Victory in Europe?: Britain and Germany since 1945

by Lee; Sabine

• ISBN13: 9780582294837
• ISBN10: 0582294835
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-07-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

With the debate about Europe constantly in the headlines, this examination of the important and tricky post-war relationship between German and Britain compares their different roles, outlook and development.  In the wake of a devastated continent, this relationship has been one of the central axes of the development of post-war Europe and crucial in terms of recent British history. Sabine Lee considers broad issues such as the comparative senses of national identity, destiny and direction, and the respective roles of Germany and Britain in Europe and in the world community at large. With Germany now reunited and at the head of the new Europe, and Britain in the process of devolution and struggling to retain the special relationship with the United States, this is an important and topical book.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xi
List of Tables	xvii
Abbreviations	xviii
Glossary	xx
Victory in Europe? Britain and Germany since 1945	1	(5)
1945-1949: Victor and vanquished	6	(38)
Britain and Germany after 1945	6	(5)
The victor	11	(2)
Dealing with the vanquished	13	(7)
The evolving Cold War: the division of Germany and Britain's Overstretch	20	(6)
Reconstruction in the Western zones	26	(18)
1949-1955: Power and sovereignty	44	(26)
Adenauer's Kanzlerdemokratie	46	(4)
Britain's policies vis-a-vis Germany and Europe	50	(3)
European defence	53	(11)
Germany's ascent - Britain's decline?	64	(6)
1955-1963: Europe or not Europe?	70	(27)
Normal relations? Politics and perceptions	70	(8)
European cooperation and integration	78	(6)
European security: the second Berlin crisis	84	(6)
Britain's first EEC application: European cooperation and integration - reprise	90	(7)
1963-1969/70: Burying the hatchet: West- and Ostpolitik in Europe	97	(27)
Britain under Home and Wilson	99	(6)
Germany under Erhard and Kiesinger	105	(8)
Anglo-German Relations in the European and global context	113	(5)
Europe and the international community	118	(6)
1969-1974: Detente in Europe	124	(24)
From Grand Coalition to social-liberal government: domestic and external reforms	125	(9)
Reorientation: Britain's relations with the United States and Europe	134	(4)
Global economic crises	138	(3)
Fighting the domestic and international fronts	141	(7)
1974-1979: Backtracking?	148	(25)
Responses to the economic crisis	150	(9)
Renegotiating treaty relationships	159	(5)
Domestic troubles: terrorism	164	(3)
Anglo-German relations: partners with a sense of common purpose?	167	(6)
1979-1989: Cold War and beyond	173	(22)
External and internal challenges: the Schmidt government during the second Cold War	173	(5)
Thatcher's revolution	178	(4)
The European house: East and West	182	(13)
1989-1991: Friend or foe? Britain and German unification	195	(16)
The crumbling of the Berlin Wall	195	(4)
Arguments on the road to unification	199	(12)
1991-1997/8: Growing together - growing apart: Germany, Britain and Europe	211	(17)
Uniting Germany: economic and social costs of fulfilling national aspirations	211	(4)
Britain, Germany and Europe	215	(10)
Into the new millennium	225	(3)
Epilogue: Whose victory in Europe?	228	(10)
Tables	238	(3)
Maps	241	(3)
Biographies	244	(7)
Office holders	251	(2)
Bibliography	253	(26)
Index	279