ABOUT THIS BOOK

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.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Michael Gehler is director of the Institute of History and the Jean Monnet Chair of Comparative European Contemporary History and Europe’s Integration at the University of Hildesheim.

REVIEWS

“The strength of Gehler’s Three Germanies is that it tells the stories of East and West Germany in parallel. . . . His description of how the two republics contributed to the division of Germany during the fluid early phase of the Cold War that ended with the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 is especially perceptive.”

— New Statesman, on the first edition

“The amount of political and economic information provided is prodigious. . . . The study’s extensive data will serve as a valuable reference source. . . . Gehler makes many valuable observations, and his summary chapter is an excellent overview of his detailed presentation. . . . This volume should not be overlooked. Recommended.”

— Choice, on the first edition

“This is a really superb overview of postwar German politics and political culture. . . . Gehler has brought together an impressive array of live historical debates about both the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as their successor state. Whilst historians with a current expertise are still likely to find stimulation, the book is invaluable to students as an introduction to German politics after 1945. . . . Three Germanies provides what might be described as a straight political history, but comes into its own when placing political change within its social and cultural context.”

— European Review of History, on the first edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Foreword

1. Occupation and the Road to Two Different German States

2. Partial Integration of the Federal Republic and the Externally and Internally, 1949–55

3. The Two German States: Bloc Building in Central Europe, 1949/55–61

4. Germany as Two States, 1961–72

5. ‘Change Through Rapprochement’: Détente and Normalization, 1972–9

6. New Confrontation, Disarmament and Erosion of the Defence Blocs, 1979–89

7. Return of the ‘German Question’ and the Unification of Germany, 1989–90

8. The Consequences and Burdens of Unity: Transformation, Stagnation and the End of the Kohl Era, 1990–98

9. The ‘Red-Green’ Coalition as a Half-way Experiment, 1998–2005

10. New Beginnings and Tradition: The Grand Coalition under Angela Merkel, 2005–9

11. From Europe’s Troubleshooter to the Continent’s Lame Duck: The Merkel Era and the Berlin Republic at a Crossroads

12. Three Different Republics: Bonn – Pankow – Berlin, Attempt at a Summary

Abbreviations

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Index

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