Suchergebnisse

This article deals with the role of Iceland in East German foreign policy during the Cold War. Because of Iceland's strategic importance, the GDR invested considerable resources in expanding bilateral relations, & in the 1950s became Iceland's fifth largest trading partner. In the 1960s, free market economic reforms in Iceland sharply reduced the barter trade with the GDR & party ideological differences emerged which led to a formal break after the suppression of the Prague Spring. The 1970s & 1980s witnessed the marginalization of East German influence in Iceland. With the discrediting of the East Bloc, in general, & the failure to abrogate the defense treaty, in particular, there was not much rationale for ideological cooperation. The lack of increase in trade relations with Iceland following its recognition of the GDR in 1973 only reinforced this sense of political & economic alienation. Adapted from the source document.