Importance of the German Issue in the Cold War - Article Example

Importance of the German Issue in the Cold War Introduction This research work deals with the issues relating to the importance of Germany during the Cold War. The introduction deals with the background and context of the topic, whilst the analysis relates to the strategic goals of the US and USSR. The first paragraph describes the issues associated with the strategies adopted by the US and USSR during the Cold War and Germany’s role in this conflict. The second paragraph consists of issues relating to economic changes during the Cold War. The third paragraph describes the strategic importance of Germany after the Cold War. The fourth paragraph deals with the implications of Cold War on Germany’s political regime. The conclusion summarises the findings of the research work. This work claims that Germany was the central power in the Cold War. From the Cold War perspective, the Federal Republic of Germany enjoyed a far superior position, vis-à-vis the German Democratic Republic, during the 1950s. As such, West Germany was regarded as a natural and neutral option by several nations. On the other hand, East Germany was considered to be an extension of Stalinism.1 Germany had been regarded as a democratic island amidst the Communist sea. This was viewed with disgust and hatred by the Soviet Premier Khrushchev. Subsequent to the termination of World War II, Germany emerged as the primary centre of tension in the Cold War.2 The principal adversaries of the Cold War were the US and the erstwhile USSR. However, the strategies and decisions taken by these protagonists involved several other nations, and the issue of Germany was a major concern. As such, East Germany and West Germany were of great significance in perpetuating the Cold War, which effectively prevented these nations from unifying and becoming a single Germany. In the context of Germany, the Cold War transcended rivalry between the USSR and the US for dominance. From a historical perspective, this presents a narrative regarding the conflict between a Marxist and conservative course in German politics.3 Germany was central to the Cold War and a major player in world affairs. Paragraph 1 The Cold War made it clear that the German governments had been involuntarily drawn into the war between the US and the USSR. As a consequence, these states had to expend a substantial amount of resources.4 As such, during the Cold War, the two German governments became involved with the non-European world. These nations expended a large amount of economic resources and political energy, in order to procure a strategic advantage. Their foreign-policy interests were frequently of a provincial nature. As pointed out by Douglas Macdonald, the traditional view of the Cold War had persistently projected the view that this strife had resulted from the ideologically motivated expansionism of the USSR and the comparatively sluggish response of the US to these threats. 5 In fact, this political scientist contends that a sizeable amount of the newly available evidence confirms several traditional analytical assumptions about this expansionism. Specifically, it confirms the contention that there had been a system-wide Soviet bloc threat. Moreover, this bloc remained a cohesive whole that had been propelled to widen its influence by the ideological principles of Marxism-Leninism, which had been chiefly defined by the Soviets.6 As such, Germany had to experience the ideologies of the US, as well as the USSR. Paragraph 2 During the 1960s, Germany was witness to the political emergence of Social Democrats and CDU liberals, who preferred activism with respect to East Germany. This promoted the autonomy of German foreign policy. At that juncture, a gradual change occurred in the ideological milieu of the West and the East. One of the major manifestations of this change was the Ostpolitik.7 This development was also a manifestation of the diffusion of economic power from the US to Western Europe, especially Germany. Prior to its ignominious defeat in World War II, it was acknowledged, in some quarters that Germany’s power emerged from its control over the resources of Europe and its capacity to exploit them for its war efforts. In the aftermath of the defeat and in the victory of humanity, a bitter lesson was learned by the comity of nations. This was that no adversary was to be permitted to gain such domination over the resources and industrial might of Europe. Accordingly, during the first comprehensive strategy statement of the National Security Council, it was categorically declared that Soviet domination over the potential power of Eurasia, by any means whatsoever, would be politically and strategically unacceptable to the US.8 From several perspectives, this multipolar international economic system constituted the most profound change to transpire during the Cold War. This served to pave the way for the globalisation of the capitalist market, generated economic growth, and significantly diminished the manoeuvring space of the USSR and the anti-capitalist regimes of the developing world.9 Paragraph 3 As such, Germany has continued to remain the central power of the European Union (EU) and NATO’s gateway to Southern and Eastern Europe. After the Cold War came to an end, Germany’s importance, for the US, reduced considerably. With the reduction in its importance for US policy, Germany managed to extricate itself from the eye of the storm. Thus, it emerged as a large, stable and normal nation. The EU has been gaining in cohesiveness and economic prowess, and Germany no longer has the same crucial significance for the US that it had during the Cold War period. Furthermore, this applies to the other Member States of the EU, which are actively involved in multi-lateral consensus building and decision making.10 Nevertheless, the Council of Foreign Ministers, established at Potsdam, were unable to prepare a peace treaty that would determine the future of Germany, which had lost World War II. The entire Potsdam process came to a standstill, due to the failure of the fifth Council meeting. Ernest Bevin was able to present a convincing picture regarding the intentions of USSR. He advocated the construction of a strong Western Europe that could defeat the spread of communism.11 This made it amply clear that the Western zones of Germany would have to be subjected to a provisional government. In 1949 Germany was partitioned into two states. This was the most important element in the configuration of the world order, subsequent to World War II. Germany received the most comprehensive attention to be provided to a defeated country in contemporary history. This treatment was founded upon the acceptance that Germany occupied a crucial position in the political and economic order of Europe. In the 1930s. 12 Germany had contested the international order by adopting measures to emerge as a war economy. Paragraph 4 It had been made very clear that the Soviet Union had no interest in invading West Germany, during and after the Stalin regime. In addition, France, UK and the US ensured that the Federal Republic of Germany was made the occupant of the vacant German seat in the various international organisations and capitals of the nations that supported the US. As such, the US, UK and France had made it a prestige issue to prevent the German Democratic Republic from accessing these institutions. The failure of USSR to provide adequate support for the SED regime in the 1950s, served to provide a major advantage to the Federal Republic of Germany. By the year 1955, the USSR lost interest in achieving the unification of Germany. Subsequently, the Soviets limited their intervention to insisting upon a two-state solution to the German Issue, wherein the German Democratic Republic was to have the same status as the Federal Republic of Germany at the international level. 13 Conclusion The conflict between the US and the USSR involved East Berlin and Bonn on a frequent basis. This conflict developed intense rivalry between these two regimes, and induced them to make their presence felt to a much greater extent in the developing nations than what they would otherwise have undertaken. These moves had major implications for the supporters of the Eastern and Western camps in such countries. As such, the Western Allies had first undertaken measures to isolate the German Democratic Republic. Due to Cold War, the world’s economic system underwent a major change involving tremendous growth. It can be claimed that, the progress of the Cold War had a direct impact upon the status of the German states in world affairs. The Cold War adversaries intended to establish their political ideologies in Germany. As such, East Germany was under the influence of USSR and West Germany was influenced by the US. Consequently, the German Government had to be involved with non -European nations. As a result of this, diffusion of economic power from western allies to Germany transpired. After the Cold War, Germany emerged as a stable and central power of the European Union, which is NATO’s gateway to Southern and Eastern Europe. Thus, it can be surmised that Germany was the central power and major player during the Cold War. Bibliography Childs D, 'Intelligence Gathering in Cold War Germany', Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 48, no. 3, 2013, pp. 617-624. Daurn AW, 'Historicizing the German Question: Toward an International History of the Cold War', Diplomatic History, vol. 29, no. 5, 2005, pp. 869-874. Deighton A, The Impossible Peace: Britain, the Division of Germany, and the Origins of the Cold War, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1990. Gray WG, Germany's Cold War: The Global Campaign to Isolate East Germany, 1949-1969, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 2003. Junker, D, P Gassert & W Mausbach, The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945-1990: A Handbook, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2004. Lewkowicz N, The Germany Question and the Origins of the Cold War, Ipoc Press, Milan, Italy, 2008. 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