A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, First Edition
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), was founded in 1949 through the inauguration of the new Constitution, the Basic Law (Grundgesetz). The Constitution applied initially to the territory of the military zones occupied by the western Allies—the United Kingdom, the USA and France. The Soviet-occupied zone in the east became the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
The Basic Law was a temporary constitution, the validity of which it was possible to extend to other German states (Länder). The Constitution was extended to the state of Saarland in 1957 and the process of German unification entailed the extension of the Basic Law to the five new Länder in the former GDR. During the Cold War the FRG’s relations with the GDR were initially adversarial. They were subsequently characterized by a policy of détente and co-existence brought about through Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik. A.........
This is a free excerpt of 150 words. There are 2,641 words (approx.
9 pages at 300 words per page) in the full article.
View More Summaries on Germany
Read the rest of this Article with our Germany Access Pass.
