Editing Hallstein Doctrine (section)

===Soviet recognition of East Germany===
On 23 March 1954, the Soviet Union declared that it would establish diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic. This was seen as giving the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) a degree of legitimacy as a separate state.<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp|19}} The West German government in [[Bonn]] rejected this, claiming that the Federal Republic of Germany was the legitimate heir of the [[German Reich|German ''Reich'']].<ref name="KilianW_2001"/>{{Rp| 19}}