Inter‐German relations in historical perspective: The risks of biased hindsight

It is a mixed blessing to know that the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist in late 1989 and the German nation was reunified less than a year later. While scholars can now comment definitively on what made these events possible, they must fight the temptation to think deterministically about the past and to read German history as though it were destined to culminate in the outcomes of 1989 and 1990. In this essay on the risks of biased hindsight, the author considers three respects in which such historical reasoning may lead to distorted impressions of the 40‐year relationship between East and West Germany. In line with the non‐deterministic view of history that he espouses, he concludes by suggesting one way in which the revolutionary autumn of 1989 could have taken a dramatically different turn.     

The West German 68‐ers encounter the events of 1989

Why did the German left react negatively to the events in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in 1989/90? There are several reasons to be given: the problem the left has in dealing with nationalism, the acceptance on the part of the West German left of the GDR as a legitimate German state; the ambivalent attitude it has towards the United States, and its deeply entrenched ‘state‐fixation’. At the present time, the German left is engaged in soul‐searching discussions which show different lines of development, but its most urgent task is to desist trying to salvage anything of value from the ‘socialism’ practised by the GDR and eastern Europe.     

The politics of national‐populism: Ideology and policies of the German Republikaner party

In this article, the Republikaner party's ideology and policies are explored on the basis of programmes and other public statements. There will be an emphasis on economic policies and issues of national and ethnic identity. It will be argued that the Republikaner party is targeting a broader electoral coalition than its main competitors and predecessors on the extreme right. In its attempt to mobilise a broad and heterogeneous protest coalition and to attract voters beyond the narrow confines of traditional right‐wing extremism the party makes contradictory promises to various sectional groups without being able to integrate them into a consistent framework of economic policy. These contradictions are covered up by the party's radical nationalism, extreme xenophobia and populist propaganda.     

The uncertain future of US‐China relations

The coming months may be critical in determining whether it will be possible for the United States and China to forge a stable and productive relationship, says Harry Harding, Dean of the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University. Problems are mounting in several sensitive areas of the relationship: human rights, trade, and security, and there remain differences between the two countries over Taiwan and Korea that could bedevil their bilateral ties. Furthermore, American critics of China are resuming their attacks on the relationship, charging that engagement has failed either to narrow differences or to promote common objectives. Harding argues that the benefits of the US‐China relationship are so great, and the costs of failure so large, that the two countries should make every effort to maintain the momentum toward building a constructive strategic partnership.     

A turning point in the German EMU debate: The Baden‐Württemberg regional election of March 1996

In this article it is argued that the regional election in Baden‐Württemberg of March 1996 marked a crucial turning point in the German domestic debate on EMU. In its election campaign the SPD openly challenged the prevailing political consensus on European integration by proposing that monetary union should be postponed by at least five years. In contrast to prior expectations, the Social Democrats did not profit from their strategy but lost a considerable share of their vote. This article examines the motives behind the SPD leadership's decision in Baden‐Württemberg to make EMU an election issue, analyses the actual election campaign and assesses the significance of the election outcome for the future domestic debate on European monetary integration in Germany.     

Regime collapse in the peaceful East German revolution: The role of middle‐level officials

During the autumn of 1989, the Communist regime in East Germany lost its will to continue using repression to stay in power. Rather than in Berlin, peaceful dialogue with street demonstrators came in the regional capitals. The reason is that although the regime did collapse, it began collapsing in the regions and the leading initiatives were taken by surprisingly low‐ranking officials who no longer believed in their own legitimacy. After spreading from the periphery to the centre, regime collapse made possible not just the peacefulness of the revolution but also the rapidity of German reunification.     

China and swapo: The role of the people's republic in Namibia's liberation and post‐independence relations

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the People's Republic of China's relations with Namibia. Prior to liberation, China maintained cordial links with SWAPO, yet was constrained by the close ties the organisation had with Moscow and its allies. However, the absence of any alternative to SWAPO meant that China refrained from supporting any rival organisation to the Soviet‐backed movement, as it did in Zimbabwe or Angola, and the struggle for independence was largely devoid of the Sino‐Soviet dispute found elsewhere in Southern Africa liberation struggles. Upon independence, China was thus in a position where it sought to continue linkages with the SWAPO government, as part of its policy of bolstering itself internationally through the utilization of Third World support. Namibia for its part was eager for investment and economic development, and China has been seen as a useful country to do business with.     

The irreversibility of history: the case of the Ukrainian crisis (2013–2015)

Abstract

Today’s Ukraine figures as the land of irreconcilable differences, on the verge of disintegrating into different parts. Issues regarding nation-building processes, national identity types within the main ethnic communities, as well as regional political preferences have all become critical. Thus, this paper examines how enduring regional political preferences, embedded in a fragmented and porous national identity framework, have been serving as destabilizing factors in the eastern part of the country. The conclusions offer an understanding of the 2013–2015 crisis, while they can also be extrapolated to other regions of the ex-Soviet space.     

A widow's revenge: Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik,neo‐conservatism and the German federal election of 1994

In the course of the 1994 election campaign, Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik of the late 1960s and early 1970s became an issue. Brandt's widow Brigitte Seebacher‐Brandt attempted to rewrite the history of Ostpolitik and Brandt's role in German politics from a neo‐conservative point of view. She suggested that Herbert Wehner, the SPD ‘s former parliamentary leader, had been instrumental in forcing her husband's resignation in 1974, and, above all, may have been a spy. Seebacher‐Brandt alleged that Wehner actively collaborated with the East in shaping Ostpolitik. If this was so, Ostpolitik may have delayed German unification instead of contributing to it. Brandt's widow attempted to take revenge on the generation of 1968; the generation now largely in charge of the SPD. She accused them of still believing in their leftish anti‐national ideas and lacking enthusiasm for German unification. She has also never forgiven the SPD for not integrating her as ‘one of us’ when she married Willy Brandt. Wishing to rescue Brandt's reputation from her demolition of Ostpolitik she has attempted to depict him as a politician who was thinking along patriotic and national lines when he embarked upon Ostpolitik while downplaying his long‐standing left‐wing credentials.