Adenauer - Couverture souple

Irving, Ronald

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 058206824X ISBN 13 : 9780582068247

Editeur : Pearson Education Limited, 2002

Synopsis

 Known as the Father of the new Germany, Konrad Adenauer was one of the big three leaders who, alongside Churchill and De Gaulle, helped rebuild Europe from the ruins of the Second World War. A devout catholic and virulent anti-communist, his anti-nazi credentials made him the obvious if aged choice for the Chancellorship of the new German Federal Republic in 1949. Ronald Irving reviews Adenauer’s record in office – an astonishing career that lasted six decades - from Mayor of Cologne in pre-Nazi Germany to his post-war emergence as leader of the Christian Democratic Union and his election to the Chancellorship in 1949.  While he recognises that the record was not entirely positive - he points to Adenauer's autocratic tendencies and the fact that he clung to power for far too long - Irving argues that his key characteristic and contribution to West Germany and Western Europe was that of ‘integrator’. He united Catholics and Conservatives for the first time under the liberal democratic banner, and integrated West German society into liberal democratic values underpinned by the social market economy. Adenauer also played a vital role in ensuring that the traditional enemies, France and Germany, came together in cooperation and partnership in the new European Economic Community.   

A propos du livre

À propos de la quatrième de couverture

Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany during the crucially important postwar years 1949-63, often referred to as the ‘Adenauer Era’.

Adenauer was certainly a very influential figure in postwar German politics. In 1949 he became Chancellor of a still-occupied country, which lay in ruins after the collapse of Hitler’s dictatorship. When his Chancellorship ended fourteen years later, the Federal Republic was a prosperous, powerful, sovereign, liberal democracy, firmly committed to the Western Alliance. As Ronald Irving shows, Adenauer contributed significantly to this huge metamorphosis. This is more than a personal biography: it is an assessment of the life and times of a significant politician and statesman.

This new Profile focuses especially on Adenauer’s controversial character. Did he unwittingly undermine the development of liberal democracy by his autocratic behaviour? Ronald Irving assesses Adenauer’s leadership of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), through which German conservatives of all classes, confessions and regions embraced liberal democracy for the first time. He analyses the Federal Republic’s much-debated and controversial foreign policy in the 1950s and 1960s. Ronald Irving uses his wide knowledge of postwar European history and politics to tackle these complex questions.

Ronald Irving is Reader in Politics and Contemporary European History at University of Edinburgh. He is the author of several books including `The Christian Democratic Parties of Western Europe’ (1979).

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Pearson Education Limited
• Date d'édition: 2002
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 058206824X
• ISBN 13: 9780582068247
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 248
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible