Module description
After its total defeat in World War II, a divided Germany developed differing forms of socio-political organizations in an attempt to find a sustainable response to the challenges posed by modern industrial society. While the East experimented with state socialism, the West implemented a liberal democracy. Yet despite their political division, the two German states remained deeply interconnected through economic linkages, a shared cultural heritage, and similar ambitions to redefine their nationhood and global position. This seminar explores their special relationship against the backdrop of the global Cold War. Topics include political consolidation, East and West European integration, consumption and identity, the role of the cultural institutions, social movements and dissent, immigration and ethnic diversity, holocaust memory and foreign policy, the collapse of communism and reunification. It engages critically with the attempts of both German states to deal with their problematic history, and the way history was used to legitimize the different regimes. In addition, the course discusses the extent to which economic success formed the bedrock of political viability in both German states. Over the course of the semester, students will discuss primary sources and secondary historical accounts that trace Germany's evolution from a pawn in Soviet-American relations to a major player of European political and economic integration at the end of the Cold War. By studying Germany's increasing regional involvement in questions of European peace and socio-economic development, this class provides an alternative perspective to scholarly debates about the stability of the postwar order in Europe. We especially examine perspectives that measure political stability with the help of concepts of socio-cultural modernization and dependencies.
Assessment details
1000-word book review (15%), 2500-word essay (85%)
Educational aims & objectives
This module aims to:
- Examine the internal and external developments of Germany in a Cold War world
- Analyse key events and policies in both the FRG and GDR from Western/Eastern integration to Ostpolitik and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Consider the development of political parties and economic systems in both Germanies
- Examine the nature of the relations between the two German states in the context of Cold War Europe
- Relate changes and developments to the theoretical literature.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Analyse the reasons for the partition and reunification of Germany.
- Explain the political and economic systems as well as the culture in both the FRG and the GDR.
- Understand the forms of and limitations to protest and dissent in the Germanies.
- Analyse and explain the development of political parties and forms of government.
- Explain the influence of internal and external factors on political developments, in particular, the influence of the Cold War superpowers
Teaching pattern
Two hours per week
Suggested reading list
Preparatory reading
- Nicholls, Anthony J. The Bonn Republic: West German Democracy, 1945-90. London: Longmans, 1997.
- Fulbrook, Mary. Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949-1989. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Kettenacker, Lothar. Germany since 1945, Oxford,Oxford University Press, 1997.
- Banchoff, Thomas. The German Problem Transformed. Ann Arbor: Michigan University Press, 1999.
- Kleßmann, Christoph, Die doppelte Staatsgründung. Deutsche Geschichte 1945-55, 5th edn. Göttingen: Vandenhoek&Ruprecht, 1991.
- Kleßmann, Chistoph, Zwei Staaten, eine Nation. Deutsche Geschichte 1955-70, 2nd edn. Göttingen: Vandenhoek&Ruprecht, 1997.
- Pulzer, Peter, German Politics 1945-1995, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Schissler, Hanna, ed. The Miracle Years: A Cultural History of West Germany 1945 – 1968. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.
- Ross, C. The East German Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives in the Interpretation of the GDR. London: Arnold, 2002.