Documents on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany 1981

Sep 12, 2012

Akten zur Auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1981

Edition commissioned by the Federal Foreign Office, edited by the Institute of Contemporary History Munich – BerlinGeneral editor: Horst Möller, Co-editors: Gregor Schöllgen and Andreas Wirsching.
Editorial staff: Daniela Taschler, Matthias Peter and Judith Michel.
Editorial director: Ilse Dorothee Pautsch.
Munich 2012, 3 vols., 2250 pages, ISBN 978-3-486-70560-7.

The year 1981 was marked by the crisis in Poland, which culminated in the declaration of martial law. NATO was preparing intensively for the American-Soviet consultations about medium-range ballistic missiles which began in November. The Federal Government endorsed the Zero Option, which Ronald Reagan, President of the USA since January, ultimately also agreed to. Other important topics covered by these 398 documents, hitherto mostly classified as “secret” or “confidential” and published here for the first time, include the Genscher-Colombo Plan for a European Union, the consequences of the assassination of the Egyptian President Sadat for peace in the Middle East, the continuation of the CSCE process and the discussions about the export of Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia.