Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

turned some of them against the SPD. And in principle most western
socialist and social democratic parties took a similar line.
Social democracy, the policy of détente, and the defeat
of communist totalitarianism
Totalitarianism theory and its tendency to equate National Socialist
and communist totalitarianism has been the subject of criticism
from various quarters since the 1960s; Firstly, discussion in
academic and journalistic circles began to pay more attention to
the unique nature of the Jewish Holocaust. At the same time, the
differences between National Socialist and communist systems
were investigated. Secondly, the policy of détente changed the relationship
with the communist systems: it appeared to be impossible
to defeat them quickly and it was therefore necessary to seek
a modus vivendi with them.
German social democracy, with Willy Brandt, Egon Bahr, and also
Helmut Schmidt, was the main protagonist of the policy of détente
in Europe from the end of the 1960s. Recognition of the status quo
included the specific aim of changing and eventually defeating it.
There was to be more security and cooperation between East and
West. The policy had no magic formula for removing the ideological
differences with communism but it sought to change the communist
systems: it had – as an American historian pointed out – a
‘subversive’ element. In fact, subsequent developments in the GDR
and other communist systems led to increasing dependence on the
West. Gorbachev eventually attempted to reform the system – as
the advocates of détente had hoped – but it was too late and it finally
fell apart. The collapse of the communist systems was certainly
attributable to the growing problems inherent in the system
but the growing dissident and opposition movement also played a
part, an essential prerequisite being the changes in the European
climate brought about by the policy of détente.
Social democratic ideas were always opposed to dictatorships and
called them into question. As the establishment and role of the SPD
in the GDR in 1989/90 shows, they were an important factor in
the process of defeating the communist systems. This is not confined
to the GDR. However, Willy Brandt’s hope that the whole of
Eastern Europe would turn to social democracy after the fall of
119 Bernd Faulenbach