Universität zu Köln

Ostermann, Christian (2008). Cold War in Germany: The United States and East Germany, 1945-1953. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The Cold War over Germany was central to the history of the Cold War—its beginnings, its prolongation, and its end. One of the central elements in America’s success in fighting the Cold War was its approach towards Germany: the creation of an economically prosperous, politically stable democracy in Western Germany that was closely integrated with the West. To the Americans involved, the success of this project was far less certain as it may seem in hindsight: West Germany’s economic prosperity and political stability had humble beginnings. The Soviet threat exerted pressure that aggravated and distorted the problems of developing a viable democracy. Most importantly, the division of the country and of the former capital Berlin meant that the forces of German nationalism, while temporarily tamed, created an undercurrent of unease and unrest, a latent threat to the very foundations of the Federal Republic and the European settlement that the USSR could exploit. As a result, the United States developed a major psychological and economic warfare program to contain Soviet influence in Germany and combat Communist forces in the German Democratic Republic.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Translated title:	Title Language Kalter Krieg in Deutschland: Die Vereinigten Staaten und Ostdeutschland, 1945-1953 German
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Ostermann, Christian christian.ostermann@wilsoncenter.org UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-54455
Date:	25 March 2008
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 6: Geschichte
Subjects:	Geography and history
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Cold War English East Germany English Rollback English
Date of oral exam:	14 June 2006
Referee:	Name Academic Title Finzsch, Norbert Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/5445