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The Stalin Note, also known as the March Note, was a document delivered to the representatives of the Western Allies (the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
) from the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in separated Germany including the two countries in
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
and
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
on 10 March 1952.
Soviet general secretary The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and premier
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
put forth a proposal for a
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
and neutralisation with no conditions on economic policies and with guarantees for "the rights of man and basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, religious persuasion, political conviction, and assembly" and free activity of democratic parties and organizations.
James Warburg James Paul Warburg (August 18, 1896 – June 3, 1969) was a German-born American banker. He was well known for being the financial adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt. His father was banker Paul Warburg, member of the Warburg family and "father" of ...
, a member of the
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid ...
, testified before the committee on 28 March 1952 and observed that the Soviet proposal might be a bluff, but he thought that it seemed "that our government is afraid to call the bluff for the fear that it may not be a bluff at all" and might lead to "a free, neutral, and demilitarised Germany", which might be "subverted into Soviet orbit". That led to an exchange of notes between the West and the Soviet Union, which eventually ended after the West had insistence for a unified Germany to be free to join the
European Defence Community The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unratified treaty signed on 27 May 1952 by the six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West German ...
and to be rearmed, demands that Stalin rejected. West German Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
and the Western Allies characterised Stalin's move as an aggressive action that attempted to stall the reintegration of West Germany. However, there was later a debate on whether a chance for reunification had been missed. Six years after the exchange, two West German ministers,
Thomas Dehler Thomas Dehler (14 December 1897 – 21 July 1967) was a German politician. He was the Federal Republic of Germany's first List of German justice ministers, Minister of Justice (1949–1953) and chairman of Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free De ...
and Gustav Heinemann, blamed Adenauer for not having explored the chance of reunification. There is ongoing debate over the sincerity of the note, though declassified documents from the former Soviet archives indicate that there was an intention to incorporate the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
into the Eastern bloc and to blame the division of Germany on the Western occupying powers.


Background

After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
ended, Germany was divided into what became eventually a Western Zone and an Eastern Zone. By 1949, Germany had a
parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...
in the West, called the
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
(FRG, commonly "
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
"), and a
communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...
in the East, called the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
(GDR, commonly "
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
"). Opportunities to reunify both halves appeared unlikely from the Western standpoint. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) feared losing power if free elections were held. Germany had still not signed a peace treaty for the war because of animosity between the three Western Powers and the Soviet Union. The peace treaty with Germany, the Two Plus Four Agreement, was signed only in 1990. In early 1950, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
began negotiations for a peace treaty with
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, which granted long-term US military bases in Japan. This may have had an influence on Stalin's decision to support
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
's invasion of
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, but the alleged influence has not been proven. The
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
(1950–1953) surprised the US and contributed to deteriorated relations between the US and the Soviet Union during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
. In discussions on reunification, East Germany stressed the importance of a peace treaty, while West Germany focused on the importance of free elections for all of Germany. West German Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
did not believe that reunification was possible under the given conditions. He and his administration pursued a course that allied West Germany with the Western Bloc, particularly in relationship to military policy. Specifically, Adenauer felt that West Germany should maintain an army, which could be integrated into a larger West European military force. The
European Defence Community Treaty The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unratified treaty signed on 27 May 1952 by the six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West Germany ...
was signed in May 1952, after the rejection of the Stalin Note, but the proposed European Defence Community never came into being because the treaty was rejected by the
French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are kn ...
. Stalin and East Germany condemned the treaty, although East Germany had created a pseudo-military force called the '' Kasernierte Volkspolizei''. The Stalin Notes could be seen as a way to draw out the East German propaganda efforts so that reunification would fail. On 15 September 1951, East Germany offered to discuss holding elections at a meeting with West Germany. However, West Germany refused to hold talks with the SED because that would have meant the actual recognition of East Germany as an equal country. Contact was always maintained through the Western Powers. Instead, West Germany wanted a commission of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
to see if free all-German elections were possible. The endeavours of the Western Powers made the commission meet in December 1951. East Germany refused to let it enter, however, and stated that the possibility of free elections should be investigated by a commission of the four occupying powers.


First Stalin Note

At a conference in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, the SED emphasised the importance of the two German states discussing a potential peace treaty. The Soviet leaders also encouraged the discussion of a peace treaty with the Western Powers because they were afraid of the push for the integration of the West German armed forces into a larger Western coalition. East Germany appealed to the four powers to allow for negotiations of the peace treaty for Germany. After about two months, in August 1951, Stalin presented his first draft of the plan for a peace treaty. After working through numerous corrections and basic conceptual changes, the final version was ready seven months later. On 10 March 1952,
Andrei Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка;  – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...
gave a diplomatic note about the solution of the "German problem" to representatives of the three western occupiers (the United States, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) and called for a four-power conference. The note included the following points: * A
peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surre ...
with all participants in the war with Germany should be negotiated with a single united German government. The Allies must agree on its formation. * Germany would be re-established as a united state within the boundaries established by the provisions of the
Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris P ...
. * All occupation forces would be withdrawn within one year of the date that treaty came into effect. * Germany would have democratic rights, such as having
freedom of assembly Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...
,
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...
, and freedom to have a
multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...
, including for former members of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
in the German armed forces, except for those under criminal prosecution. * Germany would become officially neutral and not enter any kind of coalition or military alliance directed against any of the countries whose military forces had participated in the war against it. * Germany would have access to world markets without restrictions. * Germany could have its own national armed forces to defend it and also manufacture munitions for those forces.


West German reaction

West Germany's priorities were different from East Germany's. Chancellor Adenauer considered his main priority to be the integration of West Germany into the West, and he saw reunification as a rather abstract goal. Specifically, his administration wanted to focus on the re-establishment of Germany into a capitalist Europe, and he felt that reunification was not possible until West Germany was securely established in Western Europe. He even believed that reunification could happen only at the same time as a radical change in Eastern Europe. If the integration of West Germany into the Western Alliance could not be managed, West Germany would come under the influence of the Soviet Union. He felt that Germany alone would not be able to afford an army that could provide for the security of a neutral Germany. Thus, he assumed that two German states would co-exist for an indeterminate amount of time and he followed that goal in the background. For those reasons, Adenauer saw the note as an annoyance and wanted to continue proceedings with the Western Powers as if the note had not existed. Adenauer's view that Stalin's offer was not serious was widely shared. However, there were other views about how to react to the offer. The Minister of All-German Affairs, Jakob Kaiser, had a "bridge theory" which suggested that Germany could be the mediator between the East and the West. He agreed with Adenauer about the importance of free elections and the refusal of the Potsdam borders, but Kaiser took the Soviet offer very seriously. In a radio address on 12 March 1952, he stated that the note had an important political significance, but he still thought it was important to approach it with caution. He asked for the Soviet suggestions to be carefully explored so that no opportunity for reunification would be missed. Similarly, other ministers and also members of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) felt that they should at least seriously test Stalin's proposal so that public opinion would not be that reunification failed because of West Germany. It would also quickly prove whether Stalin really meant to keep his offer; otherwise, his deceit would be quickly revealed. However, Adenauer felt that a "test" would have significant disadvantages: * A conference could be drawn out by the Soviet Union, and the relationship with the West would be delayed at first. If the West finally left the conference unnerved, Stalin could blame the failure of the talks on the West. * Because of the Second World War and other events in German history, such as the 1922 Treaty of Rapallo, it was essential for West Germany to appear as a reliable partner to the West. Agreeing with the offer would destroy that impression. * West Germany would participate in the conference with East Germany. The latter would thus be recognized by the West, which would allow Stalin to have already achieved one of his goals without given up anything in return. * Even if Stalin's offer were meant seriously, according to the historian Andreas Hillgruber, Adenauer was worried about a neutral unified Germany. He believed that it would not act responsibly in such a difficult situation between the East and the West. Adenauer also shared that idea with the West. Also, he thought that a neutral Germany could not defend itself alone from the Soviet Union. Adenauer, his ministers, the opposing
Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been ...
(SPD) and most of the population in West Germany agreed that Stalin's proposal was not sincere and that the demand for free elections had to be maintained. However, there was still some uneasiness that West Germany could not do anything against the division of Germany.


East German reaction

In East Germany, the note was officially received with excitement. The party organ of the SED, '' Neues Deutschland'' ("New Germany"), greatly emphasised that "the Soviet Government gives the patriotic forces of the German people the possibility of starting a wide offensive against the enemies of the peaceful reunification of Germany", ("patriotic forces" meant principally communist forces). This was largely a result of the strong and heavy Soviet influence in East Germany, whose leaders were subordinated to the Soviets and their political goals and ideological directions. East German Prime Minister
Otto Grotewohl Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its foundation in October 1949 until his death in Septembe ...
, indicated how the draft treaty was interpreted by East Germany in a government declaration on 14 March. He described East Germany as a democratic and free state and West Germany as undemocratic and fascist. Anti-peace and anti-democratic groups, however, could not be allowed to exist in a united Germany. In addition, a united Germany had to orientate itself with the East German five-year plan. Finally,
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
, the general secretary of the central committee of the SED, unmistakably spoke of the interpretation of the note. It should be understood as an action against the "general war treaty" (the Germany Treaty), through which Germany would become dependent on the West. However, Germany could not develop freely and peacefully except in a communist so-called "world peace bloc". In the end, East German goals for German reunification pressed on a sweeping communist reform on a unified Germany, which could be seen by at least a few in West Germany and the West as a ploy by Moscow to gain all of Germany into the communist fold.


Western response

The West was not completely surprised by the proposition offered by the March note because Stalin had not yet tried to interfere with the western integration of West Germany. However, the Western Powers did not want to begin negotiations with the Soviet Union until West Germany had been securely integrated into the West. Therefore, the western response was to delay the start of negotiations for the Peace Treaty. After the foreign ministers of the Western Occupation had finished their response, they asked Adenauer for his opinion on the matter in case he had any small changes that he wished to make. Although he mistrusted the note, he asked that it not be outright rejected in the answer since he wanted to avoid creating the impression that the West had brusquely refused it. On 25 March 1952, the first note from the British, French and American governments was sent to Moscow and included the following points: * To begin negotiations on the Peace Treaty, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
must check that all of Germany had free elections, which would then be held, and a government for all of Germany would finally be formed. * The borders from Potsdam (the Oder-Neisse line) were rejected since they were to be in effect only until a peace treaty was worked out. * Germany would have the right to enter into any alliances within the context of the UN Charter. * There would be full western agreement for Germany to be integrated into a defensive European military alliance, which was understood to be a clear reference to the
European Defence Community The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unratified treaty signed on 27 May 1952 by the six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West German ...
. An independent German military would be a step back into a Europe that had been controlled by militaristic and aggressive rivalry.


Second Stalin Note

In the second Stalin Note, sent on 9 April 1952, the Soviet Union stood by its position that negotiations for the groundwork of a peace treaty and for the creation of a unified German government to begin. Stalin accepted that free elections could be the groundwork for a unified German government but insisted for the four occupying powers, rather than the United Nations, to supervise the elections. On the other hand, Stalin stayed firm on his idea for a reunified Germany to have the borders outlined by the
Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris P ...
and that even more generally, an armed Germany could not be in an alliance that was directed aggressively against other states. In the second Western note of 13 May 1952, it was again emphasised that a freely-elected all-German government must participate in the treaty negotiations. Additionally, the West accepted that a commission of the occupying powers could oversee the elections but insisted for the commission not to be made up of government officials but impartial participants. The matter of dispute remained: free elections first (West) or peace treaty negotiations first (Soviet Union).


Third Stalin Note

A day before the official signing of the
European Defence Community The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unratified treaty signed on 27 May 1952 by the six 'inner' countries of European integration: the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West German ...
(EDC), the Soviet Union sent a third note, on 24 May 1952. Stalin criticised the creation of the EDC, whichaccording to the Germany Treatyshould be in effect even after reunification, and accused the West of delaying the negotiations for a peace treaty. In addition, the all-German government must remain under the control of the occupying powers during the treaty negotiations. On 10 July 1952, the West criticised the centralisation, the collectivisation and the changes in the East German justice system that the SED had passed. The note stated that the conference should not negotiate a peace treaty yet but decide on a commission to oversee the elections first. There was still a difference of opinion over whether Potsdam could be the basis for negotiation, which contradicted all of the developments since 1945.


Fourth Stalin Note

On 23 August 1952, the Soviet Union sent its last note, which repeated its main positions and accusations. Although the Western Powers had conceded to allowing the occupying powers to oversee the elections, the Soviets suddenly refused any international election commission. Instead, both sides of Germany should be responsible for the creation of a commission with equal representation although the West had rejected that in 1951. The West answered on 23 September 1952 with the repetition of its previous views and the renewal of its suggestion to form a nonpartisan commission of the four powers. After the first Western note, the lack of success of the exchange of notes had already been internally determined in the East and the West. This view was also publicly expressed by the rather polemic contents of the last four notes. The signing of the two treaties with the West, on 26 May and 27 May 1952, emphasised it even more.


Debate about "missed chance"

There have been several debates about whether a real chance for reunification had been missed in 1952. The publicist
Paul Sethe Paul Sethe (12 December 1901 – 21 June 1967) was a German writer and journalist. Life and work Sethe studied history, German and art history at the University of Bonn. In 1932 he received his doctorate with thesis about the British naval com ...
and the historians Wilfried Loth, Josef Foschepoth, Karl-Gustav von Schönfels and especially Rolf Steininger belong to the sceptics. Their views are answered by , and . There are two main disputes: *The more concrete question is easier to research and revolved around Stalin's motives and how ready he was to permit a neutralised democratic unified Germany and give up East Germany. Sceptics reject that, since a completely-independent Germany could be just as unpleasant in principle for Stalin as for the West. Besides, East Germany's existence had great advantages for Stalin: **As one of four occupying powers of the Second World War, the Soviets enjoyed prestige. **The Soviet right to occupy East Germany was generally recognised by the West. **East Germany was an important Soviet bridgehead in the middle of Europe, especially since Soviet troops had again left
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, the latter on the historically-important 17 September. East Germany was important to hold the system of the Soviet satellite states together. **Because of its precarious situation, the East German leadership was mostly true vassals of the Soviet Union. **East Germany could be economically exploited and provide soldiers. **There was little to no comparison with
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
from which the Soviet Union withdrew in 1955 following the
Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying p ...
and the declaration of Austria's permanent neutralitysince Austria had less strategic and economic importance than Germany. *A more political and more speculative question is whether such a Germany would have been more desirable. The sceptics noted: **Stalin could have still tried to subjugate all of Germany indirectly by reunification. **Without the Western Alliance, Stalin could have conquered Western European countries little by little, as
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
had treated Germany's neighbours. **Without integration with the West, West Germany or all of Germany would have fared worse economically. Above all, there is debate about the behaviour of West Germany and that of the Western Powers. The sceptics alleged repeatedly that Adenauer, who came from the mostly-
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, did not want reunification with the mostly-
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
. During the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
, he had wanted an independent Rhineland within the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, which was used against him. Also, Adenauer could have had a political motive since many of the traditional supporters of the SPD were in the East. Unification would give Germany more Protestants and more Social Democrats than West Germany had. In essence, the debate had two peaks: at the end of the 1950s and then again after the opening of the Western Powers' archives in the mid-1980s. Newer research since the 1990s has also taken into account the archives of the former
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
and thus raised further discussion. Finally, a book on the analysis of the Stalin Notes was published in 2002. During reunification in 1989 and 1990, the debate about the Stalin Notes played no part.


Discussion in the 1950s

The American historian Ruud van Dijk remarked that in the later discussions, much more sincerity was attributed to Stalin than in 1952. The clearer it became that the chances for German reunification were dwindling, the stronger the debate about whether or not an important chance had been missed in 1952. According to , the discussion increased in extent as the chances for reunification decreased. Among journalists, it was Paul Sethe who most sharply criticized Adenauer's rejection of Stalin's offer. He was the co-publisher of the ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
'' in the early 1950s and had always spoken out in his commentaries for at least seeing how serious the notes were. Thus, he saw the neutralisation of Germany as an appropriate price for reunification. He completed his thesis of missed chances in his book (''From Bonn to Moscow'') and so he lay the cornerstone for a debate about the notes that lasted for decades. The idea of the missed chance received attention through a debate in the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Comm ...
on 23 January 1958. The CDU/
CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...
were in a government coalition with the small DP, when two former ministers asked to speak,
Thomas Dehler Thomas Dehler (14 December 1897 – 21 July 1967) was a German politician. He was the Federal Republic of Germany's first List of German justice ministers, Minister of Justice (1949–1953) and chairman of Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free De ...
(FDP) and Gustav Heinemann (first CDU, now SPD). Both of them had left the government in the dispute with Chancellor Adenauer and accused him of not having done enough for reunification.


Discussion in the 1980s

The debate came again in the 1980s, when the western archives were opened for historians. The archives of the Soviet Union and East Germany were still not accessible to researchers. The historian Rolf Steininger asked in his article ("A Chance for Reunification?") in 1985, which was based predominantly on Western sources, if an important chance had been missed. Steininger and others disputed if it would have led to a divided Germany and if Adenauer did the best possible thing. Steininger's argument was based on three assumptions: *Stalin's offer was meant seriously. *The Western powers intended to sound out Stalin's offer. *Adenauer attempted to stop any attempt in that direction. However, the historian justified the actions of the Western Powers. Also on the basis of the western archives, he attached little importance to Adenauer's influence on the negotiations. Graml interpreted the note itself and the "planned" failure of the negotiations as evidence that the Soviet Union more or less wanted to create an alibi to push on East German integration to the Eastern Bloc.


References


Further reading

* * * * Bürger, G.A.: Die Legende von 1952. Zur sowjetischen März-Note und ihrer Rolle in der Nachkriegspolitik. Leer (East Friesland) 1962. * Graml, Hermann: Nationalstaat oder westdeutscher Teilstaat. Die sowjetischen Noten vom Jahre 1952 und die öffentliche Meinung in der Bundesrepublik. in: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte (VfZ, Quarterly Journal of Contemporary History) 25 (1977), p. 821–864. * ibid.: Die Legende von der verpaßten Gelegenheit. Zur sowjetischen Notenkampagne des Jahres 1952. in: VfZ 29 (1981), p. 307–341. * Loth, Wilfried: Stalins ungeliebtes Kind. Warum Moskau die DDR nicht wollte. 1996. * Niedhart, Gottfried: "Schweigen als Pflicht. Warum Konrad Adenauer die Stalin-Note vom 10. März nicht ausloten ließ." (Die Zeit, March 13, 1992) * Schwarz, Hans-Peter (publ.): Die Legende von der verpaßten Gelegenheit. Die Stalin-Note vom 10. März 1952. Stuttgart/Zurich 1982. * Steininger, Rolf: Eine Chance zur Wiedervereinigung? Die Stalin-Note vom 10. März 1952. Bonn 1985. * * Zarusky, Jürgen (publ.): Die Stalinnote vom 10. März 1952. Neue Quellen und Analysen. Munich 2002. {{Authority control Cold War treaties 1952 documents Cold War documents Allied occupation of Germany Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Germany–Soviet Union relations Soviet Union–United States relations Note German reunification 1952 in international relations