Book contents
- Frontmatter
- 1 “Ripping Holes in the Iron Curtain”: The Council on Foreign Relations and Germany, 1945–1950
- 2 U.S. Policy on a West German Constitution, 1947-1949
- 3 American Policy toward German Unification, 1949-1955
- 4 Marshall Plan and Currency Reform
- 5 American Policy toward Germany and the Integration of Europe, 1945-1955
- 6 From Morgenthau Plan to Schuman Plan: America and the Organization of Europe
- 7 Return to Normality: The United States and Ruhr Industry, 1949-1955
- 8 West German Agriculture and the European Recovery Program, 1948-1952
- 9 Science, Technology, and Reparations in Postwar Germany
- 10 American Deconcentration Policy in the Ruhr Coal Industry
- 11 Technology Transfer and the Emergence of the West German Petrochemical Industry, 1945-1955
- 12 The Free University of Berlin: A German Experiment in Higher Education, 1948–1961
- 13 HICOG and the Unions in West Germany: A Study of HICOG’s Labor Policy toward the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, 1949–1952
- 14 U.S. Military Occupation, Grass Roots Democracy, and Local German Government
- 15 German Democratization as Conservative Restabilization: The Impact of American Policy
- 16 America and the Rebuilding of Urban Germany
- 17 U.S. Policy toward German Veterans, 1945-1950
- 18 Grand Illusions: The United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the European Defense Community, 1950-1954
- 19 The Federal Republic of Germany as a “Battlefield” in American Nuclear Strategy, 1953-19
- 20 The Presence of American Troops in Germany and German-American Relations, 1949-1956
- 21 John J. McCloy and the Landsberg Cases
- 22 Sources in German Archives on the History of American Policy toward Germany, 1945-1955
- 23 U.S. High Commissioner for Germany and Related Records: Sources for the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949–1955, in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
- Bibliography
- Index
15 - German Democratization as Conservative Restabilization: The Impact of American Policy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
- Frontmatter
- 1 “Ripping Holes in the Iron Curtain”: The Council on Foreign Relations and Germany, 1945–1950
- 2 U.S. Policy on a West German Constitution, 1947-1949
- 3 American Policy toward German Unification, 1949-1955
- 4 Marshall Plan and Currency Reform
- 5 American Policy toward Germany and the Integration of Europe, 1945-1955
- 6 From Morgenthau Plan to Schuman Plan: America and the Organization of Europe
- 7 Return to Normality: The United States and Ruhr Industry, 1949-1955
- 8 West German Agriculture and the European Recovery Program, 1948-1952
- 9 Science, Technology, and Reparations in Postwar Germany
- 10 American Deconcentration Policy in the Ruhr Coal Industry
- 11 Technology Transfer and the Emergence of the West German Petrochemical Industry, 1945-1955
- 12 The Free University of Berlin: A German Experiment in Higher Education, 1948–1961
- 13 HICOG and the Unions in West Germany: A Study of HICOG’s Labor Policy toward the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, 1949–1952
- 14 U.S. Military Occupation, Grass Roots Democracy, and Local German Government
- 15 German Democratization as Conservative Restabilization: The Impact of American Policy
- 16 America and the Rebuilding of Urban Germany
- 17 U.S. Policy toward German Veterans, 1945-1950
- 18 Grand Illusions: The United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the European Defense Community, 1950-1954
- 19 The Federal Republic of Germany as a “Battlefield” in American Nuclear Strategy, 1953-19
- 20 The Presence of American Troops in Germany and German-American Relations, 1949-1956
- 21 John J. McCloy and the Landsberg Cases
- 22 Sources in German Archives on the History of American Policy toward Germany, 1945-1955
- 23 U.S. High Commissioner for Germany and Related Records: Sources for the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949–1955, in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
When the U.S. occupation troops arrived in Germany in 1945, they were clear about one thing: World peace and stability would return only if Germany was not only demilitarized and denazified, but permanently democratized. Today West Germany stands as one of the most stable and prosperous democracies in the world. Europe, if not the world, has enjoyed a longer period of peace in the last decades than ever before. Is this the result, perhaps the proudest achievement of American foreign policy in this century?
The question of the precise role of Americans in the democratization of Germany is still far from settled. There are three classic positions, which have been refined in various combinations over the years. The orthodox view that dominated in the postwar years and the Cold War was that the United States played a positive and decisive role in bringing democracy to Germany. Revisionists on both sides of the Atlantic have maintained since the late 1960s that the reverse was true, that Americans, intent on expanding U.S. capitalism, prevented or even consciously destroyed a strong German movement for a genuinely democratic society. Finally, disgruntled Americans have mused whether their efforts were not ultimately wasted. John Gimbel quotes the U.S. Military Government’s pessimistic report on the meager results of its grass-roots reorientation program, lamenting the “long uphill battle against the forces of tradition, political and social apathy, and post-war cynicism.”
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994
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