Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1986. (Westview Special Studies in International Relations), xiii + 272 p

Legters, Lyman H

English

Kansas State University

GDR Bulletin Volume 12 Issue 2 Fall Article 18 1986 Ernest D. Plock: The Basic Treaty and the Evolution of East-West German Relations Lyman H. Legters University of Washington Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/gdr This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Legters, Lyman H. (1986) "Ernest D. Plock: The Basic Treaty and the Evolution of East-West German Relations," GDR Bulletin: Vol. 12: Iss. 2. https://doi.org/10.4148/gdrb.v12i2.784 This Review is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in GDR Bulletin by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k-state.edu. c o m m u n i s t , t h e c a r e e r - o r i e n t e d K r u s c h k a t z a p -pears i n a very p o s i t i v e l i g h t . Kruschkatz i s a f i g u r e o f GDR r e a l i t y , a f i g u r e , i n t h i s c a s e , whose p r i v a t e l i f e becomes a shambles w h i l e h i s e f f o r t s i n the p u b l i c s p h e r e f a l l s h o r t o f b r i n g i n g him adequate pe r sona l s a t i s f a c t i o n . The o ther e lement c o n s i s t s o f the fac t that Horn's death i s p l a ced i n the h i s t o r i c a l l y s en -s i t i v e y ea r o f 1957, when e v e n t s i n s o c i a l i s t c o u n t r i e s f o l l o w i n g K h r u s c h e v ' s a n t i - S t a l i n speech o f 1956 l e d t o a g rea t d ea l o f i n s e c u r i t y among the i n t e l l e c t u a l s and t o such e v e n t s as the e a r l y e m e r i t u s s t a t u s o f E r n s t B l o c h . A l -though t h e c e n t r a l i m p a c t o f the n o v e l has l i t t l e to do w i t h the h i s t o r i c a l Johannnes Heinz H o r n , about whom not a g r e a t d e a l i s known, i t was B l o ch who gave Horn a p o s i t i o n at the K a r l -Marx-Universität L e i p z i g i n the e a r l y 1950s, i n p a r t as a r e s u l t o f h i s 1933 d i s s e r t a t i o n on " L e n i n a l s P h i l o s o p h . " Now tha t B l och ' s L e i p z i g l e c t u r e s are scheduled t o appear i n the GDR, i t may become p o s s i b l e to look a t the 50s w i t h the same s o r t o f unequivocab le o b j e c t i v i t y as does Ger t rude F i s c h l i n g e r i n the nove l , the on ly t r u e member o f the work ing c l a s s po r t r ayed , and one o f t h e few p e r s o n s f o r whom t h e r e a d e r ' s sympathy i s not a l t e r e d by c o n f l i c t i n g and sub-j e c t i v e d e s c r i p t i o n s o f h e r by t h e o t h e r c h a r a c t e r s . T h i s may depend upon w h i c h a t -t i t u d e s t o w a r d s h i s t o r y a r e d e v e l o p i n g i n the l a t e 1980s, some t h i r t y years a f t e rwa rds . Horns Ende a d d r e s s e s no t o n l y the p a s t bu t the present as w e l l . The nove l makes you wonder a l i t t l e about a new, y o u t h f u l g ene ra t i on r a i s e d i n s o c i a l i s m , b u t w i t h no d i r e c t e x p e r i e n c e o r memory r e l a t i n g t o the pas t , or t o the c r e a t i o n and e s t a b l i s h i n g o f s o c i a l i s m , as K r u s c h k a t z h i m s e l f d i s c o v e r s i n h i s l a s t o f f i c i a l s p e e c h b e f o r e the t o w n s p e o p l e o f G u l d e n b e r g . I t a l s o makes you wonder a b i t about how a g e n e r a t i o n r a i s e d on s o c i a l i s m m i g h t c o m p a r e t o a g ene ra t i on such as ou r s , r a i s e d on TV. C h r i s t o p h H e i n i s one o f a h a n d f u l o f GDR w r i t e r s whose w o r k s e x t e n d beyond b o r d e r s . Horns Ende, l i k e Der fremde f reund or Die wahre Gesch i ch te des AhQ, i s par t o f wo r l d l i t e r a t u r e . Any w r i t e r us e s h i s own e n v i r o n m e n t as the s t r u c t u r a l b a c k g r o u n d f o r a r t i s t i c e x p r e s s i o n and H e i n i s no e x c e p t i o n . But i t w o u l d be a m i s t a k e t o see G u l d e n b e r g e x c l u s i v e l y as the GDR. In many r e s p e c t s , i t c o u l d be a town anywhe r e , i n e i t h e r Germany, o r i n Europe . I t c o u l d be a s m a l l town i n most c o u n t r i e s . F o r H o r n s Ende H e i n has u s e d h i s t a l e n t w i t h language i n a much d i f f e r e n t manner than he d i d i n h i s e a r l i e r p r o s e . Once a g a i n , he h a s c r e a t e d a s m a l l m a s t e r p i e c e . But i t t a k e s a s econd r e a d i n g to r e a l i z e t h i s , to see how a l l the i n t r i c a t e p i e c e s o f t h i s m o s a i c i n t e r l o c k . A l i t t l e pa t i enc e , a l i t t l e ponder ing . P h i l McKnight U n i v e r s i t y o f Kentucky. The Bas i c Treaty and the E v o l u t i o n o f East-West German R e l a t i o n s . By Ernest D. P lock . Westview S p e c i a l S t u d i e s i n I n t e r n a t i o n a l R e l a t i o n s . Bou lder : Westview P ress , 1986. x i i i + 272 pp. In t h i s vo lume we now have a m e t i c u l o u s , d e t a i l e d a c c o u n t o f r e l a t i o n s be tween the two German s t a t e s . The c h r o n i c l e c o v e r s the p e r i o d l e a d i n g up t o the B a s i c T r e a t y o f 1972 i n b r o a d o u t l i n e and t h e n , i n much g r e a t e r d e t a i l , the e v o l u t i o n o f the r e l a t i o n s h i p under the terms o f t h a t t r e a t y . P l o c k ' s t r e a t m e n t s t r e s s e s the c l a s h o f j u r i d i c a l concept ions an imat ing the two s t a t e s r e s p e c t i v e l y ; and h i s a n a l y s i s i s at i t s best when he examines the l e g a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of these d i ve rgent concep t i ons , both i n the process o f a c c o m p l i s h i n g the t r e a t y and i n moving beyond i t s l i t e r a l p r o v i s i o n s as the two s t a t e s recog-n i z e d a g r o w i n g c ong ruence o f i n t e r e s t i n the years tha t f o l l owed . By f o cus ing somewhat nar row ly on r e l a t i o n s between East and West Germany, the author tends 60 61 1Legters: Ernest D. Plock: The Basic Treaty and the Evolution of East-WestPublished by New Prairie Press, 1986to s l i g h t — though he c e r t a i n l y acknowledges — the i n h i b i t i n g f r amework o f the c o u n t e r p o s e d a l l i a n c e s y s t e m s t o w h i c h t h e GDR and FRG belong. There i s no l a ck o f a t t e n t i o n to Sov ie t domina t i on o f the GDR, but one misses the sense i n w h i c h the r e l a t i o n s h i p wo rks i t s e l f ou t w i t h i n an i n t e r n a t i o n a l system dominated by two s u p e r p o w e r s . One o f t h e c h i e f v i r t u e s o f t h i s study i s i t s breadth i n d e a l i n g w i t h a l l aspec ts o f the r e l a t i o n s h i p — down to the most mundane a s p e c t s o f p o s t a l and t e l e p h o n i c communicat ion ( t hough I was d i s a p p o i n t e d a t t h e modest c o v e -rage o f c u l t u r a l i n t e r p l a y ) . But i t s o r i g i n s as a d i s s e r t a t i o n are r evea l ed i n a seeming d i s i n -c l i n a t i o n to address the l a r g e r p o l i t i c a l i m p l i -c a t i o n s o f the German " l e a k " i n the o p p o s i n g a l l i a n c e systems. U n f o r t u n a t e l y one has a l s o t o r emark upon the d r e a d f u l l y t u r g i d p r o s e i n e v i d e n c e h e r e . That may a l s o ( t hough i t s h o u l d no t ) smack o f a d i s s e r t a t i o n ; but i f i t does, then i t i s f a i r to e x p e c t a p u b l i s h e d book t o r i s e above the impene t rab l e E n g l i s h tha t appears to s a t i s f y — or even may be r e q u i r e d by - - p o l i t i c a l s c i ence departments . I f there i s no d i s c e r n a b l e d i f f e -r ence be tween d i s s e r t a t i o n and p u b l i s h e d book, then i t i s a l s o f a i r to wonder why we shou ld not s i m p l y s e t t l e f o r the f o r m e r , a v a i l a b l e i n m i c r o f i l m and u s e f u l as c a r e f u l r e s e a r c h , and c r e d i t the author a c c o r d i n g l y . Lyman H. Leg t e r s U n i v e r s i t y o f Washington E n c o u n t e r s i n Democracy . /\ U.S. J o u r n a l i s t ' s View o f the GDR. By M a r g r i t P i t t m a n . New York: I n t e r n a t i o n a l P u b l i s h e r s , 1981. 229 pp. $1.95. T h i s book was w r i t t e n s h o r t l y a f t e r the 1 0 t h C o n g r e s s o f t h e S o c i a l i s t U n i t y P a r t y o f the GDR i n the s p r i n g o f 1981 . I t i s an a d - ' m i r i n g a c c o u n t o f t h e a c h i e v e m e n t s o f t h e GDR and an i n t e r e s t i n g background study for the 11th Congress. I n t e r n a t i o n a l P u b l i s h e r s p r i n t e d t h i s work i n the GDR and i t must be c o n s i d e r e d an a u t h o r i z e d account . M a r g r i t P i t t m a n was born i n Germany and f l e d the r a c i a l p e r s e cu t i ons o f the T h i r d Re ich i n 1938. From the Un i t ed S ta t e s she r e turned as a correspondent f o r the D a i l y World i n the p e r i o d 1974 - 1979 and her o b s e r v a t i o n s and i n t e r v i e w s f rom t h i s t i m e a r e th e f o u n d a -t i o n s for her s tudy. The decade o f the 1970s saw many W e s t e r n a t t a c k s upon E a s t e r n Europe f o r the l a c k o f human r i g h t s . M a r g r i t P i t t m a n i s w r i t i n g i n par t to show that progress occured i n many areas o f l i f e and t h a t the Wes t ' s c o n c e r n f o r " m a l -c on t en t s " i s o v e rd rawn : " E s s e n t i a l l y t h i s book w i l l d e a l w i t h the q u e s t i o n o f human r i g h t s under S o c i a l i s m for the p o p u l a t i o n as a whole — o r , more p r e c i s e l y , the n a t u r e o f s o c i a l i s t democracy." Her study h i g h l i g h t s the remarkable growth o f the GDR from the rub l e o f WWII to i t s s t a t u s as the 1 0 t h g r e a t e s t i n d u s t r i a l power today. H i s t o r y i s a s e r i o u s e n t e r p r i s e i n the GDR and t h i s book i s s i m i l a r t o o t h e r r e c e n t a c -c o u n t s such as He in z H e i t z e r ' s GDR. An H i s t o r i -c a l O u t l i n e (1981) i n i n t e r p r e t i n g the wo r l d i n which East Germans l i v e . Th i s r epor t i s h i g h l y s e n s i t i v e t o W e s t e r n a t t i t u d e s t o w a r d t h e GDR and the a t t r a c t i o n s o f t h e F e d e r a l R e p u b l i c o f Germany. There are cons tant uses o f compar isons and c o n t r a s t s be tween E a s t and West German c o n d i t i o n s and p r a c t i c a l l y a l l r e s u l t s a r e f a v o r a b l e t o the GDR. O f t e n , t h e r e i s r e a s o n for c e l e b r a t i n g the achievements i n the GDR; for e x a m p l e , the g r e a t e r c o n c e r n f o r e q u a l pay f o r women, the g r ea t e r a v a i l a b i l i t y o f nursery and d a y - c a r e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r w o r k i n g p a r e n t s ' c h i l d r e n , o r the s u p p o r t o f f a m i l y l i f e t h a t e x t e n d e d p a i d m a t e r n i t y l e a v e s p r o v i d e . At o t h e r t i m e s the a u t h o r s t r e t c h e s t h i n g s a b i t and becomes r e p e t i t i o u s - - f o r e x a m p l e , i n quo t ing a West B e r l i n s o c i o l o g i s t ' s d i s a p p o i n t -ment tha t r e s i s t a n c e f i g u r e s and v i c t i m s of the 62 63 2GDR Bulletin, Vol. 12 [1986], Iss. 2, Art. 18https://newprairiepress.org/gdr/vol12/iss2/18DOI: 10.4148/gdrb.v12i2.784

Ernest D. Plock: The Basic Treaty and the Evolution of East-West German Relations

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Ernest D. Plock: The Basic Treaty and the Evolution of East-West German Relations

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