France and the Reunification of Germany: Leadership in the Workshop of World Politics

ISBN-13: 9783030807658 / Angielski / Miękka / 2022

Tilo Schabert

Opis

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European bloc, the reunification of Germany was a major episode in the history of modern Europe — and one widely held to have been opposed by that country's centuries-old enemy, France. But while it has been previously believed that French President François Mitterrand played a negative role in events leading up to reunification, this book shows that Mitterrand's main concern was not the potential threat of an old nemesis but rather that a reunified Germany be firmly anchored in a unified Europe.Updated with a new introduction and other materials, the book blends primary research and interviews with key actors in France and Germany to take readers behind the scenes of world governments as a new Europe was formed. Tilo Schabert had unprecedented, exclusive access to French presidential archives and here focuses on French diplomacy not only to dispel the notion that Mitterrand was reluctant to accept reunification but also to show how successful he was in bringing it about.

Spis treści

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Political Science of History

Chapter 2: Thinking at the Élysée

Chapter 3: In the Workshop of World Politics

Chapter 4: World Politics, European Politics, and German Politics: "The Grand Strategy“

Chapter 5: German Politics, European Politics, and World Politics: “Everything that is not impossible is possible”

Chapter 6: The Problem of France's Economic Sovereignty

Chapter 7: The Question of Nuclear War

Chapter 8: Germany in France's Power Game

Chapter 9: The Reunification of Germany: In Quest of a Scenario

Chapter 10: The Voice of Europe

Chapter 11: Is Germany About To Break Loose?

Chapter 12: The "Inevitable“: The Pole Star of Unity shines over the Germans

Chapter 13: The Struggle with Chancellor Kohl: Mitterrand's Leadership

Chapter 14: Germany's Reunification is orchestrated by the Actors in the Workshop of World Politics

Chapter 15: Two Major Problems to be Resolved:  Germany's Membership in NATO and the Question of Borders

Chapter 16: France in the Two-Plus-Four Negotiations

Chapter 17: Epilogue

O autorze

Tilo Schabert is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Erlangen, Germany. He also taught at the Universities of Munich, Stanford, Bochum, Trier and Dresden, and was Research Fellow at Stanford, Harvard and the Australian National University, as well as Senior Heisenberg Research Fellow at the German Research Council. Schabert was Visiting Professor in Lisbon, Perpignan, Paris, Rennes, Salerno, Naples and Beijing.

Blurb

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European bloc, the reunification of Germany was a major episode in the history of modern Europe — and one widely held to have been opposed by that country's centuries-old enemy, France. But while it has been previously believed that French President François Mitterrand played a negative role in events leading up to reunification, this book shows that Mitterrand's main concern was not the potential threat of an old nemesis but rather that a reunified Germany be firmly anchored in a unified Europe.

Updated with a new introduction and other materials, the book blends primary research and interviews with key actors in France and Germany to take readers behind the scenes of world governments as a new Europe was formed. Tilo Schabert had unprecedented, exclusive access to French presidential archives and here focuses on French diplomacy not only to dispel the notion that Mitterrand was reluctant to accept reunification but also to show how successful he was in bringing it about.

Tilo Schabert is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Erlangen, Germany. He also taught at the Universities of Munich, Stanford, Bochum, Trier and Dresden, and was Research Fellow at Stanford, Harvard and the Australian National University, as well as Senior Heisenberg Research Fellow at the German Research Council. Schabert was Visiting Professor in Lisbon, Perpignan, Paris, Rennes, Salerno, Naples and Beijing.