Two Plus Four Agreement

Two Plus Four Agreement. The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, commonly known by its negotiating format, was the international agreement that paved the way for German reunification in 1990. It resolved the external aspects of unification, including the full sovereignty of the future united German state and its membership in military alliances. The treaty was negotiated between the two German states and the four wartime Allied powers that had retained special rights over Berlin and Germany as a whole since the Potsdam Agreement.

Background and context

The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, a pivotal moment in the Revolutions of 1989, created an unstoppable momentum toward the merger of the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. This process, however, occurred within the complex legal and geopolitical framework established after World War II. The Allied occupation of Germany had never been formally concluded with a peace treaty, leaving the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France with reserved rights over Germany as a whole under the London and Paris Conferences. Key obstacles included the future NATO membership of a united Germany, the presence of Soviet Armed Forces in East Germany, and the fragile status of West Berlin surrounded by the German Democratic Republic. The diplomatic breakthrough required delicate negotiations amidst the wider context of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms of Perestroika and the waning influence of the Warsaw Pact.

Negotiations and key participants

Formal negotiations opened in May 1990 in Bonn, following a framework proposed by United States Secretary of State James Baker. The "Two Plus Four" formula—the two Germanys plus the four powers—was championed by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher. Key figures included Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, and French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas. Critical bilateral talks occurred between Kohl and Gorbachev in Stavropol and Moscow in July 1990, where the Soviet leader conceded to German membership in NATO. The final rounds of negotiations faced last-minute hurdles over the precise size of the future German military, brokered through intense diplomacy involving U.S. President George H. W. Bush and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Terms and provisions

The treaty's core provisions definitively settled the post-war status of Germany. It recognized the united Germany's borders as final, specifically confirming the Oder–Neisse line as the permanent border with the Republic of Poland, a point strongly advocated by the Polish government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Germany renounced forever all claims to territory lost after World War II and pledged never to acquire nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons. The treaty stipulated the complete withdrawal of all Soviet Armed Forces from the territory of the former German Democratic Republic by the end of 1994. Crucially, it granted the united Germany "full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs," thereby terminating the remaining rights and responsibilities of the Four Powers relating to Berlin and Germany as a whole.

Ratification and implementation

The treaty was signed in Moscow on 12 September 1990 by the foreign ministers of the six participating states. Ratification proceeded swiftly: the Bundestag and Volkskammer ratified it in October 1990, allowing formal reunification to occur on 3 October 1990. The Supreme Soviet ratified the treaty in March 1991 after contentious debate, with the final instrument of ratification deposited, bringing the treaty into full force. Implementation involved the meticulous logistical operation of withdrawing Soviet forces, the final departure marked by a ceremony in Berlin in August 1994 attended by German President Richard von Weizsäcker and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Parallel treaties, such as the German-Polish Border Treaty, were concluded to fulfill its provisions.

Significance and legacy

The agreement is regarded as a masterstroke of diplomacy that peacefully ended the Cold War division of Europe. It facilitated the swift incorporation of the former German Democratic Republic into the European Communities and cemented a reunified Germany's position as a central pillar of NATO and the European Union. By resolving German question through negotiation rather than conflict, it provided a model for peaceful post-Cold War transition, contrasting sharply with the subsequent violent dissolution of Yugoslavia. The treaty's success is often attributed to the collaborative spirit between George H. W. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Helmut Kohl, and it remains a foundational document of the modern European order, directly enabling the subsequent NATO enlargement and the expansion of the European Union into Central Europe.

Category:Cold War treaties Category:Treaties of the Soviet Union Category:1990 in Germany