Was Adenauer criticized for prioritizing the West over reunification?
It is true that some believed we should have pursued reunification more aggressively, perhaps by seeking neutrality. However, history teaches us that such compromises with authoritarian powers rarely yield lasting peace. The greatest danger was haste and a misunderstanding of the geopolitical realities. In the aftermath of the war, a reunified Germany, particularly one that appeared to be drifting Eastward, would have been perceived as a significant threat. My conviction was that a stable, democratic, and Western-integrated Germany was the only foundation upon which genuine security and, eventually, a peaceful resolution to the division could be built. One must think in decades, not days.
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