Germany's Cold War: The Global Campaign to Isolate East Germany, 1949-1969 - Couverture rigide

Gray, William Glenn

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0807827584 ISBN 13 : 9780807827581

Editeur : The University of North Carolina Press, 2003

Synopsis

This volume explores West Germany's efforts to prevent international acceptance of East Germany as a legitimate state following World War II, using newly available material from both sides of the Iron Curtain. West German leaders were unwilling to accept the division of their country and regarded the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as an illegitimate upstart - a puppet of the occupying Soviet forces. Together with France, Britain and the United States, West Germany applied political and financial pressure to ensure that the GDR remained unrecognized by all countries outside the communist camp. While the GDR had some success in befriending countries such as Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia, West Germany's intimidation tactics and superior economic resources saw that it never had any decisive breakthrough. This book argues that Bonn's isolation campaign was dropped not due to failure but as a result of changes in West German priorities as the struggle against East Germany came to hamper efforts at reconciliation with Israel, Poland, and Yugoslavia - all countries of special relevance to Germany's recent past. Interest in morally grounded diplomacy, together with a growing conviction that the GDR could no longer be ignored, led to the abandonment of Bonn's effective but outdated efforts to hinder worldwide recognition of the East German regime.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Using newly available material from both sides of the Iron Curtain, William Glenn Gray explores West Germany's efforts to prevent international acceptance of East Germany as a legitimate state following World War II. Unwilling to accept the division of their country, West German leaders regarded the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as an illegitimate upstart-a puppet of the occupying Soviet forces. Together with France, Britain, and the United States, West Germany applied political and financial pressure around the globe to ensure that the GDR remain unrecognized by all countries outside the communist camp. Proclamations of ideological solidarity and narrowly targeted bursts of aid gave the GDR momentary leverage in such diverse countries as Egypt, Iraq, Ghana, and Indonesia; yet West Germany's intimidation tactics, coupled with its vastly superior economic resources, blocked any decisive East German breakthrough. Gray argues that Bonn's isolation campaign was dropped not for want of success, but as a result of changes in West German priorities as the struggle against East Germany came to hamper efforts at reconciliation with Israel, Poland, and Yugoslavia-all countries of special relevance to Germany's recent past. Interest in a morally grounded diplomacy, together with the growing conviction that the GDR could no longer be ignored, led to the abandonment of Bonn's effective but outdated efforts to hinder worldwide recognition of the East German regime.

Biographie de l'auteur

William Glenn Gray is assistant professor of history at Purdue University.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The University of North Carolina Press
• Date d'édition: 2003
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0807827584
• ISBN 13: 9780807827581
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 368
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible