7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

also led to a nonaggression treaty with Poland in December
1970, recognizing the Oder-Neisse Line as Poland’s west-
ern boundary. Brandt’s efforts also led to the Big Four
agreement in September 1971 on the status of Berlin. His
treaty with Poland was controversial. Detractors claimed
that it signaled West Germany’s acceptance of the perma-
nent loss of those eastern lands stripped from Germany
after World War II, while supporters praised it for open-
ing the possibility of reuniting West and East Germany
and stabilizing relations with eastern Europe. A firm sup-
porter of a united Europe, Brandt exerted his influence to
break down French objections to enlarging the European
Economic Community (EEC). More than any other states-
man he helped promote the entry of Britain and other
countries to the EEC.
Brandt resigned in May 1974 after his close aide
Gunther Guillaume was unmasked as an East German spy.
He remained the chairman of the SPD until 1987 and was
also head of the Socialist International (the Social
Democrats’ umbrella organization) from 1976 to 1992.
From 1979 he also headed the Independent Commission
on International Development Issues, known as the
Brandt Commission—a prestigious independent panel
that studied world economic policies.
Brandt wrote several books, including Willy Brandt in
Exile: Essays, Reflections and Letters, 1933–1947, translated
from the German by R.W. Last (1971), and People and
Politics: The Years 1960–1975, translated by J.M. Brownjohn
(1978). The latter comprises Brandt’s political memoirs.

Augusto Pinochet

(b. Nov. 25, 1915, Valparaiso, Chile—d. Dec. 10, 2006, Santiago)

A

ugusto Pinochet was the leader of the military junta

that overthrew the socialist government of Pres.