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{{Short description|Espionage case}}
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[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F042453-0011, Niedersachsen, Brandt im Wahlkampf.jpg|thumb|300px|
The '''Guillaume
Around 1973, West German security organizations received information that one of Brandt's personal assistants, [[Günter Guillaume]], was a spy for the East German state. Brandt was asked to continue work as usual, and he agreed, even taking a private vacation with Guillaume. Guillaume was arrested on April 24, 1974.
Guillaume had indeed been a spy for East Germany, supervised by [[Markus Wolf]], head of the Main Intelligence Administration of the East German [[Stasi|Ministry for State Security]] (Stasi). Brandt resigned as Chancellor on May 6, 1974 (although he remained the Chairman of
According to [[Vasili Mitrokhin]], when the KGB found out about Guillaume, they ordered Wolf to pull him out because Brandt had been a good friend to the Soviet Union and they wanted him to stay in power.
==Brandt resignation==
Brandt was succeeded as Chancellor by fellow [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrat]] [[Helmut Schmidt]], who, unlike Brandt, belonged to the right wing of his party.{{clarify|date=January 2021}} For the rest of his life, Brandt remained suspicious that his fellow Social Democrat and longtime rival [[Herbert Wehner]] had been scheming for his downfall, but evidence for this seems scant.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}
Aside from internecine intrigue within the Social Democrats, the finger of blame for Brandt's fall was also pointed at the East German leadership. Some speculated that the East German regime under [[Erich Honecker]] had intentionally used Guillaume to engineer Brandt's downfall. Brandt's policy of ''[[Ostpolitik]]'' had made him a hero and symbol of hope for national and [[family reunification]] in the East. Therefore, from Honecker's view, Brandt's popularity in East Germany represented a threat to the regime. In his memoirs, Brandt noted Honecker's denial of complicity in his downfall, adding "whatever one may think of that."<ref>(Brandt, ''My Life'')</ref> However Stasi-head Markus Wolf stated after [[German reunification]] that the resignation of Brandt had never been intended, and that the affair had been one of the biggest mistakes of the East German secret service.
The affair is
==Aftermath and depictions in popular culture==
Guillaume was eventually released and sent to East Germany in 1981 in exchange for Western intelligence agents caught by the [[Eastern Bloc]]. Back in East Germany, Guillaume was celebrated as a hero,
The story of Brandt and Guillaume is told in the play ''[[Democracy (play)|Democracy]]'', by [[Michael Frayn]]. The play follows Brandt's career, from his election to Guillaume's imprisonment. It examines Guillaume's dual identity as trusted personal assistant to the West German chancellor and Stasi spy and examines his conflict as his duty to West Germany's enemies clashes with his genuine love and admiration for the chancellor.
In 2003, Willy Brandt's son, [[Matthias Brandt]], took the part of Guillaume in the film ''{{ill|In the Shadow of Power|de|3=Im Schatten der Macht|lt=Im Schatten der Macht}}'' ("In the Shadow of Power") by German filmmaker
==References==
{{portal|Germany|East Germany}}
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Cold War history of Germany]]
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[[Category:Espionage scandals and incidents]]
[[Category:East Germany–West Germany relations]]
[[Category:Willy Brandt]]
[[ko:기욤사건]]
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