ABSTRACT
The attractiveness to the Soviet Union of the trends in inter-German relations would be predicated on the assumption that the development promises only increasing economic interdependence and political affinity. Inter-German initiatives from Erich Honecker and Helmut Kohl are apparently designed to encourage a revival of East-West cooperation and detente. A reinforcing aspect of the inter-German relationship is that it may represent a return to a historical norm. Limited inter-German economic and political relations may be viewed as a return to a historically stable relationship among the German states: before unification in 1871, the German states were loosely related economically, and regional ethnic identity dominated the broader pan-German cultural affinity. An accommodation between the superpowers is a significant, if not crucial, precondition for far-reaching inter-German affinity. A stable inter-German relationship might raise the issue of a reduction in Soviet military forces stationed in the German Democratic Republic, potentially relieving the military manpower burden on the slow growing Soviet labor force.
