Dealing with the Devil
East Germany, Détente, and Ostpolitik, 1969-1973
Published on 3. April 2003
328 pages
978-0-8078-6027-4 (ISBN)
Description
Using new archival sources — including previously secret documents of the East German secret police and Communist Party — M. E. Sarotte goes behind the scenes of Cold War Germany during the era of detente, as East and West tried negotiation instead of confrontation to settle their differences. In Dealing with the Devil, she explores the motives of the German Democratic Republic and its Soviet backers in responding to both the detente initiatives, or Ostpolitik, of West Germany and the foreign policy of the United States under President Nixon.
Sarotte focuses on both public and secret contacts between the two halves of the German nation during Brandt’s chancellorship, exposing the cynical artifices constructed by negotiators on both sides. Her analysis also details much of the superpower maneuvering in the era of detente, since German concerns were ever present in the minds of leaders in Washington and Moscow, and reveals the startling degree to which concern over China shaped European politics during this time. More generally, Dealing with the Devil presents an illuminating case study of how the relationship between center and periphery functioned in the Cold War Soviet empire.
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Book
04/2001
The University of North Carolina Press
€46.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Professor M. E. Sarotte teaches history at the University of Notre Dame.
Content
- Intro
- Preface
- Note on Usage
- Notes
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: Opposing Devils
- Notes
- 1. Setting the Stage in 1969
- Notes
- 2. Speaking Civilly Face-to-Face in the First Half of 1970
- Notes
- 3. Discovering the Perils of Bargaining in the Secon Half of 1970
- Notes
- 4. Expediting Negotiations in 1971
- Notes
- 5. Achieving Initial Aims in 1971-1972
- Notes
- 6. Sealing the Bargain in 1972-1973
- Notes
- Conclusion: The Costs of Dealing with the Devil
- Notes
- Note on Sources: The Bureaucracy of Evil
- Notes
- Notes
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
