ABSTRACT
The German policy and behavior in Eastern Europe during World War II is well known and needs no elaboration. More than forty years after the end of World War II, memories of the German occupation of, and behavior in, Eastern Europe still often generate considerable excitement and even fear in the region, suggesting that the "German Question" continues to be an important item on the East European political agenda. The relationship between the Federal Republic and Eastern Europe since 1948 may be divided into three different phases. From its very beginning, the German Democratic Republic has been officially viewed by other East European states as an important, bona fide member of the Communist alliance in Eastern Europe, as a key component of the "Northern Tier" or "Iron Triangle" within the Warsaw Pact, and as a major supplier of technologically advanced goods to the rest of the Council on Mutual Economic Assistance.
