ABSTRACT
The relationship of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with the West during the late 1960s and early 1970s has to be seen in the wider context of the societal and political changes which shaped international history at that time.1 On the level of society, the year 1968 became a symbol for an extensive process of transition worldwide. Attitudes and beliefs, deeply rooted in the postwar reconstruction period, were questioned. With respect to political culture, it can be argued that the FRG had entered the final stage of its Westernization, even while large sections of the West German public opposed U.S. ‘imperialism’ and the United States as the leading power of the West, with left-wing groups going so far as to reject Western parliamentarianism. The West German society at large became more pluralistic. In politics, there was a change of government in 1969 from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the seemingly eternal ruling party, to the Social Democratic Party (SPD). For the first time, the leader of the SPD became chancellor. In short, the Federal Republic had become a normal Western country.2
