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Politics, Culture, and Economics: Reassessing the West German Guest Worker Agreement with Yugoslavia

In 1968 the Federal Republic of Germany signed a guest worker agreement with Yugoslavia. Within the existing historiography, this agreement has largely been described in economic terms as resulting from the economic miracle. This article complicates that perspective by arguing that in fact political and cultural rather than economic priorities were responsible for the successful conclusion of the agreement between the FRG and Yugoslavia. Specifically, it argues that in his capacity as the FRG’s Foreign Minister, Willy Brandt pushed for the guest worker agreement with Yugoslavia as a means of addressing the legacies of National Socialism and promoting peace and reconciliation in Europe. The West German-Yugoslav guest worker agreement therefore should be understood as a product of West Germany’s changing political culture and priorities during the 1960s, and as one of the FRG’s earliest successes with Ostpolitik.

Key Words: Willy Brandt • Germany • guest worker • Ostpolitik • Yugoslavia

Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 44, No. 4, 719-736 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022009409340648


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