Brandt
was born Herbert Ernst Frahm in Lubeck, Germany. He changed
his name to Willy Brandt when he fled from the Nazis in Germany.
When he was young he openly opposed the Nazis and he fled to Norway
to escape arrest by them. He worked as a correspondent for
newspapers in Norway from 1933 to 1945, and he was active in the
anti-Nazis resistance.
Brandt
returned to Germany after World War II and was elected the lower
house of parliament in 1949. He was a mayor of West Berlin from
1957-1966. From 1966 to 1969, Brandt was vice-chancellor and the
foreign minister, and in 1969 Willy Brandt was elected chancellor of
West Germany.
In
1971, Brandt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce
tensions between Communist and non-Communist nations. Under
Brandt, West Germany signed nonaggression treaties with the Soviet
Union and other European Nations. Brandt worked to normalize
relations between East and West Germany and to reduce tensions
between East and West Berlin.
Willy
Brandt retired in 1974, after it was discovered that one of his
aides was an East German spy. Brandt denied knowledge of the aides
spy activities, but he accepted full responsibility for the matter.
Nobel Info On Brandt
Info On Willy Brandt
1970 Man of the Year: Willy Brandt
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Alex 2003