The Federal Republic is threatened by the aggressive imperialism of Soviet Russia as is proved by the systematic expansion of Soviet power in all parts of the world since 1945. The increasingly active policies of the Russian zone government in the last few months lead to the inescapable conclusion that we cannot expect this Soviet imperialist expansionism to stop at the Elbe. If Soviet Russia succeeds in forcing the Federal Republic of Germany, with a minimum of damage, into the Soviet sphere of influence, Russian war potential would be equal to that of the United States. At the same time Russia would prevent the unification of Western Europe for the defence of the Western world. In all probability Soviet policy would thereby also succeed in increasing American isolationism sufficiently to make the United States withdraw from the continent of Europe.

Disagreement between Soviet Russia and the free peoples was, I felt, bound to grow. America too had a vital interest in the creation of a strong Western Europe. For this Germany was indispensable. A country in shackles is not a real, full partner. I therefore thought that our fetters would gradually fall away.

As John Foster Dulles once put it: America was not pursuing a German or a French policy in Europe, but an American policy. That was a very true saying. The foreign policy of a country is always inspired by its own real or imagined interests. It was in the interest of the United States that Germany should become strong once more. Therefore the many examples of discrimination, such as the Ruhr Statute, the Occupation Statute and the provisions regarding the rearming of Germany, could only be of a transitory nature. In the long run the German people could not be a perfect partner of the peoples whose interests were parallel to ours unless there was equality. These were the guiding principles of my policy toward the Western powers during all the years when, as Federal Chancellor, I had to determine the guidelines of our policy.

Brandt has done things which require physical, mental and moral courage to an extent which few men could sustain. He inherited a German Social Democratic Party with very outdated traditional thinking, and requiring super-human energy and understanding to reform and revive. Like others, he had little in the way of natural advantages with which to do it. He was, of course, lucky in his colleagues but even so it was Brandt who saw the way through, not only to leading the Social Democratic Party to victory but towards uniting Europe. He is a man of shining courage - doing things which to everybody else it seemed impossible to ask a German politician to undertake. Thanks to Willy's courage and imagination, Germany may yet bring about the beginnings of a genuine détente between East and West.