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120-679: The Federal Republic abandoned important aspects of the doctrine after 1970 when it became difficult to maintain, and the Federal government changed its politics towards the German Democratic Republic. The Four Power Agreement on Berlin in 1971 and the signing of the Basic Treaty in 1972 brought an end to the doctrine, in accordance with the new strategy of Ostpolitik . Following Germany's defeat in World War II,

240-654: A classical school in Mainz from 1913 until his matriculation ( Abitur ) in 1920. From 1920 Hallstein studied law in Bonn , later moving to Munich and then to Berlin . He specialized in international private law and wrote his doctoral dissertation on commercial aspects of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles . He obtained his doctorate from the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin in 1925  – at

360-470: A trade agreement . This was not especially problematic, because the Federal Republic of Germany did not object to trade relations, providing it did not involve explicit diplomatic recognition. Having established trade relations, the next stage was to establish permanent offices of the chamber of commerce . This, too, usually met with little resistance from the Federal Republic of Germany, provided

480-531: A "camp university" for his fellow soldiers. After the war he returned to Germany and continued his academic career; he became rector of the University of Frankfurt in 1946 and spent a year as a visiting professor at Georgetown University from 1948. In 1950 he was recruited to a diplomatic career , becoming the leading civil servant at the German Foreign Office , where he gave his name to

600-570: A "two state" solution and strongly objected to the Federal Republic's claim to represent the whole of Germany; but they made no such claims themselves. In the 1960s, after the building of the Berlin Wall , Walter Ulbricht , the East German leader increasingly claimed to represent the whole of Germany. Whenever the German Democratic Republic opened some form of representation in another country, they attempted to persuade that country to open

720-450: A Federal German ambassador and a GDR trade mission. When the country in 1960 sent an ambassador to GDR, the Federal Republic withdrew its own. Guinea then declared that it had never sent an ambassador to the GDR. The doctrine seemed to succeed for a long time in isolating the GDR, at least from important Western or Third World states. But it also limited the federal government's politics, and in

840-611: A conflict that had caused massive destruction and left the continent split in two by the Iron Curtain , there were calls for increased co-operation in Europe. The French foreign minister , Robert Schuman , put forward a plan, originating from Jean Monnet , for a European Coal and Steel Community that would unify control of German and French coal and steel production, and talks were started with this aim. Germany had still not regained its sovereignty following defeat in World War II, and

960-638: A greater degree of integration among a smaller number of countries. Discussions on the possibility of a wider trade area, avoiding the tariff wall between the EEC and the EFTA countries, continued, but in the middle of preparations for the negotiations the French government, on instructions from de Gaulle, withdrew. This unilateral action by the French in November 1958 displeased the other EEC members and effectively ended

1080-728: A leading scholar of private law. He would remain there until 1930. In 1929 he obtained his Habilitation from the University of Berlin, based on a thesis on company law. In 1930, at the age of 29, he was appointed professor of private law and company law at the University of Rostock , making him Germany's youngest professor of law. He was made Deputy Dean ( Prodekan ) of the Faculty of Law in 1935 and then Dean in 1936. He remained in Rostock until 1941. From 1941 to 1944 Hallstein lectured at Frankfurt University , where he

1200-597: A major role. Some of the main issues of German foreign policy were now German re-unification and the relations of West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany) with its eastern neighbours, including East Germany (the German Democratic Republic). Being more involved in Western European integration, Hallstein delegated much of this work to his deputy, Wilhelm Grewe . But in this area particularly, German foreign policy became associated with

1320-610: A meeting of the seven WEU members (20 October), a meeting of the Four Powers to end the occupation of Germany (21–22 October), and a meeting of all fourteen NATO members to approve Germany's membership. After the ratification of the Paris Accords on 5 May 1955, the General Treaty ( Deutschlandvertrag ), which largely restored (West) German sovereignty, took full effect; the Federal Republic of Germany became

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1440-598: A member of NATO. Once the major foreign policy objectives were in hand, Hallstein set about restoring Germany's diplomatic service and re-organizing the Foreign Office, based on the findings of the Maltzan Report, a report commissioned by Hallstein on 26 June 1952 and produced a month later by Vollrath Freiherr von Maltzan , a former diplomat, at that time on loan from the Ministry of Economics. There

1560-403: A note that it did not imply recognition of the German Democratic Republic. Right up to 1969, however, the German Democratic Republic was not able to achieve full diplomatic representation – with two possible exceptions: The doctrine was applied twice, to Yugoslavia in 1957, and to Cuba in 1963. Both had first recognized the GDR. In 1958 the newly founded republic of Guinea accepted

1680-399: A number of options, the decisions being made by the foreign minister, Brentano, and the chancellor, Adenauer; in any case, the name Hallstein doctrine may have been something of a misnomer. No official text of the so-called "doctrine" was made public, but it was explained publicly in a radio interview by its main architect, Wilhelm Grewe. Adenauer also explained the outlines of the policy in

1800-498: A policy of negotiating with the German Democratic Republic government in order to improve the situation of Germans in German Democratic Republic and involved supporting visits from one part of Germany to the other. As part of this, the Federal Republic de jure recognized the German Democratic Republic as a state organisation of parts of Germany not within the Federal Republic, emphasizing that both German states could not be "foreign" to each other, that their relationships could be only of

1920-407: A powerful Europe that could play its proper part on the world stage. De Gaulle also envisaged a pooling of sovereignty in certain areas, such as external defence, harmonization of industrial production and foreign trade, currency, exploitation of resources in overseas territories, and cultural and scientific development, but at the same time he was developing the French nuclear deterrent capability,

2040-412: A result of the détente dialogue." While Part II of the agreement stated that the further development of the relationship between West Germany and West Berlin, whereby West Berlin was still not part in the sense of a constitutive part of West Germany and could not be governed by it, at the same time de facto - not registered in itself - it was established that the further development of relations between

2160-425: A separate officeholder was needed. Adenauer is said to have considered Hallstein for the position, even though he was not a member of a political party. Hallstein also played an important part in promoting West Germany's goals of regaining sovereignty and creating a European Defence Community (EDC), of which West Germany would be a member. Negotiations at first resulted in two international agreements: However,

2280-414: A similar representation in the German Democratic Republic. Although they were willing to provide financial inducements for this purpose, their success was limited. For the first stage in developing diplomatic relations, the German Democratic Republic often used the assistance of the local communist party in the country, and East German journalists were also pressed into service. The next stage was to establish

2400-799: A small group of close advisers, including Hallstein and Blankenhorn) on the one hand and the division leaders at the Foreign Office and the diplomatic missions on the other. In particular, Hallstein was also criticised in the press after the European Defence Community was rejected by the French National Assembly , as had been predicted by the German diplomatic mission in Paris. On 6 June 1955, Adenauer, who had until then been Foreign Minister as well as Chancellor, appointed Heinrich von Brentano foreign minister and there

2520-531: A special kind. The Four Power Agreement on Berlin in 1971 and the signing of the Basic Treaty in 1972 brought an end to the doctrine, in accordance with the new strategy of Ostpolitik. In diplomacy the non-recognition of another state, and the discouraging of third states to do the same, is a common tactic. In the first years after the establishment of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China ,

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2640-536: A statement to the German parliament on 22 September 1955. It meant that the Federal German government would regard it as an " unfriendly act " if third countries were to recognize or maintain diplomatic relations with the "German Democratic Republic" (East Germany). The exception was the Soviet Union , as one of the Four Powers responsible for Germany. The threatened response to such an unfriendly act

2760-564: A tariff barrier with other countries. The EFTA convention was signed in January 1960 and was to come into force in May 1960. On 3 March 1960, Hallstein announced a plan for accelerating the implementation of the common market, which commentators regarded as sabotaging hopes of a joint free trade area that included the EEC and EFTA. This invoked the displeasure, not only of the EFTA countries, but also of

2880-695: The Force de Frappe , which he envisaged as part of a European defence capability independent of the United States. This independence from the United States was one of de Gaulle's main objectives; he was against the increased integration of Europe under the umbrella of transatlantic integration as provided for in the Rome treaties. The Hallstein Commission drew up plans and a timetable for an economic and currency union , and Hallstein presented these to

3000-761: The Federal Republic of Germany ( Bundesrepublik Deutschland ); in October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic ( Deutsche Demokratische Republik , or DDR). They were informally known as "West Germany" and "East Germany". However, prior to 1954, the Allies still officially retained responsibility for the whole of Germany and neither East Germany nor West Germany had regained their sovereignty . The Basic Law for

3120-589: The Constitution of the United States . Hallstein remained a prisoner of war from June 1944 to mid-1945. In November 1945 Hallstein returned to Germany, where he campaigned for Frankfurt University to be re-opened. Turning down an offer from Ludwig Erhard to be deputy minister at the Bavarian Ministry of Economics, he became a professor at Frankfurt University on 1 February 1946, and in April he

3240-592: The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in October 1962. A second attempt by de Gaulle to establish a closer political union in Europe that would be independent of the United States was the Franco-German bilateral treaty on political cooperation . This treaty between France and Germany, which was signed on 22 January 1963, was criticized by other countries as being incompatible with

3360-559: The EEC treaty left many questions open. Opinions were divided, for instance, on whether a common market could succeed without a common economic policy , on enlargement of the European Union  – in particular whether Britain should join – and whether the final goal should be a political union in the sense of a " United States of Europe ". Differing interests and traditions in the member states and differences of opinion among

3480-691: The European Court , but now he was put forward as the German candidate for the president of the commission, though the Belgian Minister of Economics, Rey and the Netherlands Agriculture Minister, Mansholt were regarded as the strongest contenders for the position. The conference of foreign ministers on 20 December 1957 could not reach a decision, so when the Treaties of Rome took effect on 1 January 1958,

3600-540: The European Union . He held the office from 1958 to 1967 and was the only German to be selected as president of the European Commission or its predecessors until the selection of Ursula von der Leyen in 2019. Hallstein famously described his role as "a kind of European prime minister" and dismissed national sovereignty as a "doctrine of yesteryear." Hallstein left office following a clash with

3720-545: The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). However, the agreement contributed greatly both to a reduction of tensions between East and West over Berlin and to expanded contacts between the two parts of Germany. As such, it made an important contribution to the process that resulted in the reunification of Germany in 1990. Along with the Allied agreement, the Basic Treaty ( German : Grundlagenvertrag ) which

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3840-701: The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and East Berlin, with East Berlin still not being part of East Germany in the sense of a constitutive part and also not being governed by it. Walter Hallstein Walter Hallstein (17 November 1901 – 29 March 1982) was a German academic, diplomat and statesman who was the first president of the Commission of the European Economic Community and one of

3960-651: The Hallstein Doctrine , West Germany 's policy of isolating East Germany diplomatically. A keen advocate of a federal Europe , Hallstein played a key role in West German foreign policy and then in European integration. He was one of the architects of the European Coal and Steel Community and the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community , which would later become

4080-775: The President of France , Charles de Gaulle ; he turned to German politics as a member of the Bundestag , also serving as President of the European Movement from 1968 to 1974. He is the author of books and numerous articles and speeches on European integration and on the European Communities . Walter Hallstein was born on 17 November 1901 in Mainz , Germany. After primary school in Darmstadt he attended

4200-518: The founding fathers of the European Union . Hallstein began his academic career in the 1920s Weimar Republic and became Germany's youngest law professor in 1930, at the age of 29. During World War II he served as a First Lieutenant in the German Army in France. Captured by American troops in 1944, he spent the rest of the war in a prisoner-of-war camp in the United States, where he organised

4320-531: The "German Democratic Republic" (East Germany) or maintain diplomatic relations with it—with the exception of the Soviet Union, as one of the Four Powers responsible for Germany. The response to such an unfriendly act was often understood to mean breaking off diplomatic relations, but this was not stated as an automatic response under the policy, though it remained the ultima ratio . Which actions short of official recognition and full diplomatic relations would trigger sanctions, and what these sanctions would be,

4440-457: The 1960s it became more and more difficult to maintain. In several cases, the doctrine was in fact not applied. When, in 1957, the GDR opened an office in Cairo to establish contact with the entire Arab world, the Federal Republic did not withdraw its ambassador from Egypt. Moreover, when in 1965 the Federal Republic established diplomatic relations with Israel , many Arab states ceased theirs with

4560-581: The Americans and sent to Camp Como, a prisoner-of-war camp in Mississippi . As a German prisoner of war (POW) in the United States, Hallstein started a "camp university", where he held law courses for the prisoners. As part of the Sunflower Project , a project to re-educate German POWs, he attended an "administrative school" at Fort Getty , where teaching included the principles of

4680-653: The Cabinet authorized intergovernmental negotiations, to be held at the conference of foreign ministers in Venice at the end of May, the German delegation again to be led by Hallstein. In July 1956, Britain had made proposals for the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) to examine the possibility of a free trade area for industrial goods. The French, mainly interested in Euratom, attempted to separate

4800-597: The Common Agricultural Market would be implemented as scheduled on 1 July 1967 – but the customs union for industrial products would also be implemented at the same time, two and a half years earlier than provided for in the Rome Treaty. The proposals would have allowed the Community to develop its own financial resources independently of the member states and given more budgetary powers to

4920-744: The Common Agricultural Policy, and on 21 October 1964, the French Minister of Information, Alain Peyrefitte announced that France would leave the EEC if the European Agricultural market were not implemented in the agreed form by 15 December 1964. On 1 December 1964, Erhard, now head of government in Germany, announced that Germany would accede to French demands for a common wheat price, and on 15 December

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5040-492: The Community unless the rights of the European Parliament were strengthened. On 20 January 1965, the European Parliament passed a resolution appealing to the governments to take this step toward strengthening a democratic and federal Europe. Hallstein supported this. Hallstein had received indications that other countries shared his point of view and decided to risk the confrontation with de Gaulle, interpreting

5160-454: The Council of Ministers laid down common grain prices from 1 July 1967 and instructed the commission to submit proposals for financing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by 1 July 1965. Differences between France and the Commission – and especially between de Gaulle and Hallstein – were exacerbated when France held the rotating six-month Presidency of the council, from January to June 1965. The Council of Ministers instructed

5280-409: The EEC Commission, was cautious, considering the British application premature. Of British politicians, only Heath was able to establish a rapport with Hallstein. The Financial Times (of 2 August 1961) wrote that Hallstein was one of the least enthusiastic about British membership of the EEC. In British government circles he was at first seen as siding with the French and de Gaulle, against Britain and

5400-529: The EEC and NATO treaties. Hallstein and other members of the commission also criticized the treaty, and this angered de Gaulle. When the treaty was ratified by West Germany, the German Bundestag unilaterally added a preamble that re-affirmed the commitment to close transatlantic ties, the enlargement of the existing European Communities and attempts to secure Britain's accession. Since Britain had firmly expressed its unwillingness to support an autonomous European defence independent of America, de Gaulle regarded

5520-415: The Economics Ministry under Erhard. Commentators talked of Hallstein's "religious zeal". In 1961 Harold Macmillan , the British Prime Minister , finally gave up the idea of the larger free trade area, and the United Kingdom applied to join the EEC. Edward Heath , as Lord Privy Seal in the Macmillan government , led the negotiations in Britain's first attempt to join the EEC. Hallstein, as president of

5640-403: The Federal Republic but did not recognise the GDR. This eventually happened after 1967, because the GDR had supported the Arab states in the Six-Day War . The doctrine was also not applied to Cambodia in 1969, although it had recognised the GDR. The Federal Republic established diplomatic relations with Romania in 1967 and reestablished those with Yugoslavia in 1968. The government's argument

5760-425: The Federal Republic of Germany , which came into effect in 1949, was written as a constitution for the whole of Germany, including West Germany and East Germany. It laid down German reunification as a goal and a requirement and was proclaimed in the name of the whole of the German people. On 23 March 1954, the Soviet Union declared that it would establish diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic. This

5880-404: The Federal Republic of Germany and the ("so-called") German Democratic Republic. Walter Hallstein and Wilhelm Grewe were members of the delegation that accompanied Adenauer to Moscow. It was on the flight back from Moscow that the major elements of the policy were laid down, though elements of the policy had already been devised and practised by the Foreign Office before. Hallstein referred to

6000-493: The Federal Republic of Germany claimed to speak for the whole German people; this was re-iterated in a number of declarations. In the New York Declaration of 18 September 1951, the western occupying powers had declared that they "regard[ed] the government of the Federal Republic of Germany as the only German government freely and legitimately constituted and therefore entitled to speak for the German nation in international affairs". The Federal Republic of Germany did not recognize

6120-400: The Federal Republic of Germany. The western occupying powers (France, Britain, and the United States) accepted the continued existence of the pre-existing German State; and the New York Declaration of 18 September 1950 stated that they "regard[ed] the government of the Federal Republic of Germany as the only German government freely and legitimately constituted and therefore entitled to speak for

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6240-494: The Foreign Office proponents of a federal Europe as out of touch with economic realities. In the dispute, Adenauer finally supported Hallstein, settling the acrimonious, and public, conflict between Hallstein and Erhard. In 1955 the foreign ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community met at the Messina Conference , among other things to nominate a member of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community and to appoint its new president and vice-presidents for

6360-437: The German Democratic Republic de jure or recognized the "reality of two German states". A legal expert produced a legal opinion setting out that the Soviet declaration (initiating diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic) had finally separated the Soviet Zone from the three western zones, but that, since it was under the control of the Soviet Union, it had no separate state government and therefore did not meet

6480-412: The German Democratic Republic and maintained diplomatic relations with neither the German Democratic Republic nor the other Communist states of Eastern Europe . In 1955 Konrad Adenauer visited Moscow, where agreement was reached that the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union would establish diplomatic relations. This was obviously in the interest of the Federal Republic of Germany but—because

6600-448: The German Democratic Republic would be regarded as an unfriendly act. On 8 December 1955, there was a meeting of the heads of all major German embassies and the leadership of the Foreign Office. The policy of non-recognition of the German Democratic Republic was one of the main points on the agenda. The text of the speeches by Foreign Minister Brentano, Hallstein and Grewe were later distributed to embassies worldwide. The Hallstein Doctrine

6720-488: The German nation in international affairs". An unpublished "interpretative minute" produced at the same time clarifies that the formula did not constitute recognition of the Government of the Federal Republic as the de jure government of all Germany". The legal justification for the policy was that there was an obligation (based on the constitution and the General Treaty, to strive for German re-unification and therefore to avoid or prevent recognition of East Germany and thus

6840-475: The Hallstein Doctrine came from Hallstein's deputy, Wilhelm Grewe . The doctrine would become one of the major elements of West German foreign policy from September 1955 – until official recognition of the German Democratic Republic in October 1969. Based on the Basic Law , its de facto constitution, the Federal Republic of Germany – then commonly known in the English-speaking world as West Germany  – claimed an exclusive mandate to represent

6960-406: The Netherlands). The tasks it faced included the implementation of a customs union and the Four Freedoms , as well as common policies on competition , trade , transport and agriculture . Hallstein famously described his role as "a kind of European prime minister" and regarded national sovereignty as a "doctrine of yesteryear." Though Hallstein's personal vision of a federal Europe was clear,

7080-403: The Saar to Germany; on 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty was signed. In 1955, Germany had in large measure regained its sovereignty and become integrated into western defence-organizations, the WEU and NATO; European integration had progressed, with the establishment of the ECSC; the Saar question was to be resolved by the referendum in October 1955. In all of these matters, Hallstein had played

7200-444: The Soviet Union also maintained diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic—it was apparently inconsistent with the exclusive mandate policy, which insisted that other states should not maintain diplomatic relations with both German "states". There was therefore a need to publicly define the policy and reinforce the message that the Federal Republic would not accept any other states maintaining diplomatic relations with both

7320-403: The Treaty of Paris failed to obtain the necessary approval of the French Parliament . Instead, a solution involving the Western European Union (WEU) was agreed, and West Germany was to become a member of NATO . The efforts to resolve the issues culminated, in 1954, in a series of conferences in London and Paris . The German side was represented by Adenauer, the German chancellor, together with

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7440-414: The United States refused to have diplomatic contact with them. Similar exclusive mandate policies ( One-China policy ) are still pursued by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (on Taiwan), and the situation in Vietnam during the Vietnam War was somewhat similar. In 2016, Torben Gülstorff gave a new interpretation of the Hallstein doctrine. According to him, the doctrine's impact on

7560-431: The West and the East German foreign policy was only marginal, more myth than reality. During the entire Cold War, national economic and international geostrategic interests dominated German foreign affairs – on both sides of the wall. Four Power Agreement on Berlin The Four Power Agreement on Berlin , also known as the Berlin Agreement or the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin , was agreed on 3 September 1971 by

7680-429: The age of 23. From 1923 to 1926 he was a legal clerk at the Kammergericht , and in 1927, having passed his qualifying examination, he was employed for a very brief spell as a judge. He then worked as an academic at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Foreign Private and International Private Law in Berlin, where he specialized in comparative commercial and company law, working under Professor Martin Wolff ,

7800-442: The agreement and the treaty, in September 1973, both German states joined the United Nations . These treaties were part of a breakthrough series of international agreements which were seen by some as formalizing the Cold War 's division of Europe, while others saw this as the start of the process that led to the end of the Cold War. Mary Sarotte wrote in 2001 that "...despite all the fears, both sides managed to make many bargains as

7920-534: The argument of his French counterpart, Faure , that it would benefit Germany. Hallstein helped to strike a deal by which the imports and exports of overseas territories would be treated like products of the mother country and private investment and company branches of other member states would be permitted, thus opening up the overseas territories for German exports. Hallstein helped deal with these problems at two conferences of foreign ministers, one from 26 to 27 January 1957 and another on 4 February. On 25 March 1957,

8040-399: The chancellor, Konrad Adenauer . Brentano is also known to have referred to the policy, or a variation of it as the Brentano Doctrine. Some time later, in 1958, journalists named the policy the Hallstein–Grewe Doctrine , and this later became shortened to the Hallstein Doctrine . Grewe himself writes that he devised the broad outlines of the policy, but mainly as one of a number of options,

8160-456: The chancellor, Adenauer, again settled the dispute between the ministries by a decision in favour of Hallstein and the Foreign Office. When the Spaak Report (the Brussels Report on the General Common Market ) was finally presented in April 1956, it recommended a customs union. In the Cabinet meeting of 9 May 1956 there was renewed opposition to the position of the Foreign Office from other ministers, but Adenauer lent his support to Hallstein, and

8280-423: The collapse, in August 1954, of the plans to create a European Political Community and a European Defence Community , when France failed to ratify the treaty. On 6 September 1955, shortly before Adenauer's trip to Moscow, Hallstein, standing in for Brentano, attended the Noordwijk Conference of foreign ministers convened to evaluate progress made by the Spaak Committee . On 9 November 1955, Hallstein reported

8400-415: The commission to submit plans by 1 April 1965 on how to finance the Common Agricultural Policy as from July 1965, including its financing from direct levies rather than national contributions; this would entail a transfer of revenues to the Community. The ministers representing other countries, in particular the Netherlands, indicated that their national parliaments would not approve transfer of revenues to

8520-404: The debate on the two topics and proposed a compromise treaty under which only the general principles of a common market would be agreed, leaving details to be decided later, but Germany made negotiations on Euratom dependent on negotiations on a common market. At the Venice Conference , the French foreign minister , Christian Pineau agreed to intergovernmental negotiations, with three provisos:

8640-597: The decisions being made by the foreign minister, Brentano, and the chancellor, Adenauer; in any case, the name Hallstein doctrine may be something of a misnomer. The Hallstein Doctrine followed from the Federal Republic's claimed exclusive mandate to represent the whole of Germany (the Alleinvertretungsanspruch ). It specified that the Federal German government would regard it as an unfriendly act ( acte peu amical ) if third countries were to recognize

8760-467: The division of Germany. The political arguments were: that recognition implied acceptance of the division of Germany; that non-recognition meant rejection of the status quo; that non-recognition gave moral support to the population of East Germany in rejecting the Communist regime; that non-recognition weakened the international standing of the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union and increased

8880-415: The economic community was to be established in stages; customs tariffs should be reduced by only 30%; and national governments should not be overly constrained with regard to economic policy. Hallstein warned against accepting the French terms, which in his view meant that the French would push for a quick decision in favour of Euratom and delay the negotiations on the common market. Hallstein was supported by

9000-600: The entities involved were not formally organs of the state. The next stage was to establish trade representations. These were usually tolerated by the Federal Republic of Germany, as long as there were no visible indications of diplomatic privileges, such as flying the official flag or pennant or invitation to official events normally reserved to the diplomatic corps. The German Democratic Republic increasingly used these for consular purposes and tried to "upgrade" them diplomatically by calling them "trade missions" and using diplomatic titles for their officers. This met with resistance on

9120-423: The establishment of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in spite of the latter's recognition of East Germany as a "singular act" because of the Soviet Union's privileged status as an occupying power. Adenauer talked of the policy in a press conference on 16 September 1955 and again in a government statement to the parliament on 22 September 1955, warning other states that establishing diplomatic relations with

9240-550: The foreign ministers of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, against France, in demanding a fixed deadline and timetable for the establishment of a common market. The French National Assembly approved the commencement of intergovernmental negotiations in July 1956, after the prime minister, Guy Mollet , gave an assurance that Euratom would not impose restrictions on the French nuclear weapons programme. Another cause of disagreement

9360-526: The formation of the European Coal and Steel Community . Jean Monnet , the leader of the French delegation, and Hallstein drew up the Schuman Plan , which was the basis for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established by the Treaty of Paris in 1951. The ECSC was to develop into the European Economic Community , and later the European Union . In August 1950, to general surprise, Hallstein

9480-490: The formation of the EEC, preferring a looser free trade area , and later proposed a larger free trade area that would include the EEC and other European countries. The German government, German industry, and – especially – the Economics Minister, Ludwig Erhard , wanted Britain to be part of an integrated Europe. Hallstein opposed the idea of a wider free trade area at this time, advocating first achieving

9600-550: The instructions from the Council broadly, with the support of Dutch Commissioner for Agriculture, Sicco Mansholt. The majority of the commission backed Hallstein. On 24 March 1965, Hallstein presented the commission's proposals for financing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to the European Parliament. It was proposed that customs duties collected at EEC borders would go to the community budget and that

9720-428: The minimum requirements of statehood . The legal opinion went on to claim that any state that had established diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Germany or had declared an end of the state of war had implicitly recognized the Federal Republic as having an exclusive mandate to represent Germany. The western allies , in various agreements, including the General Treaty of 1955, had agreed to recognize only

9840-424: The name Hallstein. In 1955, Hallstein and Grewe accompanied Adenauer as members of a delegation to Moscow, where the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bonn and Moscow was agreed. It was on the flight back from Moscow that the policy that was later to become known as the Hallstein Doctrine was fleshed out, though the Foreign Office had already devised and practised elements of the policy. The idea behind

9960-620: The negotiations. German politicians like Erhard felt that Hallstein and his commission had not done enough to promote the wider free trade area. The six countries of the EEC had decided on a customs union : they agreed to remove tariffs between one another within a period of twelve years, and to erect a common tariff barrier between themselves and other countries. Seven of the excluded European countries (United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and Portugal) responded with an alternative free trade area, EFTA, which also removed tariff barriers between each other, but did not insist on

10080-595: The other five members of the EEC, who were more welcoming to Britain, and as favouring the French protectionist position. Elements of the British Press, notably the Daily Express , were critical of Hallstein – or what he represented. It was in 1961 that de Gaulle proposed the Fouchet Plan , a plan for an intergovernmental "union of states", as an alternative to the European Communities . There

10200-516: The part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The final stage that the German Democratic Republic aimed for was to establish a consulate general. This usually involved issuing an exequatur , a document that guarantees the consul's rights and privileges. This was regarded by the Federal Republic of Germany as equivalent to official diplomatic recognition and could be expected to be met with sanctions of some form. Countries such as Egypt attempted to avoid upsetting either side by issuing an exequatur but adding

10320-519: The period ending 10 February 1957. The conference, which was held from 1 to 3 June 1955 in the Italian city of Messina , Sicily , would lead to the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Shortly before the conference, Adenauer had given up his double post as Foreign Minister and, since Brentano had not yet been sworn in, Hallstein led the German delegation. The agenda included discussion of an action programme to relaunch European integration following

10440-484: The period usually known as détente . It also re-established ties between East and West Berlin , improved travel and communications between the two parts of the city and brought numerous improvements for the residents of the Western Sectors. In order to reach such improvements, the ultimate political definition of the status of Berlin was purposely left vague, thus it preserved the differing legal positions of

10560-546: The politicians meant that consensus was difficult. The disagreements that had preceded the creation of the EEC continued after it was established, and these were reflected within the commission. For instance, the protectionist Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the responsibility of Sicco Mansholt , the Commissioner for Agriculture , was at odds with the liberal foreign trade policy of the Commissioner for External relations , Jean Rey . Britain had at first been against

10680-563: The position had not been filled. At the conference of foreign ministers on 6 and 7 January 1958, however, Hallstein was finally chosen as the first president of the EEC Commission. Hallstein's selection for this position at the head of a major European organization, a decade after the end of World War II, was a major achievement for Germany. Barely a decade after the end of World War II, the German Walter Hallstein

10800-501: The post of Foreign Minister was filled by Adenauer himself. On 2 April 1951, Hallstein was made the leading civil servant at the newly created Foreign Office. Foreign policy continued to be managed by Adenauer himself with his group of intimates, including Hallstein, Blankenhorn and others. In many respects Hallstein was the West German Foreign Minister in all but name, but there was a growing awareness that

10920-613: The reconvened Allied Control Council , consisting of ambassadors of the four wartime Allied powers . The four foreign ministers, Sir Alec Douglas-Home of the United Kingdom , Andrei Gromyko of the Soviet Union , Maurice Schumann of France , and William P. Rogers of the United States signed the agreement and put it into force at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Berlin on 3 June 1972. The agreement

11040-605: The results to the West German Cabinet, where the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of Agriculture opposed the plans for a common market rather than a free trade area . The Ministry of Economics feared that a customs union meant protectionism ; the Ministry of Agriculture was concerned that the interests of German farmers would be betrayed; Franz Josef Strauss opposed the perceived discrimination against German industry regarding access to uranium . Finally,

11160-450: The scope gradually increasing to include additional sectors, and with true parliamentary representation of the European populace. Hallstein contended that institutional integration was in the interests of a successful German export industry. Ludwig Erhard and the Ministry of Economics argued for a looser "functional integration" and advocated intergovernmental economic co-operation. Erhard opposed supranational structures and characterized

11280-571: The six countries Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, and Netherlands signed the Treaties of Rome . Adenauer and Hallstein signed for Germany. The foreign minister, Brentano had largely left the negotiations to Hallstein, so the signing of the treaty represented a major success for Hallstein. It was also Hallstein who explained the treaties to the German parliament on 21 March 1957, before they were signed on 25 March 1957. There had been previous suggestions of Hallstein becoming president of

11400-402: The standing of the Federal Republic of Germany; and that recognition of the German Democratic Republic would not lead to reunification because the other side would not be expected to commit political suicide. In the beginning, the German Democratic Republic had pressed for re-unification, though they were not willing to accept free elections with UN participation. From about 1955, they favoured

11520-592: The territory east of the Oder–Neisse line was under Soviet or Polish administration and had de facto been annexed. The rest of the territory west of that was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the Allies , with the former capital, Berlin, being similarly divided into four sectors. The western zones controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were merged, in May 1949, to form

11640-714: The top civil servants at the German Foreign Office: Hallstein, his colleague Blankenhorn, and his deputy, Grewe. Hallstein helped negotiate various treaties at the London Nine-Power Conference from 23 September to 3 October 1954; they were finalized at the Paris conference from 20 to 23 October 1954. The conferences in Paris included a meeting of the parties to the Nine-Power Conference in London (20 October),

11760-399: The treaty as a failure. Further attempts by de Gaulle at military cooperation with Germany to the exclusion of America were rebuffed by Erhard (now Federal Chancellor) and his foreign minister Gerhard Schröder . Britain's application for membership of the EEC was vetoed by de Gaulle in 1963, which also further antagonized the other participants. De Gaulle took a confrontational course on

11880-452: The treaty did not imply recognition. However, normal commercial activities, including non-state trade representations, etc. would be tolerated. There was also a considerable grey area open to interpretation. While Grewe was somewhat circumspect, the foreign minister, Brentano, made it clear that – regardless of the economic consequences – the Federal Republic would immediately break off diplomatic relations with any state that recognized

12000-466: The two sides. The Quadripartite Agreement is drawn up "in the English, French and Russian languages, all texts being equally authentic." Thus, there is no authentic text in the German language. The translations used by the then-extant two German states had some differences. After the agreement entered into force, the Soviet Union used this vague wording in an effort to loosen West Berlin's ties with

12120-572: The whole of Germany, including the Communist East Germany , which was aligned with the Soviet Union. One of the early objectives of West German foreign policy was the diplomatic isolation of East Germany. In 1958, journalists named this policy the Hallstein–Grewe Doctrine , which later became shortened to the Hallstein Doctrine . Grewe himself writes that he did devise the broad outlines of the policy, but mainly as one of

12240-497: Was Director of the Institute for Comparative Law and Economic Law. In 1935, Hallstein attempted to start a military career alongside his academic duties. In 1936, he managed to integrate a voluntary military service in an artillery unit. In the years between 1936 and 1939, he attended several military courses and was made a reserve officer. Hallstein was a member of several nominally Nazi professional organizations, but he

12360-564: Was a reshuffling of responsibilities, but Hallstein retained the trust of Adenauer and continued to attend cabinet meetings. Herbert Blankenhorn , who until then been the head of the Political Department of the Foreign Office, became the German Permanent Representative to NATO in Paris; Wilhelm Grewe took over the Political Department under Hallstein and was made Hallstein's deputy. Hallstein

12480-678: Was called up; he served in an artillery regiment of the Wehrmacht in Northern France with the rank of first lieutenant ( Oberleutnant ). In early 1944, Hallstein's name was submitted by the University of Frankfurt as a potential Nationalsozialistischer Führungsoffizier to the National Socialist Lecturers League . On 26 June 1944, during the Battle of Cherbourg , he was captured by

12600-519: Was criticism of a lack of information and consultation and an atmosphere of secrecy, possible resulting from Adenauer's distrust of the old hands at the Foreign Office, the Wilhelmstraße veterans, as well as the desire to fill top jobs with outsiders not tainted by having served as diplomats under the Nazis . There were suggestions of a disconnect between the leadership (consisting of Adenauer and

12720-564: Was deliberately kept unclear—at least publicly—in order to prevent foreign governments testing the limits. Grewe warned privately that flexibility was essential and that it was not possible to pretend that the state-like entity of East Germany did not exist and gave the diplomatic service guidance on what sort of activities would be tolerated under the policy. Neither full diplomatic relations nor consular relations with similar recognition ( exequatur ) would be tolerated. The same applied to treaties that did not contain special provisos specifying that

12840-603: Was elected its rector , a position he retained until 1948. He was president of the South German Rectors' Conference, which he founded. From 1948 to 1949, he spent a year as visiting professor at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Hallstein was co-founder of the German national UNESCO committee and was its president from 1949 to 1950. Against the background of the Second World War ,

12960-565: Was involved in discussions with the French concerning the return of the coal-rich Saar to Germany. In October 1955 there was a referendum held to decide whether the Saar would remain separate from Germany or be re-integrated into Germany, following which it was agreed with France that there would be political integration into the Federal Republic of Germany by 1 January 1957 and economic integration by 1 January 1960. In September 1956, Hallstein announced that France had agreed to hand over control of

13080-428: Was little support from the other European countries, and negotiations were abandoned on 17 April 1962. While Hallstein had a decidedly federal vision for Europe, and regarded the commission as a quasi-federal organ, de Gaulle's vision was of a confederation . From the beginning, Hallstein did not believe that de Gaulle's approach of cooperation between sovereign nation states would be able to realize his vision of

13200-719: Was made head of the Office of Foreign Affairs ( Dienststelle für auswärtige Angelegenheiten ) at the Federal Chancellery ( Kanzleramt ). At this time, little was known about Hallstein, except that he had not been a member of the Nazi Party and that he was on good terms with US officials. Following a change in the Occupation Statute , the German Foreign Office was re-created in March 1951, but

13320-605: Was named after Walter Hallstein , then "state secretary" (the top civil servant) at the German Foreign Office , though largely devised and implemented by the head of the political department of the German Foreign Office , Wilhelm Grewe . At the time the Hallstein Doctrine was born (or at least named), Heinrich von Brentano was the foreign minister, a post that had been recently created, after West Germany largely regained its sovereignty in 1955—before this, political responsibility for foreign policy had been retained by

13440-502: Was not a member of the Nazi Party or of the SA . He is reputed to have rejected Nazi ideology and to have kept his distance from the Nazis. There was opposition from Nazi officials to his proposed appointment, in 1941, as professor of law at the University of Frankfurt , but the academics pushed through his candidacy, and he soon advanced to become dean of the faculty. In 1942 Hallstein

13560-573: Was not a treaty and required no formal ratification. By reconfirming the post-1945 existence of the rights and responsibilities of the Four Powers for the future of Berlin and Germany as a whole, which the Soviets had earlier claimed to have abrogated (as a result of the Berlin crisis of 1959–1962 ), the Agreement laid the foundation for a series of East-West agreements which ushered in

13680-425: Was often understood to mean breaking off diplomatic relations; this was not stated as an automatic response under the policy, but remained the ultima ratio . Members of the German government had different positions on European integration. Hallstein and his team at the Foreign Office advocated a federal solution with a form of "constitutional integration" broadly based on the European Coal and Steel Community , with

13800-667: Was represented internationally by the Allied High Commission . There was no German foreign office and, for a time, foreign affairs were dealt with by the Chancellery . Konrad Adenauer , the German Chancellor , called Hallstein to Bonn, at the suggestion of Wilhelm Röpke , and in June 1950 he appointed him to head the German delegation at the Schuman Plan negotiations in Paris, which were to lead to

13920-508: Was seen as giving the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) a degree of legitimacy as a separate state. The West German government in Bonn rejected this, claiming that the Federal Republic of Germany was the legitimate heir of the German Reich . After the ratification of the Paris Accords on 5 May 1955, the General Treaty ( Deutschlandvertrag ), which largely restored (West) German sovereignty, took effect. The government of

14040-439: Was signed on 21 December 1972 and came into force in June 1973, recognized both German states. The two countries pledged to respect one another's sovereignty and maintain diplomatic relations. Previously, both had competing and evolving claims to be the sole legitimate German state. Under the terms of the treaty, diplomatic missions were to be exchanged and commercial, tourist, cultural, and communications relations established. Under

14160-401: Was that the communist states had been in fact forced to recognise the GDR and should not be punished for that. In 1969 Willy Brandt became German Chancellor as head of a social democrat / liberal government. The new government maintained the main political goals such as the German reunification in peace and freedom, but it altered the way to achieve these goals. Brandt's new Ostpolitik was

14280-521: Was the inclusion of French overseas territories in any common market. Erhard strongly opposed this, partly because of the perceived danger of France involving the other member states in its colonial responsibilities. The Foreign Office shared these concerns to some extent but Hallstein and Carstens were willing to accept the French position, believing it would help gain support from the French National Assembly; Hallstein also accepted

14400-546: Was unanimously elected the first president of the Commission of the European Economic Community (now the European Commission ) in Brussels . He was elected on 7 January 1958, and he was to remain in the position until 1967. Hallstein's commission , which held its first meeting on 16 January 1958, comprised nine members (two each from France, Italy and Germany, one each from Luxembourg, Belgium and

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