Nato cole also promised Financial Aid gorbachev gave the green light for the 2 plus 4 agreement on german unity. Could see that. As such the general secretary gorbachev has unequivocably given me his word that the soviet union will respect the wishes of the germans to live as one nation that. But the soviet union also had conditions foreign minister should read not so stipulated before the International Press that a unified germany would have to maintain political and military neutrality upon his return home brushed over this very clear message from the kremlin he didnt want to taint the good news. That the soviet union imagine if unified germany in late had a state yes of course all this was said yesterday. Kol strategy was successful and his. Popularity grew hed made further offers of Financial Aid to gorbachev to discourage the kremlin from doing anything to block the way forward because we have this as you none of this would have happened if the soviet union hadnt been in such a dire economic position at the time of if you like. That so we didnt know it was struggling to keep its head above water on the west knew that this it was a unique opportunity just had to be sealing it just 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 hadnt been included in the 2 plus for talks on german unity with a dramatic struggle ensued behind the scenes together germany on 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. Mainstreams for. Feeling of peace treaty was out of the question for us. If whatever the never to be put the issue of reparations on the agenda sure. We wanted to keep that out of the unification process at all costs is im hurt with you before and youll spoil says for. If there had been a peace conference all the countries occupied by german troops during world war 2 could have to mandate reparations the us wasnt 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 its going to be to play shortly. Before the negotiations 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. Really good position because we established early on as camp david a relationship of contravention trust between cole and bush and to ensure and baker and we said we will Stay Together and we will push this through a regardless of the opposition provided. Chester cole you support the idea of germany in there. It was clear from the confidential minutes that bush and cole saw eye to eye when kohl asked the american president what could be offered to the soviet union in return for germanys nato membership bush said to hell with that we prevailed and they didnt we cant let the soviets clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. They want something in return bush youve 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 tar dumas year the alliance also wanted a fast reunification with west germany it won with 48 percent of the vote for him and the people of east germany didnt vote for the c. D. U. Because they wanted him 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 isnt just an expectation of us but also of west germany and we expect clear answers. To those at pretty normally when a politician is elected the 1st thing they do is to think about how to get reelected in 4 years we didnt need to do that our task right from the start was to abolish ourselves obsession. Its 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 didnt trust the members of the previously governing socialist unity Party Differences all. And it was extremely difficult to create proper decisionmaking structures during this time i walked into the Ministry Like it was the enemys house his house. Necco brought with him confidants from the Peace Movement people who he aligned with my concert european missile bits 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 for click no. 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. Genscher promised east German Foreign minister mechelle there would be such close cooperation that not even a sheet of paper would fit between them. To show to dominance at the time i didnt understand what game she had really meant by that it was 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 trap who represent the g. D. R. And i feel sorry actually for them because you know the people who are representing them for the purpose of the 2 thoughts for living in the hope they didnt have a lot of leverage over any of this i dont 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 evoking the fear and we just didnt want to fall like a rotten apple into west germany where they would just decide what they do with us and try it was a bit on some of. The 1st round of the 2 plus 4 talks proved difficult while for. Yes britain and west germany were aligned with the american strategy because soviet delegation wanted to subject a unified germany to strict conditions. Not to demanded political and military neutrality from germany. Was a good position. Our position in west germany was not made any easier by east germany as a lack of cooperation. And he a bit loose leash that i but d. D. R. Was not thrilled about the United Country of being a nato member of it because im torchwoods least because in fact it rejected the idea so you have to appeal it just wasnt talk 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 didnt want to do anything there was in any way further destabilize gorbachevs the message was all that it is w. s year 2 of the handwritten notes from the 1st round of talks made by. 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 u. S. S. R. Engaged in a power struggle over their influence in europe there was a month or once least consider for us the russians were the enemy per se and we had a relatively relaxed relationship with the soviet union was overthrown and we knew that all the up he evils that happened and also the fall of the wall street was on the Peaceful Demonstrations and they were only possible because of the moses of support from more scorecards markets from. In the chancellors 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. Received this same request. To be on the show or not so i said it will be. By next month and if that happens gorbachev will be a reluctant at the Party Congress at the start of july 4th out here we wont be able to see this treaty through. Chancellor kohl sent his advisor horst tell chick and representatives from germanys major banks to moscow on may 14th to fulfill the needs of the kremlin well timed i mean i was in moscow for a secret meeting in may 1919 with 2 german bankers to negotiate a loan of 5000000000. 00 marks for exposed to for the soviet union this world power would have been insolvent fi summer 998. 00 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 a child of the question. Do you not think that any country should be able to fill eate with whatever shittier the alliance it watched and he says yes of course. The minutes from the meeting between bush and gorbachev on may 31st recorded this pivotal conversation bush im 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 in 2 plus for settlement bush the United States is unequivocally advocating germanys membership in nato however should germany prefer to make a different choice we will respect it gorbachev i agree. This is that voice or that was the breakthrough of egypt air and also this i. Yeah because of the resistance but this was actually the decisive break through all. The us president knew that gorbachev needed to win the election because there were people in the moscow pullet bureau who opposed his planned course of action this bomb maker systems are good for doing this underpins the existence of the entire process whether or not go but survived. Thats one of the americans didnt 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 989. 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 imminent 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 germanys 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 the 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 loss to lose would assess him you need to communicate to him by june a communication with the with German Foreign office was very bad it just got worse and worse we were completely isolated from these negotiations and just went along for the ride who knows it. Full that could fall or would you like. Good to be honest i was often astonished to find certain members of the west german delegation and not all of the words are east german call eagles they treated them lately in defeated stuff like losers like you should remain silent theyve 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 youre going miss all of it didnt know about the breakthrough in washington about gorbachevs agreement that a united germany would be a nato member. Being doubly blessed by a few of them so i was only informed that this 3 or 4 weeks later the selleck i regularly offered my resignation to marcus mecca it was clear where we stood to. The public also had little awareness that the negotiations between the Different Countries were stalling. Thus sligh the 2nd meeting in which lynn was a downright disaster and the league youve just asked if youre addicted for the soviet union presented a draft treaty that listed all of its farm positions you would want by want you have to undergo for this. But the chief of staff in the soviet Foreign Ministry to our sankoh had given elba a heads up who was goes into the sun to those me it was quite interesting sarah cinco had whispered to me in private dont worry about the next meeting and dont take everything that happens there seriously lose the nz trust upis you that had come from shevardnadze and gorbachev it was a tactic to build confidence that Collins 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 we extended the hand of friendship to the warsaw pact and gorbachev said that he had seen this as a very important and an Important Message if youre bored of gorbachev needed this message from the west to appease his opponents within the party of the 28th congress of the soviet Unions Communist Party took place in what was then known as the palace of congresss inside the Kremlin Gorbachev defended his policies. Other shows 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 multiparty 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 girl in the garage of school. Ive got to convince 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. Trophic of them when gorbachev wonder if he had complete freedom to repeat the hold with cold feet said back in may cole used these to present himself as a hero of International Relations and soon got switched to. The date after gorbachevs victory chancellor kohl and foreign minister genscher visited the kremlin since germanys nato membership had already been agreed upon with the us. 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 and 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 cant lose sight of the fact that germany was given showing a 1000000000. 00 more. Which was in the incentive in and of itself so there are plenty of reasons. And then 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. To this as we fly back from moscow i think this is a day that collaborates us all its a good day for me and i hope for you as well to germany. In germany everyone was acting like it was cold to go to go but you have to do that its complete nonsense gorbachev had actually made that decision sometime this fall but we didnt know if i didnt even know that and i was foreign minister its awesome news that apparently east germany wasnt 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. Baucus meeting soviet foreign minister shevardnadze confirmed the agreement made between coal and gorbachev the era of hostile blocs 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 germanys 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 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 a guess that he had just thought of those douglas heard started causing trouble the evening before september 12th going to the tourists heads this giving us about the road of your nazi germany the united germany would have. To look for ways to the european rebid nerdish suddenly demand that the troops be placed on its german territory which russia was absolutely against an Office Closer to the tourist options or that it was important to get that nailed doll in writing and im sisted that it should. This wasnt just an attempt to slow down the process it was an attempt to control the sovi