Before the German Democratic Republic (GDR) achieved worldwide political recognition in 1972 and 1973 many Western observers were of the opinion that the GDR’s trade with Western industrialised countries was still not very developed. A closer look at this field of activity shows, however, a...

Until the early seventies the German Democratic Republic (GDR), in line with the CSSR and Bulgaria, was least disposed among CMEA countries to engage in cooperation activities with the West. One of the major reasons for the reserve shown by the GDR in this respect was probably that linkage...