Editors' introduction: on the politics of history, the making of deals, and the way the old becomes the new / Frederic Bozo, Andreas Rodder and Mary Elise Sarotte -- Part I: The two Germanies and unification. The revolution in Germany: the end of the SED dictatorship, East German society, and reunification / Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk -- Transferring a civil revolution into high politics: the West German drive for unification and the new European order / Andreas Rodder -- Part II: Superpowers react. "His East European allies say they want to be in NATO": U.S. foreign policy, German unification, and NATO's role in European security, 1989-90 / Mary Elise Sarotte -- Gorbachev, German reunification, and Soviet demise / Vladislav Zubok -- Part III: Western Europe reacts. From "Yalta" to Maastricht: Mitterand's France and German unification / Frederic Bozo -- Not a wholly new Europe: how the integration framework shaped the end of the Cold War in Europe / N. Piers Ludlow -- The United Kingdom: divided counsels, global concerns / Patrick Salmon -- Part IV: Central and Eastern Europe react. Pivots in Poland's response to German unification / Gregory F. Domber -- Germany's unification, its eastern neighbors, and European security / Vojtech Mastny.
Summary:
"This book provides a multinational history of German reunification based on empirical work by leading scholars. The unification of Germany in 1989-90 was one of the most unexpected and momentous events of the twentieth century. Embedded as it was within the wider process of the end of the Cold War, it contributed decisively to the dramatic changes that occurred in the early years of the last decade of the century: the end of the division of Europe, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the origins of NATO's eastward expansion and, not least, the creation of the European Union. Based on the wealth of evidence that has become available from many countries involved in that process, while at the same time relying on the most recent historiography, it takes into account the complex interaction of international actors and processes that made it possible and were instrumental in shaping German unification in the pivotal years 1989-90. The volume brings together renowned international scholars whose recent works, based on their research in multiple languages and sources, have contributed decisively to the international history of German unification and the end of the Cold War. The resulting volume presents an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of a significant chapter in recent international history. This book will be of much interest to students of German politics, Cold war history, international history and IR in general."--Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.