Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject History Europe - Other Countries - Newer History, European Unification, grade: B, Vrije University Brussel (Vesalius College), language: English, abstract: The rising threat of a nuclear war The conflict between the two superpowers eventually emerging after the second World War, brought the world on the verge of a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile crisis 1962. During these five days between 22.-27. 10. 1962 the leaders of the two blocks realised the danger of aggressive policies and established a direct phone line between the headquarters in Washington DC and the Kremlin in Moscow. The position of Germany during the beginning of the Cold War Since the Cold War had its origins in the destruction of the German "Drittes Reich" (Engl. "Third Reich") Europe and especially Germany played a special role during the Cold War. Immediately after the occupation of the Allies the signs of the Potsdam conference signalised a separation of Germany. Eventually the creation of the German Federal Republic (BRD) in the Zones of France, Britain and the USA was responded by the Soviet military administration with a socialist German state, the German Democratic Republic (DDR). During the first years of the Cold War the gap between the two German states had widened up. The BRD became a member of NATO in 1955 while DDR was forced to join the Warsaw Pact in the same year. The separation of Germany was brought to a climax as Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union after Stalin, decided to set up a wall in Berlin on August 13th to separate the eastern part from the western part, in order to prevent East- German citizens from escaping into the West.

An analysis of the processes by which the West German government negotiated the Moscow Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1970 - the foundation of West German Ostpolitik.

Based on recently released archival sources, this book is the first systematic analysis of the German-Soviet negotiations leading to the conclusion of the Moscow Treaty of August 1970. This treaty was the linchpin of the 'New Ostpolitik' launched by Chancellor Willy Brandt's government as a policy of reconciliation and an attempt to normalize relations with the countries of the Eastern bloc.Focusing on the decision-making processes, both within the German domestic political system as well as within the international context, this study offers a new interpretation of the shift from confrontational to détente politics at this time, arguing that the Moscow Treaty was the product of various interrelated domestic and external factors.As Dannenberg shows, the change of government to a Social-Liberal coalition was the first important precondition for Ostpolitik, while the speedy conclusion of the Moscow Treaty owed much to the high degree of secrecy and centralization that characterized Brandt's policy-making and that of his small coterie of advisors. However, Brandt's predominance in the decision-making process does not mean that he alone determined the direction of policy. His room for manoeuvre was, amongst other things,constrained by his coalition's narrow parliamentary majority as well as the Western Allies' special rights. On the other hand, German-Soviet trade expansion, public opinion, and the emerging international interest in détente in the mid-1960s were crucial factors favouring Ostpolitik.It was in this configuration of circumstances that Brandt placed himself at the forefront of the movement towards détente between East and West by introducing his bold diplomatic design - one that had the reunification of Germany as its ultimate goal.

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject History of Europe - Newer History, European Unification, grade: B, Vrije University Brussel (Vesalius College), language: English, abstract: The rising threat of a nuclear war The conflict between the two superpowers eventually emerging after the second World War, brought the world on the verge of a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile crisis 1962. During these five days between 22.-27. 10. 1962 the leaders of the two blocks realised the danger of aggressive policies and established a direct phone line between the headquarters in Washington DC and the Kremlin in Moscow. The position of Germany during the beginning of the Cold War Since the Cold War had its origins in the destruction of the German “Drittes Reich” (Engl. “Third Reich”) Europe and especially Germany played a special role during the Cold War. Immediately after the occupation of the Allies the signs of the Potsdam conference signalised a separation of Germany. Eventually the creation of the German Federal Republic (BRD) in the Zones of France, Britain and the USA was responded by the Soviet military administration with a socialist German state, the German Democratic Republic (DDR). During the first years of the Cold War the gap between the two German states had widened up. The BRD became a member of NATO in 1955 while DDR was forced to join the Warsaw Pact in the same year. The separation of Germany was brought to a climax as Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union after Stalin, decided to set up a wall in Berlin on August 13th to separate the eastern part from the western part, in order to prevent East- German citizens from escaping into the West.

How do political parties affect foreign policy? This book answers this question by exploring the role of party politics as source of foreign policy change in liberal democracies. The book shifts the focus from individual political parties to party systems as the context in which parties’ ideologies receive precise content and their preferences are formed. The central claim is that foreign policy change arises from within transformed discursive contexts of party competition, when a new language of politics that constitutes anew parties’ self-understanding of what they stand for and compete over emerges in a party system. By comparing cases of contested foreign policy change, the book shows how such transformations in party competition determine whether and when international pressures on a state will translate into decisions to institute foreign policy change and what degree of change will be ultimately implemented. With a novel framework which bridges concepts of international relations and comparative politics, the book will be of interest to researchers and students in the areas of international relations theory, foreign policy analysis and comparative politics, and generally to anyone wanting to understand how and when parties, elections and voters contribute to international change.

I. The Global Context of German Foreign Policy. II. Fields of Activity (Ostpolitik, economisation of foreign policy, defence policy, German-American Relationship, Middle East, North-South, European policy). III. The Decision-Making Process (bureaucratic politics, parties, parliament, Constitutional Court). IV. Thematic Problem Areas (legitimacy, political integration, Germany's role in world politics, controversial political concepts: détente, «the nation», the second foundation of the state?; innovation and parliamentary majorities; personalistic approach; political generations; political geography; political steering.) V. An Apparaisal (turning-point in the history of West Germany's foreign relations?; historical cycles; «normal» foreign policy?; Germany's image, self perception.)

Covering German foreign policy since the end of World War II, this book explores Germany's recovery from wartime defeat and destruction. Through a chronological series of case studies, it offers a document-based account of 60 years of German policymaking.

The book traces the development of Germany from the Kaiser’s Reich in the 1870s to the reunited democratic state led by Helmut Kohl in the 1990s. The author begins by countering the popular view of Germany before 1914 as irredeemably reactionary, and after assessing Germany’s part in the First World War, he outlines the rise and fall of the Weimar Republic. The 12 years of Hitler’s destructive experiment are presented in a balanced way as part of the overall development of the country. Germany in defeat is then discussed, as is heer rebirth under Four Power occupation. The last chapters explore the two separate German states and the events leading up to the restoration of German unity.

Following the defeat of the Third Reich in 1945, Germany has experienced recurring turmoil and reinvention. In this ambitious book, Michael Gehler explores the political path Germany has taken since the Yalta Conference, observing the different Germanies against the background of the Cold War, European integration, and international relations. Written from an independent perspective, it provides a valuable assessment of our own times, as he shows how the three Germanies (Bonn, Pankow, and today’s “Berlin Republic”) sought to establish governments that could create stable states.