Division and Detente - by Eric Frey (Hardcover)

About the Book

This new work analyzes the relationship between alliance politics and East-West German relations. Considering inter-German relations to be an integral part of the larger political picture of European alliances, Division and Detente examines the prospects of German reunification and the problems of autonomous East-West detente in times of superpower tensions. The book also covers the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Polish crisis in 1980, and the effects of NATO's deployment of intermediate range missiles in Europe. Thorough and accessible, it is an authoritative resource for anyone interested in inter-German relations in particular or detente in general.

Book Synopsis

This new work analyzes the relationship between alliance politics and East-West German relations. Considering inter-German relations to be an integral part of the larger political picture of European alliances, Division and Detente examines the prospects of German reunification and the problems of autonomous East-West detente in times of superpower tensions. The book also covers the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Polish crisis in 1980, and the effects of NATO's deployment of intermediate range missiles in Europe. Thorough and accessible, it is an authoritative resource for anyone interested in inter-German relations in particular or detente in general.

Review Quotes

?A lucid account of German-German relations, a subject of great importance and murkiness. Frey argues persuasively that close relations between the two German states signal not the desire for--let alone the coming of--reunification, but a continuing political accommodation to the status quo. A useful, timely and astoundingly up-to-date analysis.?-Foreign Affairs

?Frey now a reporter for Associated Press-Dow Jones News Service in Frankfurt/Main, developed this well-crafted book from his senior thesis at Princeton. He presents a knowedgeable, carefully delineated, and factually dense account of relations between West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) against the background of European and East-West alliance relations. He chronicles events leading from Adenauer's hopes for the destabilization of the GDR to the 1972 Basic Treaty recognizing the division of Germany and the 1975 Helsinki accords ratifying the European status quo. But he mainly describes the partial continuance into the 1980s of an independent German-German detente, and an autonomous European detente, despite Poland and the US-Soviet new cold war. Principal themes are: the German rapprochement is antithetical to reunification but reassuring to the respective allies, and the FRG's fuller recognition of the GDR's diplomatic status and increasing GDR domestic legitimacy would help both the stability of the alliance and at the same time German, European, and interalliance detente or interdependence. Equal attention is given to the domestic politics, aims, motives, and alliance politics of both Germanies. For advanced European-studies undergraduates, graduate students, and specialists.?-Choice

"A lucid account of German-German relations, a subject of great importance and murkiness. Frey argues persuasively that close relations between the two German states signal not the desire for--let alone the coming of--reunification, but a continuing political accommodation to the status quo. A useful, timely and astoundingly up-to-date analysis."-Foreign Affairs

"Frey now a reporter for Associated Press-Dow Jones News Service in Frankfurt/Main, developed this well-crafted book from his senior thesis at Princeton. He presents a knowedgeable, carefully delineated, and factually dense account of relations between West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) against the background of European and East-West alliance relations. He chronicles events leading from Adenauer's hopes for the destabilization of the GDR to the 1972 Basic Treaty recognizing the division of Germany and the 1975 Helsinki accords ratifying the European status quo. But he mainly describes the partial continuance into the 1980s of an independent German-German detente, and an autonomous European detente, despite Poland and the US-Soviet new cold war. Principal themes are: the German rapprochement is antithetical to reunification but reassuring to the respective allies, and the FRG's fuller recognition of the GDR's diplomatic status and increasing GDR domestic legitimacy would help both the stability of the alliance and at the same time German, European, and interalliance detente or interdependence. Equal attention is given to the domestic politics, aims, motives, and alliance politics of both Germanies. For advanced European-studies undergraduates, graduate students, and specialists."-Choice