ABSTRACT

Elements of continuity in the transition from Ulbricht to Honecker are equally as striking as the manifestations of change. The Soviet Union’s limited Berlin initiative of November 1970 evidently overstepped the bounds of acceptability, for the pattern of conflict changed immediately from tolerable dissent to direct opposition on the part of Ulbricht. On an inter-state or inter-party level it serves to enhance East German prestige, and by means of this close association with the Soviet Union, emphasizes the important role the Deutsche Demokratische Republik does play politically, economically, and militarily within the Warsaw alliance. Quite clearly, whatever the official position, the German problem remains in many ways unresolved, even within the Warsaw alliance and therefore continues to shape East Germany’s attitudes to all its allies, including the Soviet Union. Erich Honecker had been consistently opposed to any ideological concessions to West Germany and Soviet strategy in negotiating a political settlement with the Brandt government in West Germany.