Suchergebnisse

A review essay on books by (1) Simon Bulmer, Charlie Jeffery, & William E. Patterson, Germany's European Diplomacy: Shaping the Regional Milieu (Manchester & New York: Manchester U Press, 2000); (2) Daniele Conversi, German-Bashing and the Breakup of Yugoslavia (Seattle: U Washington, 1998); & (3) Randall E. Newnham, Poland and Germany, 1989-1991: The Role of Economic Factors in Foreign Policy (Seattle: U Washington, 2000). These changes share a common theme: Germany's European policy. Many of Europe's policymakers have maintained an anti-German position, & any unilateral German initiatives are seen as a maneuver to reestablish German dominance. Newnham argues that Poland & Germany's relationship can & should be emulated by other countries. Conversi uses the case of Germany's relationship with Croatia & Slovenia, & the Yugoslavia situation, to explore the still-prevalent existence of Germanophobia. Bulmer, Jeffrey, & Paterson focus on the influence that Germany has on the EU integration process, & on Germany's relationship with the EU generally. Each of the works makes a significant contribution. K. A. Larsen

In 1919, Polish nationalist forces led by Josef Pilsudski succeeded in re-establishing an independent Polish state. Poland had disappeared from the map of Europe in 1794 following the third partition. It had been devoured by its traditional enemies; Prussia, Austria and Russia. Historically, Poland had been a state without fixed borders, and via a combination of changing dynastic alliances and a pattern of eastward migration, from the twelfth century formerly Slav areas east of the rivers Oder and Neisse became progressively germanicized. By 1921, following the end of World War I, several peace conferences, and after a series of referenda in disputed (former) German areas and a series of wars with all of its neighbors, including an especially successfully prosecuted war against the embryonic Soviet Union, the new state had managed to become a state which incorporated virtually all ethnic Poles. However, in addition to incorporating the overwhelming majority of ethnic Poles, the borders of the new Polish state also included huge numbers of other ethnic, religious and national groups.