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I am bit shocked to see that Germany joined United Nations - UN in 1973, what was political reason for postponing membership in that important organisation, if we see that for example Italy joined UN in 1955 and Japan joined UN in 1956?

MCW
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user45467
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    The Cold War and division of Germany. – Semaphore Mar 10 '16 at 18:23
  • Yes, but that did not stopped Germany to be member of NATO aliance? – user45467 Mar 10 '16 at 18:23
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    NATO is a Western organisation. The UN includes the Eastern Bloc too. – Semaphore Mar 10 '16 at 18:26
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    "The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was admitted to the UN as an observer in 1955. " - from wikipedia. The German Government has a separate site that explains the history - in summary, the UN is about foreign policy and Germany concentrated on domestic policy until 1955. – MCW Mar 10 '16 at 18:27
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    That's a bit misleading. Germany was under Allied occupation until 1955. – Semaphore Mar 10 '16 at 19:04
  • I'm just summarizing the page from the German government. – MCW Mar 10 '16 at 19:43
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    @DusanSukovic: You mean West Germany. Germany did not become a NATO member until the german unification in 1990. – Martin Schröder Mar 11 '16 at 13:27
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    I'm not sure that page actually says it was too focused on domestic policy until 1955. It implies West Germany was more interested in the European community, which is nonetheless international. @MartinSchröder West Germany is legally the same entity as the Germany in existence today. It merely absorbed former East Germany. – Semaphore Mar 11 '16 at 13:56
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    @Semaphore, legally the accession of the GDR was similar to the accession of the Saarland a few decades earlier, but politically it was a much greater step. The vast majority of Germans assumes that Germany is now complete, while before it was an interim arrangement. – o.m. Mar 11 '16 at 14:23
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    @o.m. Yes... and it's still legally the same entity, as I said. – Semaphore Mar 11 '16 at 16:49
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    @Semaphore : Indeed, one part of Germany --- West Berlin --- was under Allied occupation until 1990. – Michael Hardy Mar 11 '16 at 17:09
  • @DusanSukovic If any of the answers given are acceptable to you, please don't forget to mark one as such. – CGCampbell Mar 29 '16 at 21:21

3 Answers3

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The reason was very simple. There were two Germanies. Soviet Union would veto the Federal Republic joining. (From the Soviet point of view it was illegitimate). For exactly the same reasons US, England and France would veto the German Democratic republic.

They could only join when they (and all others) recognized each other as independent states. (Moscow treaty, 1970).

Somewhat similar situation existed with PRC and Republic of China (Taiwan) for some time. (Until 1971 RC represented the whole China in UN, but now it is PRC, and RC is not a member).

Alex
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    Also, the two Koreas didn't become full UN members until 1991. – dan04 Mar 11 '16 at 04:06
  • @Alex Why will Soviet Union cast veto against membership of Federal German Republic in UN? – user45467 Mar 11 '16 at 13:35
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    @DusanSukovic West Germany claimed to be the exclusive representative for the entirety of Germany. The USSR preferred its communist satellite (East Germany) for obvious reasons. – Semaphore Mar 11 '16 at 13:57
  • Thanks. Bit I've read somewhere that Stalin was not initially opposed against idea of united Germany, can't remember where. – user45467 Mar 11 '16 at 14:03
  • @DusanSukovic I assume that was with the caveat that a reunified germany was in his sphere of influence not the US's. Give or take fears of revanchism if the leash ever came off; moving the frontline to the ~Rhine would greatly improve his strategic position. – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Mar 11 '16 at 15:58
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    The last sentence is wrong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-China_policy is still in force. – sds Mar 11 '16 at 16:27
  • @Dusan Sukovic: Neither Stalin, nor the allies claimed that they wanted to partition Germany. When FRG was finally formed, the Soviets said that this was illegal. And until 1970 nobody officially recognized two German states. And they did not recognize each other. – Alex Mar 14 '16 at 13:17
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The difference between Germany and Italy & Japan was that at that time Germany was divided into two separate countries - FRG & GDR.

In 1969 West Germany switched from Hallstein Doctrine ("exclusivity" -similar to One-China policy) to Neue Ostpolitik ("detente" - normalization with East Germany et al) which led to UN membership by removing objection from the USSR (which had veto power).

sds
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In addition to the comments by sds and Mark, let me note that at the time West Germany was extremely reluctant to do anything which would give the appearance of accepting or legitimizing the division of Germany into the FRG and GDR. The price of admitting the FRG to the UN would likely have been to admit the GDR as a separate nation. West Germany was not willing to pay that price.

o.m.
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    that's exactly what Hallstein Doctrine was about. – sds Mar 10 '16 at 20:04
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    @sds, in your post you characterized it as "exclusivity", but the refusal to give up claims to the East was just as important. Some dreamed of getting Kaliningrad and eastern Prussia back, others wanted to preserve it as a bargaining chip for the peace treaty. – o.m. Mar 11 '16 at 06:15