The Sino-Soviet Alliance in Konrad Adenauer's Chancellorship, 1945–1963.

On March 13, 1967, the former West German chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, received a visit from future U.S. President Richard Nixon. When then-Prime Minister of France Charles de Gaulle pitched to Adenauer his "future thinking" of an autonomous Europe, which would devise its own political program, Adenauer voiced genuine sympathy.[14] He liked the idea of Western Europe "standing on its own two feet", and had, for some time, worried about U.S. troop withdrawals.[15] Adenauer, nonetheless, rejected de Gaulle's proposal of a joint defense system. "The schism between Moscow and Beijing", Horst Osterheld, one of the chancellor's closest advisers, reflected years later, "which Adenauer had prophesized for seven years, had become evident."[62] Yet it was the chancellor's own fatalistic discernment of Chinese expansionism that stood out most in those historic weeks. [104] If he were able to influence the United States' foreign policy, Adenauer lamented to Richard Nixon in the summer of 1963, then he would not commit so exclusively against China.[105] Barely a couple of months later - after ruling for fifteen years - Konrad Adenauer was forced to hand over the reins of power. [Extracted from the article]