The Moscow Treaty (1970) helped end which West German policy of not recognizing East Germany?

• A. The Hallstein Doctrine
• B. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
• C. The Truman Doctrine
• D. The Brezhnev Doctrine

Answer: (B)

This question focuses on West Germany's shift in policy toward East Germany. The Moscow Treaty of 1970 was part of Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik, aimed at normalizing relations with the East. The policy that had refused to recognize East Germany and discouraged ties with states that did recognize it was the Hallstein Doctrine. By agreeing in the Moscow Treaty to recognize East Germany as a separate state and to pursue closer, normal relations, West Germany moved away from Hallstein’s stance and laid the groundwork for further rapprochement, including the Basic Treaty a couple of years later. The other options aren’t relevant to this postwar shift: the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a 1939 agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union from World War II, not a modern West German policy; the Truman Doctrine is a U.S. policy of opposing Soviet influence; and the Brezhnev Doctrine is the Soviet idea of intervening in fellow socialist states.