
Burned Bridge
How East and West Germans Made the Iron Curtain
Edith Sheffer(Autor*in)
Oxford University Press Inc
Erschienen am 24. April 2014
Buch
Softcover
384 Seiten
978-0-19-931461-4 (ISBN)
Beschreibung
The building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 shocked the world. Ever since, the image of this impenetrable barrier between East and West, imposed by communism, has been a central symbol of the Cold War.
Based on vast research in untapped archival, oral, and private sources, Burned Bridge reveals the hidden origins of the Iron Curtain, presenting it in a startling new light. Historian Edith Sheffer's unprecedented, in-depth account focuses on Burned Bridge-the intersection between two sister cities, Sonneberg and Neustadt bei Coburg, Germany's largest divided population outside Berlin. Sheffer demonstrates that as Soviet and American forces occupied each city after the Second World War, townspeople who historically had much in common quickly formed opposing interests and identities. The border walled off irreconcilable realities: the differences of freedom and captivity, rich and poor, peace and bloodshed, and past and present. Sheffer describes how smuggling, kidnapping, rape, and killing in the early postwar years led citizens to demand greater border control on both sides--long before East Germany fortified its 1,393 kilometer border with West Germany. It was in fact the American military that built the first barriers at Burned Bridge, which preceded East Germany's borderland crackdown by many years. Indeed, Sheffer shows that the physical border between East and West was not simply imposed by Cold War superpowers, but was in some part an improvised outgrowth of an anxious postwar society.
Ultimately, a wall of the mind shaped the wall on the ground. East and West Germans became part of, and helped perpetuate, the barriers that divided them. From the end of World War II through two decades of reunification, Sheffer traces divisions at Burned Bridge with sharp insight and compassion, presenting a stunning portrait of the Cold War on a human scale.
Based on vast research in untapped archival, oral, and private sources, Burned Bridge reveals the hidden origins of the Iron Curtain, presenting it in a startling new light. Historian Edith Sheffer's unprecedented, in-depth account focuses on Burned Bridge-the intersection between two sister cities, Sonneberg and Neustadt bei Coburg, Germany's largest divided population outside Berlin. Sheffer demonstrates that as Soviet and American forces occupied each city after the Second World War, townspeople who historically had much in common quickly formed opposing interests and identities. The border walled off irreconcilable realities: the differences of freedom and captivity, rich and poor, peace and bloodshed, and past and present. Sheffer describes how smuggling, kidnapping, rape, and killing in the early postwar years led citizens to demand greater border control on both sides--long before East Germany fortified its 1,393 kilometer border with West Germany. It was in fact the American military that built the first barriers at Burned Bridge, which preceded East Germany's borderland crackdown by many years. Indeed, Sheffer shows that the physical border between East and West was not simply imposed by Cold War superpowers, but was in some part an improvised outgrowth of an anxious postwar society.
Ultimately, a wall of the mind shaped the wall on the ground. East and West Germans became part of, and helped perpetuate, the barriers that divided them. From the end of World War II through two decades of reunification, Sheffer traces divisions at Burned Bridge with sharp insight and compassion, presenting a stunning portrait of the Cold War on a human scale.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
A vast amount of research. * Military History Monthly *Weitere Details
Sprache
Englisch
Verlagsort
New York
USA
Illustrationen
34 halftones
Maße
Höhe: 234 mm
Breite: 156 mm
Dicke: 22 mm
Gewicht
646 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-931461-4 (9780199314614)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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Buch
11/2011
Oxford University Press
24,68 €
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E-Book
09/2011
1. Auflage
OUP eBook
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E-Book
09/2011
1. Auflage
OUP eBook
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Als Download verfügbar
Person
Edith Sheffer is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University.
Inhalt
Foreword by Peter Schneider ; Introduction ; Part One: Demarcation Line, 1945-1952 ; 1. Foundations: Burned Bridge ; 2. Insecurity: Border Mayhem ; 3. Inequality: Economic Divides ; 4. Kickoff: Political Skirmishing ; Part Two: "Living Wall," 1952-1961 ; 5. Shock: Border Closure and Deportation ; 6. Shift: Everyday Boundaries ; 7. Surveillance: Individual Controls ; Part Three: Iron Curtain, 1961-1989 ; 8. Home: Life in the Prohibited Zone ; 9. Fault Line: Life in the Fortifications ; 10. Disconnect: East-West Relations ; Epilogue: New Divides ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Appendices