Meanings
- The policies of West Germany under Chancellor Willy Brandt, seeking rapprochement with East Germany and the Soviet Union.
Since Ostpolitik, the normalisation of relations between then West Germany and the east, policy has been predicated upon Russia being a status quo power, not an imperialist one.
2022 February 28, Daniel Boffey, “Ukraine conflict leads EU to rid itself of Russian sacred cows”, in The Guardian, Guardian Media Group, retrieved 28 Feb 20221 more example
One of the paradoxes of Ostpolitik, as practiced by Brandt and his successors, was that by transferring large sums of hard currency into East Germany and showering the GDR with recognition, attention, and support, West German officials unintentionally foreclosed any chance of internal change, including reform of Eastern Germany’s polluted, antiquated industrial economy.
2005, Tony Judt, “The Power of the Powerless”, in Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN
Origin
- GermanOstpolitik
- EnglishOstpolitik
From German Ostpolitik.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Ostpolitik. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ostpolitik
“Ostpolitik.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ostpolitik. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ostpolitik,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ostpolitik.
Source: Ostpolitik on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.