ABSTRACT
Recognition of the existence of East Germany and willingness to recognize in principle the Oder-Neisse border removed the challenge to Soviet and East European security interests which had been the central Soviet, East German, and Polish criticism of previous West German policy. In the period from 1967 to 1969 it had emerged that East Germany’s demands on the subject went further than those of the Soviet Union or the rest of the alliance. The sequence of priorities implied was the crux of East Germany’s position within Eastern Europe. Naturally enough East Germany also maintained a keen interest in the conduct of Polish-West German negotiations. However, the evidence presented would suggest that the adaptive capacity was more than just a mere reflection of political opportunism, since there is little doubt that the conduct of relations with West Germany had been the subject of hard bargaining between the East German and Soviet leaderships.
