Word: germanism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Honecker's visit repays a trip made to East Germany by then Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in 1981. The East German leader's plans for a reciprocal visit fell victim to a freeze in superpower relations in 1984, after West Germany had decided to deploy U.S. cruise and Pershing II missiles and the Soviets, in response, had walked out of arms negotiations in Geneva. Criticized in the Soviet press for planning to carry out his trip despite Bonn's move, Honecker dutifully canceled at the last minute. His arrival in West Germany now is one more sign of how U.S.-Soviet...
...trip also underscores the change in intra-German relations. For years the two states were bitter cold war enemies, unable to reach even a basic agreement recognizing each other's de facto national existence until 1972. Today, while still separated by an 863-mile border bristling with armed patrols and barbed wire, the two states have settled into a wary but increasingly pragmatic relationship, held together by more than 70 bilateral agreements governing everything from postal communications to electricity sharing. "German-German relations used to be much worse than East-West relations in general," says Wolfgang Berner, deputy director...
...West Europeans are enthusiastic about the increasingly cozy relationship between the two Germanys. Some worry that West Germany, in its eagerness to accommodate Honecker, will gradually loosen its ties to the Atlantic Alliance and the European Community. A few West Europeans have even raised the specter of German reunification, fearing the creation of a nation that would economically overwhelm the rest of Europe. But the principal objection is that a unified Germany would be neutral. This would hopelessly weaken NATO and, in effect, allow the Soviets to dominate the Continent without ever making a military move...
...serious European observers of the German scene, however, give much credence to any neutralist scenario. Even in France, the nation most sensitive to fluctuations on the German fever chart, most analysts see little cause for real concern. Says former Foreign Minister Jean Francois-Poncet: "The experts do not doubt West Germany's commitment to democracy nor the firmness of its ties to the West...
...does anyone in West or East Germany take seriously the idea that reunification is possible in the foreseeable future. It is clear, for one thing, that the Soviets would never tolerate the revival of a strong Germany, neutral or otherwise. "The existence of two German states is a reality," Mikhail Gorbachev declared during a visit to Moscow by President von Weizsacker. "One must start from that...