El encargo del Cristo resucitado es la predicación del evangelio.

To understand the academic discourse and its focus, the main positions on the German Question during the 1970s and 80s will be briefly outlined in the following section. Rare occasions when individual researchers concluded that the German Question was now finally settled did not end the debate and certainly did not reflect a lack of interest. As the press coverage discussed later, individual researchers delivered

497

Lehmann, p. 270; Peters, p. 75.

498 _{Peter Joachim Lapp, ‘Das Ausland und die deutsche Frage: Wissenschaftliche Arbeitstagung der} Gesellschaft für Deutschlandforschung’, Deutschland Archiv, 24.5 (1986), p. 520.

arguments for and against a future unification of the German states and also the openness of the question. However, the topic generally represented a minor discussion in scholarly literature. In particular, the position of the GDR on unification was less discussed.

In 1975, three years after the signing of the Basic Treaty, researcher Roger Tilford came to the conclusion that Ostpolitik had put an end to the Federal Republic’s questioning of the status quo in Central Europe and heralded an end to claims of

German unity.499 He identified Ostpolitik as the reason for the settlement and also

stressed the importance of the ‘practical results of the Second World War’.500 In

contrast, Geoffrey K. Roberts (1975) viewed the German Question as far less resolved. In his opinion, two potentially fraught issues remained unresolved as a consequence of

Ostpolitik and, more particularly, the Basic Treaty: a possible reunification and the

status of Berlin.501 Overall, Roberts judged the probability of an eventual reunification

as negligible.502 David Childs (1975) also argued against a final settlement and based

this on the theoretical possibility of a ‘deal’ between the Soviet Union and the Federal

Republic, although he tended to regard such a development as unlikely.503 None of the

three previously mentioned scholars discussed the position of the GDR in this context. British researchers and journalists Jonathan Steele (1977) and Timothy Garton Ash

(1981) also examined the issue but only marginally.504 In his 1983 book Moscow’s

German Ally, David Childs reiterated his earlier opinion regarding the unlikelihood of

future unity. In this context he discussed, amongst other things, the Friendship Treaty signed in 1974 by the Soviet Union and the GDR, stressing that the treaty did not mention German reunification. However, Childs also added that the old treaty was never formally renounced, indicating that the treaty had not ultimately ruled out

reunification.505 Martin McCauley (1985) particularly focused on the Soviet Union’s

499 _{Roger Tilford, ed, The Ostpolitik and Political Change in Germany (Westmead, Franborough, Hants:} Saxon House, 1975), p. 3. 500 _Ibid. 501 Roberts, p. 91. 502 Ibid. 503

David Childs, ‘The Ostpolitik and Domestic Politics in East Germany’, in The Ostpolitik and Political

Change in Germany, ed. by Roger Tilford (Westmead, Franborough, Hants: Saxon House, 1975), pp. 70f.

504

Garton Ash also indirectly rejects the idea of a reunification but does not discuss the topic in more depth. In: Garton Ash, ‘Und willst du nicht mein Bruder sein …’, p. 49; Steele, Socialism with a German

Face, pp. 4, 7.

505

attitude to a possible reunification and its power to determine this process.506 He considered that an ‘all-German state’ might be a future option as the ‘relationship between both German states may change to such an extent over the next decade as to

lead to a Soviet decision to play its all-German card.’507 Edwina Moreton published an

essay collection with the title ‘Germany between East and West’ (1987).508 Moreton

and Michael Stürmer stressed that the German Question had not lost its

importance.509 Stürmer even identified the topic as ‘one of the most perennial

problems with almost a life of their own, never solved, only changed.’510 Moreton

additionally noted that the topic had not only a German dimension, but also an international one and described the discrepancy between the ‘Western powers’ moral

public support’ in contrast to the actual lack of enthusiasm for German reunification.511

Furthermore, she emphasised the reservations held by international powers (in particular France and Great Britain) towards the day, ‘when a reunited Germany would again constitute an economic and political weight at the heart of Europe.’ Two years before the actual reunification, John Ardagh (1988) published one of the strongest views against a change in the current status. He recalled the reality of détente and

characterised a future reunification as a ‘mirage’512 which was only a ‘kind of official

myth in the Federal Republic.’513 Despite considering the perspective of West

Germans, views held by the East German population were not covered. Mike Dennis (1988) mentioned the topic in connection with the GDR’s struggle to establish an East

German identity, and argued that the German Question still burdened this process.514

To summarise, even only a small number of researchers discussed the topic, the German Question was present in the British research literature during the 1970s and 80s. However, it was of minor importance overall and academic discourse did not include considerations of the GDR in this context. Additionally, the discrepancy between East German policy and the views of the East German population was little

506 _{Martin McCauley, ‘The German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union’, in Honecker’s Germany,}

ed. by David Childs (London: Allen & Unwin, 1985), pp. 147-165. 507 _{Ibid, pp. 148, 164.}

508

Edwina Moreton, ed, Germany between East and West (Cambridge: University Press, 1987). 509

Moreton, ‘The German Question in the 1980s’, p. 3. 510

Michael Stürmer, ‘The Evolution of the Contemporary German Question’, in Germany between East

and West, ed. by Edwina Moreton (Cambridge: University Press, 1987), p. 21

511

Moreton, ‘The German Question in the 1980s’, pp. 6, 10. 512

John Ardagh, Germany and the Germans (London: Penguin, 1988), p. 378. 513 _{Ibid, p. 383.}

514

investigated. In light of the quick succession of events between November 1989 and final reunification only 11 months later, this discrepancy between the official line and population is an especially important factor in the Wende-context. In the next section, it will be shown that the press also discussed the German Question, but to a larger extent than academics and furthermore its focus on the East German perspective will be analysed.