Editing Konrad Adenauer (section)

==== Foreign policy ====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-101-01A, Moskau, Besuch Konrad Adenauer.jpg|thumb|[[Nikolai Bulganin|Bulganin]], [[Georgy Malenkov|Malenkov]], [[Khrushchev]] greeting Adenauer in [[Moscow]] in September 1955]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-107546, Köln-Bonn, Adenauer, Mutter eines Kriegsgefangenen.jpg|thumb|Adenauer with the mother of a German [[POW]] brought home in 1955 from the [[Soviet Union]], due to Adenauer's visit to Moscow]]
In return for the release of the last German prisoners of war in 1955, the Federal Republic established diplomatic relations with the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], but refused to recognize East Germany and broke off diplomatic relations with countries (e.g., [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]) that established relations with the East German régime.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=450|loc=this principle became known as the [[Hallstein Doctrine]]}} Adenauer was also ready to consider the [[Oder–Neisse line]] as the German border in order to pursue a more flexible policy with Poland but he did not command sufficient domestic support for this, and opposition to the Oder–Neisse line continued, causing considerable disappointment among Adenauer's Western allies.{{sfn|Ahonen|1998|pp=44–46}}

In 1956, during the [[Suez Crisis]], Adenauer fully supported the Anglo-French-Israeli attack on Egypt, arguing to his Cabinet that Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] was a pro-Soviet force that needed to be cut down to size.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|pp=241–242}} Adenauer was appalled that the Americans had come out against the attack on Egypt alongside the Soviets, which led Adenauer to fear that the United States and Soviet Union would "carve up the world" with no thought for European interests.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=242}}

At the height of the Suez crisis, Adenauer visited Paris to meet the French Premier [[Guy Mollet]] in a show of moral support for France.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=243}} The day before Adenauer arrived in Paris, the Soviet Premier [[Nikolai Bulganin]] sent the so-called "Bulganin letters" to the leaders of Britain, France, and Israel threatening nuclear strikes if they did not end the war against Egypt.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=243}} The news of the "Bulganin letters" reached Adenauer mid-way on the train trip to Paris. The threat of a Soviet nuclear strike that could destroy Paris at any moment added considerably to the tension of the summit.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=244}} The Paris summit helped to strengthen the bond between Adenauer and the French, who saw themselves as fellow European powers living in a world dominated by Washington and Moscow.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=245}}

Adenauer was deeply shocked by the Soviet threat of nuclear strikes against Britain and France, and even more so by the apparent quiescent American response to the Soviet threat of nuclear annihilation against two of NATO's key members.<ref>Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: A European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008 p. 273</ref> As a result, Adenauer became more interested in the French idea of a European "Third Force" in the Cold War as an alternative security policy.<ref>Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: A European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008, pp. 273–274.</ref> This helped to lead to the formation of the [[European Economic Community]] in 1957, which was intended to be the foundation stone of the European "Third Force".<ref>Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: A European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008, p. 274.</ref>

Adenauer's achievements include the establishment of a stable democracy in West Germany and a lasting reconciliation with [[France]], culminating in the [[Élysée Treaty]]. His political commitment to the Western powers achieved full sovereignty for West Germany, which was formally laid down in the [[General Treaty]], although there remained Allied restrictions concerning the status of a potentially reunited Germany and the state of emergency in West Germany. Adenauer firmly integrated the country with the emerging Euro-Atlantic community ([[NATO]] and the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|Organisation for European Economic Cooperation]]).