The integration of West Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) became one of the most important and contentious problems of post-war security. Increasing Cold War tensions during and after 1949 had led Britain to consider the need to rearm West Germany. Yet fears of a resurgent Germany existed both in Britain and on the continent. The timing and manner of German incorporation was crucial and became the subject of lengthy negotiations. Using extensive archival material, Saki Dockrill stresses how the government was forced to react to the constantly changing positions adopted by the USA, France and Germany itself and addresses three main issues: What made Britain accept the need for a German contribution to the defence of Western Europe? Why was Britain reluctant to encourage any hasty American and French proposals? And why did Britain eventually put forward proposals that successfully resolved the crisis? This was the first book-length analysis of the formulation of Britain's strategy for rearming West Germany and will be of interest to specialists and students of international politics, with special reference to post-war diplomatic history, NATO and European security.

This was the first book-length analysis of the formulation of Britain's strategy for rearming West Germany.

About the Author
Professor Saki R. Dockrill holds the chair of Contemporary History and International Security at the Department of War Studies, King's College London. Having previously held a John M. Olin Fellow at Yale University and a senior Research Fellowship at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo, Norway, she is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an Associate Fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, and general editor of the Cold War History book series, and of Global Conflict and Security since 1945 series with Palgrave Macmillan, and is on the Board of the Journal of Cold War History, and the Journal of Transatlantic Studies. Professor Dockrill published several books, including Britain's Policy for West German Rearmament (Cambridge, 1991), Eisenhower's New Look National Security Policy (Macmillan, 1996), Britain's Retreat from East of Suez (Macmillan, 2002) and most recently The End of the Cold War Era: The Transformation of the Global Security Order (London/New York: Arnold/Oxford University Press, 2005) and co-edited Palgrave Advances in Cold War History (2006).


Book Information
ISBN 9780521125888
Author Saki Dockrill
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 340g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 13mm