Geist oder Gespenst? „Rapallo“ als Mythos und Chiffre deutscher Ostpolitik
Spirit or ghost? “Rapallo” as Myth and Code of German Ostpolitik

Summary/Abstract: The Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and Soviet Russia (16 April 1922) is still an important point of reference for German-Russian relations and for German Ostpolitik. It was already charged by contemporaries with attributions and myths that continue to have an effect today. By analysing commentaries and statements over a period of one hundred years, this paper aims to show which figures of thought were attached to “Rapallo”, which needs and desires they corresponded to, how they were updated at turning points in German-Russian relations, and what long-term effects they had. It becomes clear that “Rapallo” has become a bundle of codes for certain views of German politics that can no longer be separated from the historical event and have become an inseparable part of the overall meaning. In that the objectives and expectations that gave the treaty widespread approval in Germany in the 1920s have for the most part no longer been capable of consensus since the end of the Second World War, “Rapallo” has since become a liability for German foreign policy. Occasional attempts to pick out individual aspects of the treaty, such as understanding across different political systems, as models to guide action are doomed to failure.

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