Appeasement in Our Time

HELGA WALTER

In the spacious Bonn office of Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West Germany’s foreign minister, hang two portraits: of Otto von Bismarck and the perennial foreign minister of Weimar Germany, Gustav Stresemann. Only its occupant can explain why two such divergent political personalities adorn his walls, but one possible answer suggests itself. Both men felt a need to reassure the East. Both signed treaties with the Russians. Stresemann, in particular, vowed friendship and cooperation with Moscow. During all the coalition shifts of the Weimar Republic, his continuity in office gave him great influence over domestic as well as foreign policy.

HELGA WALTER

In the spacious Bonn office of Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West Germany’s foreign minister, hang two portraits: of Otto von Bismarck and the perennial foreign minister of Weimar Germany, Gustav Stresemann. Only its occupant can explain why two such divergent political personalities adorn his walls, but one possible answer suggests itself. Both men felt a need to reassure the East. Both signed treaties with the Russians. Stresemann, in particular, vowed friendship and cooperation with Moscow. During all the coalition shifts of the Weimar Republic, his continuity in office gave him great influence over domestic as well as foreign policy.