thumb|[[Walter Hallstein]]
The Hallstein Doctrine (), named after Walter Hallstein, was a key principle in the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1955 to 1970. As usually presented, it prescribed that the Federal Republic would not establish or maintain diplomatic relations with any state that recognized the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In fact it was more nuanced. There was no public official text of the "doctrine", but its main architect, Wilhelm Grewe, explained it publicly in a radio interview. It laid down German reunification as a goal and a requirement and was proclaimed in the name of the whole of the German people. though elements of the policy had already been devised and practised by the Foreign Office before. According to him, the doctrine's impact on the West and the East German foreign policy was only marginal, more myth than reality. During the entire Cold War, national economic and international geostrategic interests dominated German foreign affairs – on both sides of the wall.
See also
- One China