Germany and the Origins of the Cold War

• Wilfried Loth’s paradoxical thesis : The Germans are responsible for Germany’s division, if not for the Cold War.

+++ A German historian’s thesis?

+++ a historiographical reconstruction?

+++ Taking into account the complex interactions inside the Communist/the Capitalist world

+++ The national factor

• Konrad Adenauer’s policy:

+++ a West-German Catholic fearing the “Prussian” influence

+++ a resolute anticommunist

+++ a German patriot

+++ a lucky political leader

• The strongest political force in Germany after 1945: The Party of Peace
+++ Learning from the Nazi moral disaster

+++ Jakob Kaiser and the origins of the CDU

+++How the fear of Communism led to Kaiser’s defeat and Adenauer’s rearmament policy

• The German Left’s divisions:

+++ The SPD: remaining true to Friedrich Ebert’s legacy

+++ The Communist agenda

+++ The creation of the SED

The Germans may be responsible for Germany’s division but not in the sense of Wilfried Loth.
Adenauer and Ulbricht became the political leader of their own “Germany” because their vision fitted their respective protector’s ideology.

• Walter Ulbricht and the building of the GDR

+++Adapting oneself to Stalin’s political plan for Germany

+++ Making the best use of the East-West growing confrontation

+++ Thank you Mr Adenauer!

+++ Surviving June 17, 1953

• Missed opportunities?
+++ Stalin’s notes (March 1952)

+++ June 17 1953 as an evidence of the Soviet side’s vulnerability

+++ The Austrian Peace Treaty (1955)

Conclusion: Germany as the key European State for East and West.