ABSTRACT
The Foreign Ministers of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) have never been regarded as sufficiently important to be in the Politburo. Since the general recognition of the GDR in the early 1970s the ministers with foreign affairs responsibilities have been upgraded. The GDR's relationship with the Soviet Union is the main determinant of its foreign policy. An emigrant in the Soviet Union, Bolz was a founder member of the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD). The high point of relations between Japan and the GDR was the visit by Erich Honecker to Japan in 1981. East German policy in relation to the capitalist West aimed at securing recognition of the GDR, weakening NATO by such recognition and by discrediting 'revanchist' West Germany, and establishing commercial links which would bring these political aims nearer and help the GDR to modernize its industry.
