Treaty of Prague (1973)

The Treaty of Prague was a treaty signed on 11 December 1973, in Prague, by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Czechoslovakia, in which the two States recognized each other diplomatically and declared the 1938 Munich Agreements to be null and void - by acknowledging the inviolability of their common borders and abandoning all territorial claims. [United States-Department of State. Documents on Germany 1944-1985. Washington: Department of State, [s.d.] , pp. 1256-1258. ]

The Treaty of Prague was a strong element of the Ostpolitik put forward by the German Chancellor Willy Brandt and supported by his ruling party in the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany. Also, since Germany (the FRG) and Czechoslovakia had never signed any treaty since the Second World War, this treaty functioned as a peace treaty between the two countries and it continues to do so. The western part of Czechoslovakia that borders with Germany has now split off and become the Czech Republic, which has also ratified this treaty.