Research Catalog

The end of the Cold War? : Bush, Kohl, Gorbachev, and the reunification of Germany

Title

The end of the Cold War? : Bush, Kohl, Gorbachev, and the reunification of Germany / Alexander von Plato ; translated by Edith Burley.

Author

Plato, Alexander von

Publication

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

Item details
Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 15-5432	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description

xv, 439 pages; 24 cm

Summary

"There is by now a very familiar received narrative of German reunification, one that began to coalesce immediately upon the fall of the Berlin Wall. Even before the files of most of the state offices, the foreign ministers, and the secret services were opened, television productions, radios, and newspapers, began painting a picture of reunification and the end of the Cold War in which the people of the GDR, as part of a movement for citizens' rights, and with the support of the 'master strategist' Gorbachev, in a short time achieved its freedom and joined with West Germany to form a new republic with a bright future. The historical and contemporary truth is, of course, much more complex and elusive. This carefully researched history draws on archival sources as well as a wealth of new interviews with on-the-ground activists, political actors, international figures, and others to move beyond the narratives--both the German and American varieties--that have dominated the historical memory of reunification. In the process, it addresses some fascinating lingering questions from 1989: What led the Soviet side to agree to the reunification of Germany and the membership of a united Germany in NATO? Was it promoting, as a condition for German unity, military neutrality and an overall European security system as an alternative to the expansion of NATO? Was the government of the FRG subjected to pressure from the Soviet side to decide between unity and its ties to the West? Did the American side rule this out? And what strategies did the West and East European governments ultimately pursue?"--

Series Statement

Palgrave studies in oral history

Uniform Title

Palgrave studies in oral history.

Subjects

Genre/Form

History.

Note

Translated from the German.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

The beginnings -- Summer 1989 : Gorbachev in Bonn -- Gorbachev and the "Soviet Fatherhood" of the GDR -- Coincidence as helper : driving the activists -- 2+4, 4+2, or 33+2? : the centers of power take over the handling of the international aspects of unity -- The elections in the GDR and their consequences -- What was national, and what was international, in the 2+4 negotiations? -- Signing of the contracts -- Summary and prospects for the future.

Call Number

JFE 15-5432

ISBN

9781137488701
1137488700

LCCN

2014036597

OCLC

891610604

Author

Plato, Alexander von, author.

Title

The end of the Cold War? : Bush, Kohl, Gorbachev, and the reunification of Germany / Alexander von Plato ; translated by Edith Burley.

Publisher

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Copyright Date

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Palgrave studies in oral history

Palgrave studies in oral history.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1945 - 1991

Research Call Number

JFE 15-5432

View in Legacy Catalog