The Treaty of Moscow was signed on 12 August 1970 between the Soviet Union and West Germany.[1][2] It was signed by Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel for West Germany's side and by Alexei Kosygin and Andrei Gromyko for the Soviet Union.
| Type | Bilateral treaty |
|---|---|
| Signed | 12 August 1970 |
| Location | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Original signatories | |
| Ratifiers |
|
Description
In the 1970s, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was a policy that "abandoned, at least for the time being, its claims with respect to German self-determination and reunification, recognising de facto the existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Oder–Neisse line".[3]
Both sides expressed their ambition to strive for a normalisation of the relations between the European states while they kept international peace and to follow the guidelines of the Article 2 of the UN Charter.
The signees renounced the use of force and recognised the postwar borders, specifically, the Oder–Neisse line, which hived off a large portion of historical eastern Germany to Poland and the Soviet Union.
It also enshrined the division between East Germany and West Germany, thus contributing a valuable element of stability into the relationship between the two countries.
See also
- Treaty of Moscow (disambiguation), for other treaties known by this name
- Treaty of Warsaw from December 7, 1970
- Four Power Agreement on Berlin from September 3, 1971
- Basic Treaty from December 21, 1972
References
- (in German) Wording of the Treaty Of Moscow.
- (in Russian) Texts of FRG Treaties with Socialist Countries in 1970–1973.
- The Moscow Treaty (12 August 1970) (in English) retrieved from the CVCE website. Source: United States-Department of State. Documents on Germany 1944–1985. Washington: Department of State, [s.d.], pp. 1103–5.
- Europe: The End of World War II August 17, 1970 Time. (subscription required)
Further reading
- Notes of reply from the three Western Powers (11 August 1970) retrieved from the CVCE website.
- Pierre, Andrew J. The Bonn-Moscow Treaty of 1970: Milestone or Mirage? Russian Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jan., 1971), pp. 17–26
- Фалин В. М. Без скидок на обстоятельства: Политические воспоминания. — М.: Республика: Современник, 1999. — 463 с.: ил. ISBN 5-250-02673-7
Footnotes
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