The Role of the East German Economy and Its Impact on Shifting East-West Relations

This article is the starting point of an ongoing research project that attempts to develop a historical reconstruction of the role the GDR played in the Cold War since détente and in the 1980s. It will focus particularly on the impact of the economic decisions of GDR, especially in energy field, on shifting East-West relations. The literature has usually payed attention to the economic history of East Germany. Moreover, many studies pointed out the increasing importance of the energy sector and diplomacy in the détente period between the Soviet Union, the FRG and other Western countries, especially as a result of the world crisis. With my research project I want to highlight what and in what ways the GDR, taking political and economic measures in energy sector, concerning in particular the production electricity and the trade of petroleum products, influenced the balance of relations between East and West. Another question I will attempt to answer is how much such decisions were autonomous from Moscow’s will and were based on national needs rather on ideologies. In this article in particular I will make a brief overview on the energy situation of the GDR in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s with a focus on the energy issues concerning the supply of West Berlin.