Germany and United States Relations
Starting in 1945 with the defeat of Germany in World War Two and ending with the reunification of Germany in 1990, America has played a large role in the lives of the Germans. America was said to be Germany’s "protector, patron, and partner". Because of this, Germany has had a special relationship with America, and their relationship has evolved throughout the years during periods of struggle in Germany. This partnership of countries has dealt with many issues such as the results of World War Two, the Berlin Airlift, the Cold War, the developing West Germany and it’s struggle against "the East", the fall of the Berlin Wall (Die Mauer) in 1989, and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. It has well been many years since the most recent major event in Germany, reunification, but American troops are still stationed in Germany and Germany still maintains it’s close ties to the United States. However, recently, it has been questioned whether or not Germany will continue to keep it’s special relationship with the United States, perhaps they are drifting apart? All of the events in the history of Germany in which the Americans played a large role were the foundations in which Germany and the United States built their relationship. Now since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, will it all collapse?
Since 1945, approximately sixteen million American Soldiers and their families have been stationed in Germany. (Smyser,97) The Germans were never hostile towards the Americans, they were considered their friends and interacted with each other on a daily basis. After Germany’s defeat in World War Two, America occupied the defeated Germany and the Germans relied on Ame...
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...ries must accept that they are different and respect each other’s differences. With all the history of these two countries, I don’t think that they’ll ever lose the bond that they share. Clinton and Kohl have maintained a good relationship over the years. A new Chancellor of Germany has just been elected, Gerhard Schröder and many people have faith that he will keep up the good relations with the United States of America.
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Michael C. C. Adams' book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II, attempts to dispel the numerous misconceptions of the Second World War. As the title suggests, Americans came out of the war with a positive view of the preceding five turbulent years. This myth was born from several factors. Due to the overseas setting of both theaters of the war, intense government propaganda, Hollywood's glamorization, and widespread economic prosperity, Americans were largely sheltered form the brutal truth of World War II. Even to this day, the generation of World War II is viewed as being superior in morality and unity. The popular illusion held that 'there were no ethnic or gender problems, families were happy and united, and children worked hard in school and read a great number of books.' (115)
After World War II, many countries have serious problems in almost all areas, political, social and economic. At one of the winners of the major issues after the war were the German question and the reason for the conflict between them, and led to the division of Germany and Europe.
2 Charles S. Maier, ed., The Cold War in Europe: Era of a divided Continent (New York: Markus Wiener Publishing, Inc., 1991) 27.
It is the inquisitive nature of man that is primary driving force behind the Five W’s: Who, What, When, Where and Why. Though these are all meaningful pursuits in their own right, it is the purpose of this piece to shed light on the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union’s purpose, as well as the most likely causes for its manifestation. Also in question, but not out of the scope of discussion, is whether or not non-aggression pacts truly work to preserve peace, or whether they are unintentionally one of the primary fuel sources that combust to cause war amongst the nations involved. The realist holds the key to this argument. The realist perspective sits alone as being the most concise angle from which to view the events transpired. However, without understanding a bulk of the history, a moderately concise answer cannot be delivered to the reader.
In 1914, Europe was diving into two separate powers. One was Triple Entente composed of France, Russia and Britain. Other one was Triple Alliance, consists of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. (Pope 2) Each of the countries was connected with different treaties. The caused of European countries’ unstable political situation and threat of war was present. By arranging alliances with other governments, most countries found ways to protect themselves from assault. While Germany was becoming the center of the struggle, Europe made a spider web of tangled alliance that led most countries into two opposing powers. (Hamilton 16) In the late nineteenth century, the most surprising event in Europe was the birth of united state of Germany. Under the leadership of the Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, system of alliances was established to achieve peace in Europe. By 1890, Bismarck succeeded in having every major power into his alliance system...
Europeans and Americans have much more in common than most people think, making adjustments to life in a new country easier. Many customs are similar to practices in the United States. Germans have their own way of being German. Germany is a relatively small and densely populated country. Unlike the United States, which is a large, densely populated country.
Tone: Kirschbaum feels dispirited about the downfall of German-Americans and ponders how German America vanished abruptly during World War
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Despite the favourable outlook of Germans regarding reunification, its initial stages were unsuccessful in establishing a foundation which Germany could answer the people’s dreams of peace, prosperity and unity. The collapse of communism in Europe signified a change in people’s ways of thinking due to the fact East Germans had experienced suppression for forty years. Subsequent to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the March 1990 free elections, a positive outlook for the future and belief in freedom began to proliferate amongst East Germans. German Chancellor Kohl took an optimistic outlook for the future, and believed German free enterprise would create ‘economic miracles’ . This new method of thinking was growing within the East of Berlin before the problems of reunification that soon grew within society.
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...the invitation while congratulating Chancellor Merkel on creating a new government at the end of 2013. Merkel is not ready to let bygones be bygones, though. She has publicly stated that relations between the U.S. and Germany were heavily strained as Snowden flooded the internet with NSA documents. President Obama will need to work fast to strengthen the bonds with Chancellor Merkel. The shift in Ukraine’s leadership, and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea means this is no time for the U.S. and Germany to be at odds with one another. For her part, Chancellor Merkel has taken a stand similar to Obama’s when it comes to Russia and Crimea. They both have agreed on sanctions against Russia. Merkel has even called on all of the European countries to make sure Russia knows they all stand united, while at the same time leaving the lines of communication open.