Willy Brandt Detail

Germany1969SPD
CountryGermany
Year Assumed Office1969
OfficeChancellor
AffiliationSPD

About Willy Brandt Detail

See Brandt main entry. His spontaneous kneefall at the Warsaw Ghetto Monument in 1970 was a powerful gesture of reconciliation that resonated worldwide. Brandt was an anti Nazi exile during World War II, living in Norway and Sweden. As Mayor of West Berlin, he governed the front line city of the Cold War. His Ostpolitik recognized East Germany and opened dialogue with Eastern Europe. Brandt resigned in 1974 after his advisor Gunter Guillaume was exposed as an East German spy. He remained chairman of the Socialists International and a moral authority.

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