How Helmut Kohl Nearly Prolonged the Cold War

[Disir]

The interview with Hans-Dietrich Genscher had come to an end and the former German foreign minister was standing in the door of his home near Bonn to see out his visitor.

But there was time for one last question: What had Genscher's relationship with his former coalition partner, ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl, been like? Did he like him? The answer, on this spring day several years ago, was "yes." There was a personal connection, Genscher said, but also a lot of wounds that went "more than just skin deep."

From 1982 to 1992, Genscher and Kohl governed West Germany, and then Germany, together. They negotiated German reunification and paved the way for the euro. But at the same time, the two men -- who addressed each other using the informal "du" -- spent years waging a protracted feud, a battle that overshadowed their relationship until the end of their lives. Information was leaked, accusations leveled and insults spread.

Kohl, a member of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), called Genscher a "master of self-promotion." Genscher, from the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), maintained that the chancellor was not an international political heavyweight, saying there was simply nothing there.

Some of it was just muscle flexing. But there were also considerable, substantive differences, with far-reaching consequences. The most important conflict centered around Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev, who took over the Kremlin in 1985 and pursued a policy of détente. While Genscher saw Moscow's new policy as an opportunity, Kohl was far more skeptical.
www.spiegel.de/international/world/germany-how-helmut-kohl-nearly-prolonged-the-cold-war-a-1199622.html

It's an interesting read.

 

[Bleipriester]

Nothing to see here. Neither was the "reunification" good for the development of both economies nor did Kohl pave the way for the Euro. An ECU (European Currency Unit) was a condition for the recognition of the unified Germany. Kohl´s efforts were minimal as the GDR leadership knew that the GDR would not be able to cover the rising electricity demand and that the collapse would come in 1993. The GDR nuclear energy program failed in mid 85 and that was it. Soviet goods were of low quality or would not be delivered at all and the extensions to the already working reactors came to a standstill. The prices for everything in the east were on the rise. Although the GDR generated a surplus in trade with the FRG by 1984, foreign currencies were badly needed and often the GDR was banned from purchasing western technologies.
With the GDR joining the FRG, a new Versailles like treaty was agreed upon that limits Germany´s military strength to 350.000.