The role of Václav Havel in the Czech-German relations between 1993-1997.

This bachelor thesis deals with the impact of the former Czechoslovak and Czech president Václav Havel on the Czech-German mutual relationship within the examined time period between 1993 and 1997. The main focus lies on Havel's personal initiative, gestures and concrete political steps concerning the improvement of the Czech-German diplomacy. According to the high frequency of his engagement in this specific agenda of the Czech foreign affairs, Havel played an important role in the whole development of the Czech- German relations, occasionally even as a "driving force". Firstly, the historical and political contexts of Havel's position in the Czech-German bilateral diplomacy is depicted, with an emphasis on the negotiations regarding the Czechoslovak-German Treaty on Good- Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation from 1992 and the Czech-German Declaration on the Mutual Relations and their Future Development signed in 1997. Secondly, the official speeches of Havel, proclamations, meetings with German statesmen, particularly with the president Weizsäcker, or various media interviews had been analyzed. Although the legal documents should have contributed to a constructive dialogue and a successful cooperation, the historical issues related primarily to the World War II had an enormous impact on the..