Book contents
- Frontmatter
- POLITICS: Détente and Multipolarity: The Cold War and German-American Relations, 1968-1990
- SECURITY: German-American Security Relations, 1968-1990
- 1 A Limit to Solidarity-Germany, the United States, and the Vietnam War
- 2 NATO Strategy and the German-American Relationship
- 3 Differences on Arms Control in German-American Relations
- 4 The NATO Double-Track Decision, the INF Treaty, and the SNF Controversy - German-American Relations between Consensus and Conflict
- 5 The Shifting Military Balance in Central Europe
- 6 The Transfer of American Military Technology to Germany
- 7 German-American Intelligence Relations: An Ambivalent Partnership
- 8 No Unity Without Security: The Security Features of German Unification
- ECONOMICS: Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict: Economic Relations Between the United States and Germany, 1968-1990
- CULTURE: Culture as an Arena of Transatlantic Conflict
- SOCIETY: German-American Societal Relations in Three Dimensions, 1968-1990
- 1 “1968”: A Transatlantic Event and Its Consequences
- OUTLOOK: America, Germany, and the Atlantic Community After the Cold War
- Index
1 - A Limit to Solidarity-Germany, the United States, and the Vietnam War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
- Frontmatter
- POLITICS: Détente and Multipolarity: The Cold War and German-American Relations, 1968-1990
- SECURITY: German-American Security Relations, 1968-1990
- 1 A Limit to Solidarity-Germany, the United States, and the Vietnam War
- 2 NATO Strategy and the German-American Relationship
- 3 Differences on Arms Control in German-American Relations
- 4 The NATO Double-Track Decision, the INF Treaty, and the SNF Controversy - German-American Relations between Consensus and Conflict
- 5 The Shifting Military Balance in Central Europe
- 6 The Transfer of American Military Technology to Germany
- 7 German-American Intelligence Relations: An Ambivalent Partnership
- 8 No Unity Without Security: The Security Features of German Unification
- ECONOMICS: Cooperation, Competition, and Conflict: Economic Relations Between the United States and Germany, 1968-1990
- CULTURE: Culture as an Arena of Transatlantic Conflict
- SOCIETY: German-American Societal Relations in Three Dimensions, 1968-1990
- 1 “1968”: A Transatlantic Event and Its Consequences
- OUTLOOK: America, Germany, and the Atlantic Community After the Cold War
- Index
Summary
When President Lyndon Johnson made the ominous decision to commit combat troops to Vietnam in 1965, he and his foreign policy advisers could not anticipate the deleterious effects this move would have on the United States. At home, the war brought social unrest and economic decline. Overseas, it weakened America's global leadership and strained relations with its allies. One of America's European allies most directly affected by the war was Germany. Germany's close relationship with the United States survived the pressures of the war; still, the conflict forced both parties to reassess certain facets of that relationship. Publicly, Germany resolutely backed America's efforts in Vietnam, but expressions of solidarity never translated into military assistance of any kind. As the war wore on, it compelled Washington to reevaluate its military commitments in Europe and revived long-standing demands that Germany contribute more to its own defenses or accept a reduced American presence. This struck at the very heart of Germany's, and Europe's, security. The war, furthermore, fed political and social tensions within German society, resulting in anti-American feelings that undermined America's stature as the moral leader of the free world.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945–1990A Handbook, pp. 126 - 132Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004