History of German Unification

unthinkable. Then it became a central issue of

Thomas Chace, "How Many Germanys?"

New Republic, 3809 (December 11, 1989), p. 19

These lines, from one of many recent articles (recent meaning the past couple of weeks [end of 1989]), sum up the extraordinary and paradoxical nature of the fall of 1989. The Cold War, a central fact of world politics for the past generation and a half, seems abruptly to have come to an end. In its place, we hope with fingers crossed for a single prosperous and peaceful Europe, integrated if not united "from the Atlantic to the Urals."

Yet these few weeks in the fall of 1989 are not likely to spell an end to the trouble and turmoil of history. Chace's words remind us that as the burning issues of yesterday fade away, their place can be taken by other issues  perhaps by the issues of the day before yesterday. For three generations, from the 1860s until after 1945, German unification was indeed the burning central question of European if not world politics. The "German question" brought two world wars, while the struggle of capitalism and communism brought none. When we look into an unknown future, dark chapters of the recent past loom large.

Of one thing we can be certain: 1979 has already established itself as one of the great pivotal years in European history, alongside 1789, 1848, 1871, 1914, 1945, and 1968  years in which future developm

. . .
l vision in shaping his Administration's future plans is raising anxiety and sapping confidence ("In Search" 23). Another victim may be the US armed forces, which only yesterday were basking in their Reaganera resurgence. During the early and middle 1980s, the military grew accustomed to having all its wishlists granted, from two new strategic bombers (B1 and B2 Stealth) to a sixhundredship navy with four battleships and fifteen carrier task forces. Now all of that is suddenly threatened ("The Russians"). Already, in the years and months before the OctoberNovember 1989 watershed, budget austerity had crept up on the Pentagon. Full achievement of the wish lists slipped out of the services' grasp. The current threat however, goes far beyond mere budget austerity. The military's very reason for being is now challenged. For much longer than the Reagan era  indeed, since the initial Cold War buildup after 1948  US military strategy and planning have focused almost exclusively on Communist threats, and on the Soviets in particular. "The threat" in military terms meant the Soviets. What will happen to the Pentagon then, if the Soviet threat evaporates? It may be "lucky," of course; Gorbachev may yet be overthrown b
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cold War, Atlantic Urals, Bush President, Reich Barring, Hungary Czechoslovakia, Tienanmen Square, Russians OctoberNovember, Germanys Republic, Central Europe, Cold War's, cold war, world politics, nov 1989, immediate past, german question, cold war era, budget austerity, european history, war era, fall 1989, 27 nov 1989, couple weeks,
Approximate Word count = 1499
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on History of German Unification