scholarly journals The Origin of German-American Relations as a Partnership of Unequal Parties

2015 ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
E. S. Leonov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
German Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
American Military ◽  
Postwar Germany ◽  
German Nation ◽  
Nuclear Component ◽  
Experimental Project ◽  
Post War

Abstract: Despite the high technological effectiveness of today’s German economy which serves as the «engine» of Europe and the core of the European integration processes, Germany, however, possesses a limited foreign policy leverage in the modern international relations. Gradual restriction of the sovereignty of Germany began during the post-war period due to the strengthening of the European track of U.S. foreign policy. For instance, at this stage Washington takes the responsibility on restoration of the German economic welfare, filling of legal vacuum in West Germany and also initiates cultural and ideological expansion. In the latter case it was an important role played by the American course on the formation of the renewed German nation by means of work with the German youth and the control over the sphere of education. In fact, at the end of the war US authorities started in West Germany experimental project from scratch, since there were no state institutions in postwar Germany in principle. At the same time, German foreign policy takes shape in the 1950s in the spirit of «Atlantic solidarity» as a result of falling into the trap of Euro-Atlantic partnership. Hopes of attainment of foreign policy independence as a result of German reunification did not come true - the United States haven’t yet set Germany free from the sphere of its geopolitical influence. American military forces with nuclear component continue to be based within the territory of Germany. In addition, in the 1990s. Germany finds itself in even deeper trade, investment and financial bondage. The article analyzes the origin of German full-scale dependence on U.S. foreign policy.

German Question, 1945–1990, in Anglo-American Historiography: Key Aspects of the Problem Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Iryna Kaviaka
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
German Question ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Balanced Model ◽  
Post War ◽  
Key Aspects

Understanding and, after the unification of Germany in 1990, rethinking the process of evolution of the German Question, in particular its main components, is an important scholarly task. The origins of the modern power of Germany, its desire to establish itself as a world power, were formed in 1945–1990 with the active participation of the United States and Great Britain. Therefore, the assessment of the development of the German Question by researchers from these countries is important for its understanding. The study of the problem contributes to a comprehensive analysis of the post-war international policy of Great Britain and the United States as well as their modern relations with the FRG. Special attention to the German Question in the publications of the United Kingdom and the United States was shown at the stages of its qualitative transformation: the creation of the FRG, its rearmament, the implementation of a new Eastern policy, as well as the unification of Germany. Each of these events required a prompt response from the academic and expert community and the development of a balanced model of foreign policy response. Anglo-American historiography of the German question has not previously been the object of a special study by Russian historians. The purpose of this article is to analyze the main aspects of the German problem study in the works of British and American researchers. The article identifies four key aspects of the German question, around which the study of the problem in Great Britain and the United States was concentrated. The historiographic core consists of the works devoted to the issues of denazification, West Germany rearmament, Ostpolitik, as well as the unification of Germany and its consequences. Each aspect study was of particular importance and relevance for determining the further foreign policy strategy of the Western countries in Europe, mainly in relation to the FRG and USSR. Changes in approaches to evaluation of the aspects during the post-war period are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to identifying and studying stable geopolitical models that accompanied the perception of the German question by academic and expert communities of Great Britain and the United States: the concepts of “Finlandization” and “Mitteleuropa”, as well as the “Rapallo complex”.

Anglo-american policy in Greece (1946-50)

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spero Simeon Zachary Paravantes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Current Financial Crisis ◽  
Post War

While trying to understand and explain the origins and dynamics of Anglo-American foreign policy in the pre and early years of the Cold War, the role thatperception played in the design and implementation of foreign policy became acentral focus. From this point came the realization of a general lack of emphasisand research into the ways in which the British government managed to convincethe United States government to assume support for worldwide British strategicobjectives. How this support was achieved is the central theme of this dissertation.This work attempts to provide a new analysis of the role that the British played in the dramatic shift in American foreign policy from 1946 to 1950. Toachieve this shift (which also included support of British strategic interests in theEastern Mediterranean) this dissertation argues that the British used Greece, first asa way to draw the United States further into European affairs, and then as a way toanchor the United States in Europe, achieving a guarantee of security of theEastern Mediterranean and of Western Europe.To support these hypotheses, this work uses mainly the British andAmerican documents relating to Greece from 1946 to 1950 in an attempt to clearlyexplain how these nations made and implemented policy towards Greece duringthis crucial period in history. In so doing it also tries to explain how Americanforeign policy in general changed from its pre-war focus on non-intervention, to the American foreign policy to which the world has become accustomed since 1950. To answer these questions, I, like the occupying (and later intervening)powers did, must use Greece as an example. In this, I hope that I may be forgivensince unlike them, I intend not to make of it one. My objectives for doing so lie notin justifying policy, but rather in explaining it. This study would appear to havespecial relevance now, not only for the current financial crisis which has placedGreece once again in world headlines, but also for the legacy of the Second WorldWar and the post-war strife the country experienced which is still playing out todaywith examples like the Distomo massacre, German war reparations and on-goingsocial, academic and political strife over the legacy of the Greek Civil War.

The Soviet Union and World Peace

1946 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 456-474
Author(s):  
N. S. Timasheff
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
World Peace ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Post War

On the two victory days, military action on the fronts stopped. But peace did not return, nor does anyone know when it will. Peace is not simply absence of military .ction. It is a state of international relations corresponding to “periods of normalcy” in the internal affairs of a nation. Peace exists, when these relations are dominated by good will, mutual understanding and friendly cooperation.The post-war world longs for peace. But there is no peace because, among the sovereign states, there is one which acts against peace. This is the Soviet Union. Is it, however, certain that the foreign policy of the Soviets is aggressive? Is it not true that, in Moscow, aggressiveness is ascribed to the United States and to the alleged Western bloc headed by it?In March, 1946, Professor E. Tarle, an authoritative spokesman of the Soviet government, placed in opposition “the old imperialistic concept of international relations” practiced by London and Washington and “the Soviet conception which is based on respect for the rights of the peoples and their real independence.”

Brazilian Foreign Policy and the Dominican Crisis: The Impact of History and Events

1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-77
Author(s):  
Ralph G. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Santo Domingo ◽  
American Military ◽  
The Impact ◽  
American Nation

On May 24, 1965, nearly a month after the first U. S. Marines landed in Santo Domingo, an inter-American military force under the command of a Brazilian general took over peacekeeping activities in the Dominican Republic. Although the first Brazilian contingent to arrive comprised only 300 troops, it later reached a total of 1,250, the largest contribution by a single Latin American nation. While Brazil's participation in the Dominican crisis was a clear indication that the independent foreign policy of Quadros and Goulart had been discarded in favor of a realignment once again with the United States, it also signified an abrupt departure from one of the basic tenets of Brazilian foreign policy—nonintervention. The case study of Brazil's role in the Dominican Republic in 1965 which follows provides a unique opportunity to examine the impact of traditional forces and contemporary events on Brazilian foreign policy at a critical juncture in that nation's history.

scholarly journals The Denazification of the Post-war Germany in the American Occupation Zone in 1945-1949

2018 ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Boiko ◽  
Oleksandr Ivanov
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
American Military ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
American Occupation ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Post War

As a result of the analysis of the documents of the American Military Administration, agreements, signed at the official governmental level by the representatives of the Allies, personal documents, articles of the German newspaper “Die Zeit” and sociological researches carried out by the scientific institutions, the authors of the article outline the main mechanisms, procedures, institutions for the implementation of the denazification and identify its advantages and disadvantages during the American occupation in 1945-1949. Denazification implemented in the American occupation zone did not remain ineffective. This process also had a shocking effect for the civilians, for it meant “social degradation and humiliation in the eyes of society”. If there was no internal purification of the former criminals, all reinterpreted individuals were now forced to outbrave “political moderation and restraint” and to accept new conditions. With the adoption of democracy “from above” during the transitional justice, there can be no unequivocal answer to the question whether the national socialist dictatorship in Germany could be regarded as successful. The United States of America quickly realized that the future of Germany would depend on both the announced denazification and the economic recovery. The American government approved the adoption of the Basic Law (Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany). In any case, the American policy toward Germany consistently advocated German unity and the integration of a prosperous and strong state, provided that it would become a constituent of a capitalist and democratic international system as a responsible party.

scholarly journals German Question in the Foreign Policy Strategy of the USA in the Second Half of the 1940s – 1980s

2020 ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Dmytro Lakishyk
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
German Question ◽  
The Usa

The article examines US policy towards West Germany after World War II, covering a historical span from the second half of the 1940s to the 1980s. It was US policy in Europe, and in West Germany in particular, that determined the dynamics and nature of US-German relations that arose on a long-term basis after the formation of Germany in September 1949. One of the peculiarities of US-German relations was the fact that both partners found themselves embroiled in a rapidly escalating international situation after 1945. The Cold War, which broke out after the seemingly inviolable Potsdam Accords, forced the United States and Germany to be on one side of the conflict. Despite the fact that both states were yesterday’s opponents and came out of the war with completely different, at that time, incomparable, statuses. A characteristic feature of US policy on the German question in the postwar years was its controversial evolution. The American leadership had neither a conceptual plan for development, nor a clear idea of Germany’s place in the world, nor an idea of how to plan the country’s future. However, the deterioration of relations between the USA and the USSR and the birth of the two blocs forced the US government to resort to economic revival (the Marshall Plan) and military-political consolidation of Western Europe and Germany (NATO creation). US policy toward Germany has been at the heart of its wider European policy. The United States favored a strong and united Western Europe over American hegemony, trying to prevent the spread of Soviet influence. Joint participation in the suppression of communism, however, could not prevent the periodic exacerbation of relations between the United States and Germany, and at the same time did not lead to an unconditional follow-up of the West Germans in the fairway of American foreign policy.

scholarly journals Economic and Political Reconstruction and Development of FRG in the Period after World War II

2021 ◽  
pp. 139-151
Author(s):  
Mariusz Janik
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
Special Role ◽  
World War ◽  
Monetary Reform ◽  
Post War ◽  
War Production

In the first post-war years, the policy of the Western occupying powers towards Germany was aimed at preventing the economic revival of their former formidable competitor. As a result of these efforts, West Germany rebuilt its economy to the pre-war level later than Great Britain or France. The undoubted shift in the economic development of West Germany began in mid-1948. The impetus for the rapid growth of industrial production was the monetary reform carried out by the Western occupying powers, as well as the inflow of funds under the Marshall Plan. The monetary reform carried out in June 1948 favoured the strengthening of the financial market and was an incentive to invest. The influx of capital under the Marshall Plan had a similar impact on the West Germany’s economy during this period. The western zones of Germany played a special role in this plan. The United States, striving to strengthen its position in these zones as much as possible and use them as a strategic base (aimed, inter alia, against the communist bloc), provided West Germany with a sum of loans and subsidies significantly exceeding the amount of aid provided to other Western European countries. An extremely serious burden for the Western occupation zones was the influx of refugees from neighbouring areas (a total of about 10 million people) and the need to maintain the occupation troops, which directly led to a huge deficit in food resources. Agricultural production fell and ranged only from 66% to 75% of the pre-war production level.

scholarly journals The Real Years of Europe? U.S.-West European Relations during the Ford Administration

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 136-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Piers Ludlow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transatlantic Relations ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Ford Administration ◽  
Henry Kissinger ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Real ◽  
West European

Little has been written about transatlantic relations during the presidency of Gerald R. Ford. This article shows that, contrary to what most of the recent historiography suggests, the brief period under Ford did make an important difference in U.S.-West European relations. During the Ford administration, the whole architecture of transatlantic relations was rearranged, creating structures and features that endured well after Ford and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, had left office. In particular, the Ford years witnessed the emergence of a pattern of quadripartite consultation between the United States, Britain, France, and West Germany on foreign policy issues; and the advent of multilateral economic summitry. Each of these innovations transformed the pattern of U.S.-West European dialogue.

2. American exceptionalism

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Deudney ◽  
Jeffrey Meiser
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
American Identity ◽  
American Military ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Identity Formations

This chapter examines how America can be described as different and exceptional. The belief in American exceptionalism is based upon a number of core realities, including American military primacy, economic dynamism, and political diversity. Understanding understanding American exceptionalism is essential for understanding not only U.S. foreign policy but also major aspects of contemporary world politics. The chapter first considers the meaning of exceptionalism, the critics of American exceptionalism, and the roots of American success. It then discusses the liberalism that makes the United States exceptional, along with peculiar American identity formations of ethnicity, religion, and ‘race’. It also explores the role of American exceptionality across the five major epochs of American foreign policy, from the nation’s founding to the present. It concludes by reflecting on the significance of the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 to the story of American exceptionalism, difference, and peculiar Americanism.

Berlin and American Foreign Policy?

Worldview ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Thomas Molnar
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany

Even at such a relative side-show as the Communist-sponsored youth festival in Helsinki last July, the American delegation was able to note that two countries were the chosen targets of all propaganda: the United States and West Germany. The very consistency and crudity or the Soviet design is impressive: the old adage of divide et impera is practised with every available means, at times through brutal attack, at other times through the basest flattery. The goal at all times is to isolate the United States from Europe and isolate Germany within Europe.

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