Dealing with Dictatorships: German Interactions with Worldwide Autocracies since the 1950s

The lecture shows how an economically driven pragmatism fostered enduring partnerships with authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, Latin America, and even socialist Eastern Europe. In the aftermath of National Socialism, anti-communist dictatorships—from South Korea and Iran to Libya and Chile—often became important partners. At the same time, Bösch demonstrates how, beginning in the late 1960s, growing advocacy for human rights increasingly challenged these relationships. Cooperation between the West German government and NGOs such as Amnesty International helped secure the release of political prisoners and brought greater public attention to human rights abuses.

By examining Germany's engagement with dictatorships across the globe, the lecture offers a new perspective on the history of the Federal Republic. It complements the familiar narratives of Westward integration and Ostpolitik by highlighting the central role that relations with authoritarian regimes played in shaping postwar German foreign policy.

The Gerda Henkel Lecture Tours were established in 2018 by the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Each year, the series brings leading German historians to the West Coast to present their latest research and to engage in conversations with diverse academic and public audiences across North America.