Chapter 2 - The long road to Moscow: the origins of linkage, 1955

Summary

Bismarck spoke about his nightmare of coalitions against Germany. I have my own nightmare: its name is Potsdam.

Konrad Adenauer, 1953

Chancellor Konrad Adenauer arrived in Moscow in September 1955, in response to a Soviet invitation, to begin negotiating with Soviet Premier Khrushchev. The talks were partly conducted out of a railway carriage, symbolizing the fact that West German–Soviet relations were still in their glacial phase. The Soviet experience with Germany during World War Two had left a legacy of profound mistrust and fear of Germany among both the leadership and the Soviet people. From the German side, Adenauer, Der Alte, was preoccupied with proving Germany's loyalty to the West. In many ways West Germany was a beneficiary of the origins of the cold war. Had the USSR not become the United States's main antagonist immediately after the Second World War ended, West Germany would have found rehabilitation more difficult. As it was, the denazification program was soon scaled down, and the FRG became one of the bulwarks of the Western alliance. After the USSR and the FRG established diplomatic relations in 1955, Soviet–West German relations improved marginally but remained antagonistic. Adenauer's visit to Moscow marked the beginning of a new era in Soviet–German relations.

Background to the summit

In analyzing Soviet political goals toward West Germany prior to the 1955 summit, it is essential to bear in mind that, until Germany became a member of NATO and was granted full sover–eignty in May 1955, there was some optimism on both sides of the iron curtain that a solution to the German problem could be found, other than its permanent division and incorporation into two antagonistic power blocs.