The Economic Dimension of the East–West Conflict and the Role of Germany
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12269604 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dietmar Petzina (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-215 |
| Publication date | 1994-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary European History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0960-7773 • E-ISSN: 1469-2171 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0960777300000771 |
| OpenAlex | W2003333413 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
A survey of the economic problems in East–West relations during the era of the Cold War is of particular interest from the German perspective. First, no other Western industrial country played a comparable role in the economic relations with East European countries; and secondly, East–West trade, especially the economic contacts with the German Democratic Republic (GDR), became an outstanding feature of German Ostpolitik under the conditions of the divided country. It appears to be an acceptable proposition to say that this form of West Germany economic and trade policy was the equivalent of the militarily defined US policy towards the Soviet Union, in so far as the famous dictum of the former Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt, that the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was ‘an economic giant and a political dwarf only partly corresponded to reality. It therefore seems appropriate to discuss the economic dimension of the East–West conflict in the context of German interests and policies – not to the exclusion of all else, but with a certain priority
Cold war · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Eastern Bloc · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Federal republic · Geography · German · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Soviet union · West germany · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · European history and politics · Law
| Highly cited | No |
|---|