Three Germanies

Since the defeat of the Third Reich in 1945, Germany has been in a continual state of turmoil and reinvention. In Three Germanies: West Germany, East Germany and the Berlin Republic, Michael Gehler explores the political rollercoaster Germany has been riding since the Yalta Conference, which split post-war Germany into four zones controlled by the Soviets, Americans, French and British. Peace was short lived, however, and in 1948-49 Stalin blockaded Berlin to try to gain control over the largest city in Germany. Though the blockade was finally broken in May 1949, Germany was officially split into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). From then on, Germany became two very different states with opposite political ideals, splitting families down the middle ideologically and, with the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961, physically as well. Though the Wall came down in 1989 and Germany was re-unified, its problems were far from over: to this day Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Grand Coalition struggle to implement reform. Gehler's study is more relevant now than ever before, as he shows how Germany needs to find a government and a leader that will create a stable and secure country in the twenty-first century. This book will appeal to anyone interested in post-war diplomacy, modern history, and the future of Germany.