German Questions, American Answers

Abstract

More than thirty years after German unification, both the Germans and their neighbors continue to wrestle with the history of Cold War national division. Although the terms of the debate have shifted over the years, there is still much to learn about both the process of division and its longer-term impacts. Recent works such as Astrid Eckert’s 2019 book West Germany and the Iron Curtain: Economy, Culture & Environment in the Borderlands have broadened our understanding of German division by considering the environmental consequences of drawing a new border in the middle of a country. We are also moving (finally, one hopes) beyond Cold War-related efforts to blame one side or the other in search of a more complete understanding of what happened and why. German division was both overdetermined and contingent. One can see how difficult, if not impossible, it would have been for the United States and Soviet Union to agree on a common approach to Germany when both superpowers considered a stable and reliable German partner crucial to their deeply contrasting visions for the future of Europe. At the same time, however, the reluctance of either side to want to appear responsible for the final division created opportunities for political entrepreneurs on both sides to take steps that gave division its concrete shape. The goal of recent scholarship has been to understand those forces without feeling the need to re-litigate Cold War disputes.