section 1972, détente: Ostpolitik.

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Behind me, you see an icon of détente,

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Willy Brandt kneeling at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial.

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We have a relatively long lead-in here in this area,

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where we actually describe possibility space,

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what détente actually meant in the post-war period

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in the Federal Republic.

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In 1940, 12 million displaced persons came to the West,

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some of them also in the GDR as resettlers,

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and in the Federal Republic, of course,

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these 12 million displaced persons

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were a significant political factor.

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They also had a strong representation of interests,

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their own associations of expellees.

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And ultimately that led, in the further course,

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namely with the emergence of Willy Brandt,

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who set himself the goal of seeking reconciliation

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with the east, with the eastern neighbor, in the policy of détente.

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But that was accompanied by the fact

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that he would have accepted or has accepted that

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there are certain borders like the Oder Neisse border

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in the east of the country as the final border.

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And the expellees associations were very strong,

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could not accept that.

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Willy Brandt came under increasing pressure.

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He was called a traitor to the people,

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and the domestic political disputes

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took on an incredible harshness.

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On the other hand, Willy Brandt

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also received the Nobel Peace Prize for his policy of détente.

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That actually shows the enormous range that existed.

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In the end, the resistance was so great

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that Willy Brandt had to fear for his chancellorship.

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On April 24, 1972,

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the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag

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tabled a vote of no confidence in Willy Brandt

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under Article 67 of the Basic Law.

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This did not succeed.

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Willy Brandt was confirmed in office with two votes.

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This was due to the fact that these two votes

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had been bought by the State Security

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for 50,000 DM each.

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Willy Brandt stayed as Chancellor and his opponent,

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the parliamentary group leader of the CDU CSU,

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Dr. Rainer Barzel, who had certainly

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counted on becoming Chancellor, did not become Chancellor.

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What would have happened

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if Rainer Barzel had become Chancellor?

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Presumably, the policy of détente

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would have received considerable pushback.

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The Cold War would probably have come back sooner.

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And whether the treaties that were then concluded with

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the Eastern European neighbors

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would have been passed in the same way,

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that is written in the stars.