did baker and other western politicians make promises about nato that their successors didn't keep music such that. it was a mistake not to treat these assurances the need to would not expand east in writings they use at will if that was a very big mistake now we're left to face the music and live with the consequences of that mistake basically if they're secure still. in effect i think that it was clear that without those assurances it would have been much harder for gorbachev to . have to agree. to the 2 plus 4 grew much. the day after baker's meeting chancellor cohen german foreign minister genscher arrive in moscow the soviets were clearly happy with america's assurances about nato cole also promised financial aid gorbachev gave the green light for the 2 plus 4 agreement on german unity. to see

the. research that general secretary gorbachev has on equivocally given me his word that the soviet union will respect the wishes of the germans to live as one nation with. but the soviet union also had conditions foreign minister shared not to stipulated before the international press that a unified germany would have to maintain political and military neutrality upon his return call brushed over this very clear message from the kremlin he didn't want to taint the good news. that the soviet union imagine a unified germany in late head of state yes of course all this was said yesterday. cole strategy was successful and his popularity grew he'd made further offers of financial aid to gorbachev to discourage the kremlin from doing anything to block the way forward. it doesn't and there's this you none of this would have happened

if the soviet union hadn't been in such a dire economic position at the time. that we didn't know it was struggling to keep its head above water and the west knew that this it was a unique opportunity just had to be seeding at the suits. in the canadian capital ottawa tensions were stirring over german reunification efforts many foreign ministers of the $23.00 nato and warsaw pact countries were angry that they hadn't been included in the 2 plus for talks on german unity with a dramatic struggle ensued behind the scenes together germany and the us managed to fend off demands for a huge peace conference it would have had to involve around $100.00 countries any nation that had charges against nazi germany. and freedoms for truck fuel peace treaty was out of the question for us. if we would have inevitably put

the issue of reparations on the edge of the sword $52.00 i guess we wanted to keep that out of the unification process at all costs into some hurt me to find us forces for like. if there had been a peace conference all the countries occupied by german troops during world war 2 could have to mended reparations the u.s. wasn't prepared to enter years of negotiations and put its foot down it was complicated everybody felt like they had a stake in the process but we said no it's going to be to play short. before the negotiation started chancellor kohl flew to the us to spend 2 days at camp david with president george h.w. bush it was here that they set out a game plan for the 2 plus 4 talks. were a good. position because we established early on as camp david

a relationship of confidence and trust between cole and bush and genscher and baker and we said we will stay together and we will push this through a regardless of the opposition provided. chester co will you support the idea of germany in the past. it was clear from the confidential minutes that bush and cole saw eye to eye when coerced the american president what could be offered to the soviet union in return for germany's nato membership bush said to hell with that we prevailed and they didn't we can't let the soviets clutch victory from the jaws of defeat cole they will want something in return bush you've got deep pockets. the 1st ever

election campaign for a democratically elected government in east germany the vote on march 18th 1990 would decide who represented east germany in the 2 plus 4 talks. helmut kohl promised a fast economic union and a shared currency between the 2 german nations he supported the g.d.r. coalition alliance for germany whose top candidate was low tardy most year the alliance also wanted a fast reunification with west germany it won with 48 percent of the vote do you prefer a coup going to the people of east germany didn't vote for the c.d.u. because they wanted to but because they knew that helmut kohl was behind him to this result brings an incredible responsibility and an expectation of our people but this isn't just an expectation of us but also of west germany and we expect clear answers. to those pretty normally when a politician is elected the 1st thing they do is to think about how to get reelected in 4 years we didn't need to do that our task right from the start was to

abolish ourselves up social studies to show that it's true that i was prime minister but i was also a kind of insolvency administrator has. no time to mess here formed a coalition with eastern s.p.d. marcos meco became foreign minister he didn't trust the members of the previously governing socialist unity party differs all. it was extremely difficult to create proper decisionmaking structures during this time i walked into the ministry like it was the enemy's house his hose. meco brought with him confidants from the peace movement people who he aligned with my concert you're going missile that's the form of. the formula was unity as fast as possible but as good as necessary we had 2 objectives certain conditions were not in the interest of the population we represented. at the 1st 2 plus 4 talks in bonn the us and the western allies were forming

a front against the soviet union that was only diplomatically concealed. promised east german foreign minister michael there would be such close cooperation that not even a sheet of paper would fit between them. just to show to dominance at the time i didn't understand what gain she had really meant by that who thought that i should follow him so closely i only realized later that he was saying i should follow him like a loyal dog but at the time i was still under the illusion that we will part of the negotiations and discussions would i have a problem even remembering the name of the tribe who represented the g.d.r. and i feel sorrier actually for them because you know the people who are representing them for the purpose of the 2 thoughts for living in hope they didn't have a lot of leverage over any of this i don't feel any body around the table thought that the outcome of these negotiations was going to depend on

whether sitting behind the g.d.r. desk agreed or not if working with you and we just didn't want to fall like a rotten apple into west germany where they would just decide what they do with us and try because it was mine. the 1st round of the 2 plus 4 talks proved difficult while. britain and west germany were aligned with the american strategy the soviet delegation wanted to subject a unified germany to strict conditions edvard shevardnadze demanded political and military neutrality from germany. wins a good position. our position in west germany was not made any easier by east germany as the lack of cooperation. and he a bit loose leash that i had t.d.r. was not thrilled about the united country of being a nato member of his own torchwood's least because in fact it rejected the idea so

you had steel guitar in connecticut it just wasn't top on our agenda to be the 1st to stand up and shout yes we have to be in need to your music so we took a very cautious stance. we didn't want to do anything there was in any way further destabilize gorbachev's the message was all of that the stability is good for the handwritten notes from the 1st round of talks made by tina. highlighted the main problem and the position of the g.d.r. it reads the key issue is the power balance in europe it cannot be destroyed during the talks the us and the u.s.s.r. engaged in a power struggle over their influence in europe it was a month or once least busy there for us the russians were the enemy per se and we had a relatively relaxed relationship with the soviet union as were the 2 in the menus of all the ups evils that happened and also of the fall of the wall streeters on the peaceful demonstrations against us and they were only possible because of the

positive support from us more score comics murgatroyd. in the chancellor's bungalow in bonn a day before the negotiations it became clear that the soviets could not keep up this harsh front foreign minister shevardnadze it was asking for financial aid. receive the same request. feel exhausted. not so i said will be inside. by next month and if that happens gorbachev will be a reelected at the party congress at the start of july 4th out here we will be able to see the street through. chancellor kohl sent his advisor horst tell chick and representatives from germany's major banks to moscow on may 14th to fulfill the needs of the kremlin rotondo i mean i was in moscow for a secret meeting in may 1990 with 2 german bankers to negotiate a loan of $5000000000.00 marks for its goal is to for the soviet union this world

power would have been insolvent 5 summer $990.00 so that and we had the mandate to negotiate that goes so that was an aha moment for me. in this. the u.s. had also promised financial aid to the soviet union gorbachev came on a state visit to washington where president bush offered him a trade agreement but in return he would have to make political compromises and i remember the discussion in the cabinet room in the white house and we as gorbachev of the question. do you not think that any country should be able to affiliate with whatever shoot your idiot lives it wants to and he says well yes of course. the minutes from the meeting between bush and gorbachev on may 31st recorded this pivotal conversation bush i'm glad you and i seem to agree that nations can choose their own alliances gorbachev so we will put it this way the u.s. and the u.s.s.r.

are in favor of germany deciding herself in which alliance she would like to participate after a 2 plus 4 settlement bush the united states is unequivocally advocating germany's membership in nato however should germany prefer to make a different choice we will respected gorbachev i agree. this is a boy or that was the breakthrough of the day or else i. yes because of the resistance but this was actually the decisive breakthrough will. the us president knew that gorbachev needed to win the election because there were people in the moscow pulled it bureau who opposed his planned course of action this won't make cisterns in this underpins the existence of the entire process whether or not go but survived. that's one of the americans didn't celebrate to publicize this breakthrough at the end of may they still had to wait and see if he would win or most of. us to give

him. the cia report the soviet system in crisis had already warned of a possible coup against gorbachev in november 1909. it said the economic crisis and the independence efforts in various soviet provinces were a great danger there were forces in the kremlin that wanted to stop gorbachev it states the threat of eminent social revolution could prompt a coup that would not only lead to retrenchment but also to political repression more severe than during the pression of years. the 2nd round of 2 plus 4 talks took place in east berlin on the 49th anniversary of germany's invasion of the soviet union during world war 2. during these talks in east berlin sure hausen palace the detente between the former enemies of a cold war was plain to see as the foreign ministers were warmly greeted by host marcus mechelle. the public knew nothing of the simmering

hostility between the 2 german delegations this mausoleums would thus immunity to committee could soon by june a communication with the with german foreign office was very bad it just got worse and worse as we were completely isolated from these negotiations and just went along for the ride it. full as follows you would you like. good to be honest i was often astonished that certain members of the west german delegation and not all of them don't know that because behavior towards the east german call equals they treated them likely been defeated just like losers like you should remain silent leave who had nothing worse hearing because they no longer had any. you know unity if you know that. at this time east german delegation leader hans you're gonna miss all of it didn't know about the breakthrough in washington about gorbachev's agreement that a united germany would be a nato member. even though the us to

a few buttons i was only informed that this 3 or 4 weeks later by job selleck i regularly offered my resignation to marcus mecca it was clear where we stood. on. the public also had little awareness that the negotiations between the different countries were stalling. thus slide the 2nd lien was a downright disaster and the regular distance aust is obvious to you all the time for the soviet union presented a draft treaty that listed all of its firm positions one by one the uk to under and over this. but the chief of staff in the soviet foreign ministry to our sango had given elba a heads up to us goes into the sun tutors me it was quite interesting sarah cinco had whispered to me in private don't worry about the next meeting and don't take everything that happens there seriously lose the nz trust up

a see that had come from shevardnadze and. it was a tactic to build confidence and tolerance putin the must not. nato decided to take a major step westerners announced that the soviet union and the warsaw pact military alliance would no longer be enemies of the west but friends a promise made by nato secretary general montra drawn up. the cold war. our alliance is moving from confrontation to corporations relations we extended the hand of friendship to the warsaw pact and gorbachev said that he had seen this as a very important as an important message boards of gorbachev needed this message from the west to appease his opponents within the party the 28th congress of the soviet union's communist party took place in what was then known as the palace of congress's inside the kremlin gorbachev defended his policies. i wish i was worried

that he would survive the party congress it gorbachev was hounded by both sides during the 10 day congress conservative delegates warned him that his actions would lead to the collapse of the u.s.s.r. and socialism on the other side radical reformers like boris yeltsin were calling for a multi-party system and new democratic structures gorbachev spoke openly about the difficult situation to american ambassador jack matlock. gorbachev looked at me in a certain look try to get your purse to understand this country is on the brink of civil war. no go in the garage of sky for i know i've got to convert that. he was riding a tiger with great effort gorbachev won the power battle within the party he was reelected with almost 2 thirds of the votes the 2 plus 4 talks could continue. much of when gorbachev wonder if he had complete freedom to repeat the whole with cold

feet said back in may cold used these to present himself as a hero of international relations and that's it soon got switched. the day after gorbachev victory chancellor kohl and foreign minister genscher visited the kremlin since germany's nato membership had already been agreed upon with the us. yes the main item on the agenda was financing the withdrawal of soviet troops the us refused to fund the soviet union. a chance for west germany to step up in the public eye the delegation flew out to visit the soviet leader at home in the caucasus cole had asked gorbachev for the visit the chancellor could now announce here that nothing else stood in the way of nato membership. the soviet union received $13000000000.00 marks

for withdrawing their troops from east germany we can't lose sight of the fact that germany was given showing a 1000000000 more. richards and the incentives in and of itself so there are plenty of reasons. and the soviets were in dire economic straits they needed help. after this meeting in the caucasus the road was now clear for reunification as helmut kohl and others repeatedly announced. but the question of nato membership had already been agreed in secret with president bush who had been waiting to see whether or not gorbachev held on to power coal was simply the one to break the news . that this is so as we fly back from moscow i think this is a day that commemorates us all it's a good day for me and i hope for you as well to germany.

and to my uncle germany everyone was acting like it was cold to go to go but you have to do that it's complete nonsense gorbachev had actually made that decision sometimes it's for but we didn't know if i didn't even know that and i was foreign minister was still apparently east germany wasn't needed at that meeting i found that quite arrogant for. the 3rd round of 2 plus 4 talks took place in paris the day after the. caucasus meeting soviet foreign minister shevardnadze confirmed the agreement made between kohl and gorbachev the era of hostile blocks in europe was finally over during this round of negotiations there was another fundamental problem to solve the order nice a border between poland and germany was to finally be recognized under international law. the 6 foreign ministers ensured that this demand from poland was met and that germany's x. journal borders would not extend beyond the federal republic and the g.d.r.

. the final round of the 2 plus 4 talks took place in moscow where the treaty was to be signed. the foreign ministers travelled to moscow the evening before the signing the most yeah i would sign on behalf of east germany but that evening british foreign minister douglas heard made a startling demand that jeopardized the entire 2 plus 4 treaty. falsetto up is that there was i guess that to the end of august both of those douglas heard started causing trouble the evening before september 12th about going to the jurors heads misgivings about the road of your nazi germany to the united germany would have. to look for ways to the european you could not british suddenly demand that the troops be placed on east german territory of which russia was absolutely against of the stores of the toy instructions on it was important to get that nailed down in

writing and i insisted that it should. this wasn't just an attempt to slow down the process it was in its interest in true of the soviet union was not as we didn't agree with the stationing of the current true must on the she's a few hours before a treaty is going to is blamed for its failure seems to be to cause a trick this has happened before in the history of diplomacy to do diplomats it's a good bill. soviet minister shevardnadze told throughout america pollin off that he would not sign the treaty under those conditions just moments before the signing in moscow germany's reunification looks set to fail because britain did not want to forego a special right as a victorious power in world war 2. by this point then the soviets are feeling their backs against the wall the germans are feeling you know look you know the british are trying to screw this up. dieter kastrup it started searching for his foreign minister around midnight genscher met him in the hotel corridor where kastrup

delivered the bad news saying is if you could see straight away from his facial expression that it wasn't good he said hem minister to ensure the negotiations have failed mr. schmidt of the russians have just cancelled tomorrow signings or even due to certain sim you know because from all and your turn salesman said he needed to see jim baker right away which a call was made to the american delegation all up because baker had taken a sleeping tablet and drank some whisky he was lying down and couldn't be woken couldn't leave to. enter a dance or decided to go there himself. those incentives were dismissed so we drove through moscow at night to go in to wake up the u.s. secretary of state the commission cantor came pounding on my door so they woke me up an hour early quite groggy and they said the brits want. the ability to put

troops in and the g.d.r. and i should hold my goodness because we were right up to the point of signing the treaty and not pick up the phone i think and call there's no shirt i said done as this is this is a show stopper for you you can't do this we've come this far. diplomats were scrambling for a solution into the early hours eventually the ministers agreed to sign a separate a denim that as long as they were still soviet troops on the ground in east germany no known german nato troops would be stationed there but the future was this was the 1st time in history that germany gained its full sovereignty not through military victories or defeat of the us in agreement with all its neighbors aggression you will. see miss we missed this in. the treaty that sealed german unity and gave germany back its full state sovereignty contained just 10 items and

a separate attendant. for signing of this treaty brought epochal changes it ended the cold war and laid the foundation for a new era of peace freedom and cooperation in europe. so i do that all of that's i think it was fair to everyone who signed this treaty how important it was you shove it up his own inside i was doing somersaults i was close to tears was i know about it today in. its body but cannot is now i know what mercy wants to show and undeserved if it is real and i'm still aware that this is the most important signature of my life need both. but the nato question is still a sore point today were the soviet negotiators negligent or not putting oral promises in writing. did the west really agree not to expand nato eastward to

this day russian president vladimir putin still accuses the west of breaking your promise putin is now making the argument that the united states orally promised to serve the union that we would never extend a term that is both ok absolutely. never were such a promise made at the we knew it was a meeting these were declarations of incidental to that they were never recorded in writing you lose so as easily as the west made those promises your so too did its abandon the consumption and that's why we're in the situation we're in today so what the it was a good citizen of that would say look more because it's all gullibility good opinion. in 1991 the u.s.s.r. fragmented into 15 states russia formed a new military alliance with 5 post soviet countries hungary poland and the czech republic joined nato in 1990 later followed by 11 more countries friendly relations

between russia and the west deteriorated the old rivalry for influence and power led to renewed mistrust and confrontation between the successors of gorbachev and bush. a new cold front has descended. ryoko future would be that we could turn the clock back to $9091.00 we ought to start with their day they were going to exercise some smart diplomacy we are star some confidence building measures on both sides and try to understand the positions from which each side. it's coming. through trust and mutual understanding the cold war ended. the determined diplomatic efforts of the 2 plus 4 nations should serve as

inspiration that today's europe can once again find peace. was jenn's machos in politics and for democracy women in belarus will not back down in the face of police violence propping up the authoritarian regime and they continue to demonstrate and demand be autocratic president step down yes. it's women versus look a shame coach was focused on russia. in 30 minutes on t w. to our god was the spirit of 30 years ago when germany was

reunified in october 1919 at the time the konami disparity between east and west was huge. today how have things changed for the people in the 2 homs of the country how have companies. made in germany. keep 90 minutes on d w. board. every 2 seconds a person does for. to flee their home. the consequences and disastrous our documentary series displaced depicts traumatic humanitarian crises from around the world. focusing we don't have time to think i didn't go to university to kill people. paying. people feel for their lives and their future so

they seek refuge abroad but what will become of us who stay behind. displaced starts october 16th on g.w. . this is day w news and these are our top stories. european union leaders meeting in brussels have a great to impose sanctions on dozens of singing officials in belarus accused of falsifying organists presidential election results and leading to crackdown on this with protest is also seeking a joint approach on turkey and china during the 2 days something. the presidents of france russia and the united states of called for and the maybe it cease fire.