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| 1970, March 19 |
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| First meeting of Chancellor Willy Brandt and the East German prime minister Willi Stoph, at Erfurt. Though inconclusive, the meeting marked an important departure. | 1 |
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| May 21–22 |
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| Second conference of Brandt and Stoph, at Kassel (See 1970, March–May). Discussions still failed to overcome West Germany's refusal to formally recognize East Germany as a state, and East Germany's refusal to accept the status of West Berlin. | 2 |
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| Aug. 12 |
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| SIGNATURE OF THE WEST GERMAN–SOVIET TREATY of friendship and cooperation, a possible landmark in the development of the European international situation. The negotiations had been long and difficult, but agreement was evidently much desired by both sides. With the treaty, the West German government recognized the inviolability of all postwar European boundaries, including specifically the Oder-Neisse line as the western boundary of Poland. The Soviet Union undertook not to oppose the reunification of Germany, provided it could be achieved by peaceful means. Other provisions touched on cooperation in economic, scientific, and cultural matters, but the West German government made ratification of the entire treaty dependent on the achievement of substantial improvements in the status of West Berlin. Chancellor Brandt went to Moscow personally for the signing of this epochal document. | 3 |
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| Dec. 7 |
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| Chancellor Brandt went to Warsaw for the signing of a SIMILAR PACT BETWEEN WEST GERMANY AND POLAND. The two parties renounced the use of force, and West Germany conditionally recognized the Oder-Neisse line as Poland's western frontier. They further pledged to respect each other's territorial integrity and to settle all differences by peaceful means. Brandt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1971. | 4 |
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