Advertisement

GDR

Erhard sought to pay billions for East German freedom

Author thumbnail
Erhard sought to pay billions for East German freedom
Photo: DPA

West German Chancellor and father of the country's post-war 'economic miracle' Ludwig Erhard pleaded with the Americans to effectively buy East Germany from the Soviets in the early 1960s according to newly released documents.

Advertisement

Der Spiegel reported that Erhard wanted the plan to be facilitated by the US government, which would help shuttle $2.5 billion a year for ten years to Moscow. The magazine cited CIA documents that it has seen.

Erhard, who is widely considered the father of Germany’s post-war recovery for his work as the country's first economy minister under Konrad Adenauer, assumed the Kremlin would appreciate financial assistance because its economy was struggling.

As chancellor between 1963 and 1966, Erhard hoped the USSR would gradually withdraw from its satellite state, the German Democratic Republic, and eventually allow the East Germans to vote for reunification.

But US diplomats called the plan “ill-conceived and unrealistic” and granted Erhard an “almost zero chance of success,” saying the chancellor was demonstrating “considerable political naivety,” Der Spiegel wrote at the weekend.

Erhard finally dropped the idea after US President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to broach the concept with the Soviets.

The Local/mdm

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also