Suchergebnisse

Undersøgelse af det tyske socialdemokrati SPD's holdning til og kamp mod fascisme og nationalsocialisme frem til 1933.

The downfall and disappearance of the German Democratic Republic, the GDR, and the unification in 1990 of the two German states into the Federal Republic of Germany, the FRG, marked the end of an era. Forty years of divided and non-simultaneous German history had been brought to an end, and the national or German question had at last been solved. Since 1990 German history has continued as the history of the Federal Republic. From this perspective 1990 marked not an absolute end, but the continuity of the Federal Republic and to some degree even the triumph of the political, economic and social system of the FRG, as the inhabitants of the socialist GDR, when they had the opportunity, voted for joining the successful and wealthy West German state. The end of divided history, however, has had another consequence. Even if the era of the GDR, because of the very favourable archive situation, attracted great attention among historians, the focus of historical research has turned more and more to the history of the Federal Republic in order to analyse and explain why the FRG ended as a success, while the socialist GDR failed in its ambitions and aspirations as an alternative Germany. History demonstrated that the GDR was no German option, although for some time it was a German reality.

This article introduces Scandinavia (or the Norden, as the region is sometimes called) and describes the position of the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, during the Cold War. The Cold War created a new political situation in the Nordic region, and to some degree divided the Nordic countries between East and West and also on the German question. The introduction analyses how the Nordic countries dealt with Germany – that is with the two German states, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and also describes the role of the Soviet Union and how it tried to influence the Nordic stance on the German question.

This article analyses Danish relations with the two German states. After 1949 Denmark found itself in a special position as the only West European country that was neighbour to both Germanys, having a land border with the Federal Republic and a sea border and important communications links with the German Democratic Republic. But Denmark recognised only the Federal Republic as the legitimate representative of Germany. Germany had historically constituted a serious problem for Denmark, and even in the after-war period Danish relations with its big neighbour were beset with problems. After 1955, when the minority question was settled and Denmark and the FRG were both members of NATO, relations with West Germany improved. Relations with the GDR were much more troubled because Denmark was to an extent forced to bow to West German interests, but could not ignore the existence of the East German neighbour state.

Andreas Malycha, Die SED. Geschichte ihrer Stalinisierung 1946–1953 (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2000), 541 pp., DM 98.00, ISBN 3-506-75331-2. Gareth Pritchard, The making of the GDR 1945–53. From antifascism to Stalinism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000), 244 pp., £45.00, ISBN 0-7190-5654-3. Mark Allinson, Politics and popular opinion in East Germany 1945–68 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000), 178 pp., £45.00, ISBN 0-7190-5554-7. Jonathan Grix, The Role of the Masses in the Collapse of the GDR (Basingstoke/New York: Macmillan/Palgrave, 2000), 213 pp., £45.00, ISBN 0-333-80098-2. Raymond G. Stokes, Constructing Socialism. Technology and Change in East Germany, 1945–1990 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000) 260 pp., $51.00, ISBN 0-8018-6391-0. Mary Fulbrook, German National Identity after the Holocaust (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999), 248pp., £14.99, ISBN 0-7456-1045-5. Detlef Nakath and Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, Die Häber-Protokolle. Schlaglichter der SED–Westpolitik 1973–1985 (Berlin: Karl Dietz Verlag, 1999), 480 pp., DM 48.00, ISBN 3-320-01968-6. Benno-Eide Siebs, Die Aussenpolitik der DDR 1976–1989. Strategien und Grenzen (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 1999), 461 pp., DM 128.00, ISBN 3-506-77510-3.

Die skandinavischen Länder registrierten frühzeitig, daß es in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone eine faktische Staatenbildung gab und sich damit die Frage stellte, ob man ihr Staatseigenschaft bescheinigen könnte und wie man mit ihr umgehen sollte. Für die Skandinavier existierte die DDR zwar nicht förmlich als Staat, aber es bestand ein ostdeutsches Gebiet mit konkreten staatlichen Prärogativen, die de facto anerkannt wurden. Denn imUnterschied von allen anderen westlichen Staaten waren für die beiden skandinavischen Länder Dänemark und Schweden, die die unmittelbaren westlichen Nachbarn der DDR ausmachten, ganz direkte und konkrete Interessen mit dem DDR-Gebiet verbunden. (pre)

"Building on the German cultural analyst Siegfried Kracauer, the Italian microhistorian Carlo Ginzburg took up the idea of working with various optical perspectives - from close ups to long shots. Employing this differentiated approach to cultural studies, the book suggests a fresh approach to the intertwining of political and religious agonies in the period 1914-1991. In fact, the long 'European civil war' - with two world wars and a cold war - marked a paradigm shift decisively changing Europe's attitudes and ways of relating to the world. What characterises Europe is that far from being formed by a one-track development of progress and emancipation, it has followed several tracks or fault lines, creating a number of dualities and contrasts in the European self-perception such as those between secularisation and religion, and between democratic and authoritarian forms of government. The present book seeks to clarify how the 'European civil war' arose, revolving, as it did, round the fundamental question: what should Europe be?"--