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The Ambivalent Alliance : Konrad Adenauer, the CDU/CSU, and the West, 1949-1966 / Ronald J. Granieri.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Monographs in German History ; 9Publisher: New York ; Oxford : Berghahn Books, [2003]Copyright date: ©2003Description: 1 online resource (288 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781571814920
  • 9781782389699
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 943.087092 23
LOC classification:
  • DD259.5 .G73 2004
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION: KONRAD ADENAUER AND THE PARADOX OF WESTBINDUNG -- Chapter 1 THE CHANCELLOR AND HIS ALLIES, 1949–1953 -- Chapter 2 SOVEREIGNTY AND ITS DISCONTENTS, 1953–1957 -- Chapter 3 ADRIFT IN A WIDER WORLD, 1958–1961 -- Chapter 4 A PARIS-BONN AXIS? 1961–1963 -- Chapter 5 THE END OF THE ADENAUER ERA, 1963–1966 -- CONCLUSION: WHOSE WEST IS BEST? -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX
Summary: Whenever asked to name his most significant accomplishment as West Germany's first Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer would invariably reply: "The alliance with the free West." Scholars have echoed his assessment, citing the Federal Republic of Germany's successful integration into the American-led West (Westbindung) as the key to its postwar economic and political recovery. Behind this simple success story, however,lies a much more complicated history: Adenauer and the CDU/CSU remained ambivalent about the ultimate relationship between Europe, Germany, and the United States within the West, torn between visions of Continental European integration based on Franco-German reconciliation and of an Atlantic community linking Europe and the "Anglo-Saxons." These differences eventually erupted into a damaging public conflict between "Atlanticists" and "Gaullists," which colored Adenauer's last years and, after his retirement in 1963, led directly to the failure of his successor, Ludwig Erhard. The opening of various personal and party archives over the past few years has now made the entire Adenauer Era accessible for historians. As one of the first efforts to use that material to re-examine existing conventional wisdom about the period, this book traces the roles of Adenauer and the CDU/CSU in shaping Westbindung. Adenauer emerges as a skilled and resourceful (if also mistrustful and devious) politician, and as a distinctly German statesman, maneuvering between allies and adversaries to shape both the Western community and the German role in it, leaving a legacy that still influences contemporary German-American and European-American relations.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781782389699

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION: KONRAD ADENAUER AND THE PARADOX OF WESTBINDUNG -- Chapter 1 THE CHANCELLOR AND HIS ALLIES, 1949–1953 -- Chapter 2 SOVEREIGNTY AND ITS DISCONTENTS, 1953–1957 -- Chapter 3 ADRIFT IN A WIDER WORLD, 1958–1961 -- Chapter 4 A PARIS-BONN AXIS? 1961–1963 -- Chapter 5 THE END OF THE ADENAUER ERA, 1963–1966 -- CONCLUSION: WHOSE WEST IS BEST? -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX

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Whenever asked to name his most significant accomplishment as West Germany's first Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer would invariably reply: "The alliance with the free West." Scholars have echoed his assessment, citing the Federal Republic of Germany's successful integration into the American-led West (Westbindung) as the key to its postwar economic and political recovery. Behind this simple success story, however,lies a much more complicated history: Adenauer and the CDU/CSU remained ambivalent about the ultimate relationship between Europe, Germany, and the United States within the West, torn between visions of Continental European integration based on Franco-German reconciliation and of an Atlantic community linking Europe and the "Anglo-Saxons." These differences eventually erupted into a damaging public conflict between "Atlanticists" and "Gaullists," which colored Adenauer's last years and, after his retirement in 1963, led directly to the failure of his successor, Ludwig Erhard. The opening of various personal and party archives over the past few years has now made the entire Adenauer Era accessible for historians. As one of the first efforts to use that material to re-examine existing conventional wisdom about the period, this book traces the roles of Adenauer and the CDU/CSU in shaping Westbindung. Adenauer emerges as a skilled and resourceful (if also mistrustful and devious) politician, and as a distinctly German statesman, maneuvering between allies and adversaries to shape both the Western community and the German role in it, leaving a legacy that still influences contemporary German-American and European-American relations.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 25. Jun 2024)