Mary Elise Sarotte

Andreas Rödder

Frédéric Bozo

This book provides a multinational history of German reunification based on empirical work by leading scholars. The reunification of Germany in 1989-90 was one of the most unexpected and momentous events of the twentieth century. Embedded within the wider process of the end of the Cold War, it contributed decisively to the dramatic changes that followed: the end of the division of Europe, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the origins of NATO’s eastward expansion and, not least, the creation of the European Union. Based on the wealth of evidence that has become available from many countries involved, and relying on the most recent historiography, this collection takes into account the complex interaction of multinational processes that were instrumental in shaping German reunification in the pivotal years 1989-90. The volume brings together renowned international scholars whose recent works, based on their research in multiple languages and sources, have contributed significantly to the history of the end of the Cold War and of German reunification. The resulting volume represents an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of a significant chapter in recent history. This book will be of much interest to students of German politics, Cold war history, international and multinational history and IR in general.

A Multinational History

German Reunification

How the political events of 1989 shaped Europe after the Cold War 1989 explores the momentous events following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the effects they have had on our world ever since. Based on documents, interviews, and television broadcasts from Washington, London, Paris, Bonn, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, and a dozen other locations, 1989 describes how Germany unified, NATO expansion began, and Russia got left on the periphery of the new Europe. This updated edition contains a new afterword with the most recent evidence on the 1990 origins of NATO's post-Cold War expansion.

The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe - Updated Edition

1989

On the night of November 9, 1989, massive crowds surged toward the Berlin Wall, drawn by an announcement that caught the world by surprise: East Germans could now move freely to the West. The Wall -- infamous symbol of divided Cold War Europe -- seemed to be falling. But the opening of the gates that night was not planned by the East German ruling regime -- nor was it the result of a bargain between either Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It was an accident. In The Collapse, prize-winning historian Mary Elise Sarotte reveals how a perfect storm of decisions made by daring underground revolutionaries, disgruntled Stasi officers, and dictatorial party bosses sparked an unexpected series of events culminating in the chaotic fall of the Wall. With a novelist's eye for character and detail, she brings to vivid life a story that sweeps across Budapest, Prague, Dresden, and Leipzig and up to the armed checkpoints in Berlin. We meet the revolutionaries Roland Jahn, Aram Radomski, and Siggi Schefke, risking it all to smuggle the truth across the Iron Curtain; the hapless Politburo member GüSchabowski, mistakenly suggesting that the Wall is open to a press conference full of foreign journalists, including NBC's Tom Brokaw; and Stasi officer Harald Jär, holding the fort at the crucial border crossing that night. Soon, Brokaw starts broadcasting live from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, where the crowds are exulting in the euphoria of newfound freedom -- and the dictators are plotting to restore control. Drawing on new archival sources and dozens of interviews, The Collapse offers the definitive account of the night that brought down the Berlin Wall.

Mary Elise Sarotte

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