ABSTRACT
The peace movement, the largest mass movement in Germany since World War II, arose or at least started to be publicly effective in the Federal Republic of Germany as a result of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) dual-track decision of 12 December 1979. A characteristic of the movement has been the involvement of Christians of both the Protestant and Catholic churches in a supportive role. The positions in the Protestant and Catholic churches have evolved in different ways, and thus it seems advisable to treat them separately. At least as far as the Protestant churches are concerned, this would be a misconception. Along with thoughts of a "socialism based on Christian responsibility" it was pacifist ideas that predominated within the FRG's Catholic population—surveys show—as a reaction to World War II. The problems and undercurrents in the GDR have an accent different from those in the FRG, and this is in large part due to the different sociopolitical conditions.
