Editing Hallstein Doctrine (section)

==Reaction of the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany")==
In the beginning, the German Democratic Republic had pressed for re-unification, though they were not willing to accept free elections with [[UN]] participation. From about 1955, they favoured a "two state" solution and strongly objected to the Federal Republic's claim to represent the whole of Germany; but they made no such claims themselves.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|32–33}} In the 1960s, after the building of the [[Berlin Wall]], [[Walter Ulbricht]], the [[Leadership of East Germany|East German leader]] increasingly claimed to represent the whole of Germany.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|34}}

Whenever the German Democratic Republic opened some form of representation in another country, they attempted to persuade that country to open a similar representation in the German Democratic Republic. Although they were willing to provide financial inducements for this purpose, their success was limited.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|39}}
For the first stage in developing diplomatic relations, the German Democratic Republic often used the assistance of the local communist party in the country, and East German journalists were also pressed into service.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|32–33}} The next stage was to establish a [[trade agreement]]. This was not especially problematic, because the Federal Republic of Germany did not object to trade relations, providing it did not involve explicit diplomatic recognition.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|35}} Having established trade relations, the next stage was to establish permanent offices of the [[chamber of commerce]]. This, too, usually met with little resistance from the Federal Republic of Germany, provided the entities involved were not formally organs of the state.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|36}} The next stage was to establish trade representations. These were usually tolerated by the Federal Republic of Germany, as long as there were no visible indications of diplomatic privileges, such as flying the official flag or pennant or invitation to official events normally reserved to the diplomatic corps. The German Democratic Republic increasingly used these for consular purposes and tried to "upgrade" them diplomatically by calling them "trade missions" and using diplomatic titles for their officers. This met with resistance on the part of the Federal Republic of Germany.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|36–37}} The final stage that the German Democratic Republic aimed for was to establish a consulate general. This usually involved issuing an [[exequatur]], a document that guarantees the consul's rights and privileges. This was regarded by the Federal Republic of Germany as equivalent to official diplomatic recognition and could be expected to be met with sanctions of some form. Countries such as Egypt attempted to avoid upsetting either side by issuing an exequatur but adding a note that it did not imply recognition of the German Democratic Republic.

Right up to 1969, however, the German Democratic Republic  was not able to achieve full diplomatic representation&nbsp;– with two possible exceptions:
* In March 1960, an ambassador from [[Guinea]] formally presented his papers to the East German head of state, President [[Wilhelm Pieck]]. After protests from the Federal Republic of Germany, however, the Guineans claimed there had been a mistake and an ambassador of the German Democratic Republic was never accredited by Guinea.
* In 1963, the island of [[Zanzibar]] had gained independence from Britain, and in early 1964 there was a [[Zanzibar revolution|revolution]], leading to the establishment of the [[People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba]], which agreed to diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic. In April 1964, however, the new republic merged with [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]], the resulting state being soon renamed the [[United Republic of Tanzania]], and the German Democratic Republic had to close its embassy.