| The rapid transformation of American policy towards Germany remains one of the most important and controversial developments in postwar international relations. Much of the previous work on this subject focused exclusively on the Cold War, and interpreted developments in American-German relations through this prism of East-West tensions. With the use of recently released documents from four countries--the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany--and extensive interviewing with government, business, and political leaders from this period, this thesis examines the importance of the German question within the postwar history of the Western alliance. Using the vantage point of the American High Commissioner, John J. McCloy, the dissertation explores the inter-Allied and intra-governmental decisions through which the United States sought to "integrate" Western Germany into a larger Atlantic and European framework. Both officially and unofficially, McCloy played a critical role in promoting two of the earliest proposals for European integration, the successful European Coal and Steel Community and the ill-fated European Defense Community. Through such organizational structures, American leaders like McCloy sought not only to contain Soviet Expansionism. They also hoped to provide the basis for long-term political stability and economic growth in Western Europe, and guarantee the security of the region against any future disruption by a nationalist and autarchic Germany. At the same time McCloy's strategy rested on the premise that the American commitment to Europe was temporary in nature, and that it was vital that greater European unity be achieved before the withdrawal of American forces. Finally the thesis concludes that the "special relationship" established between Washington and Bonn, more similar in this period to a federal-state relationship than a traditional alliance, played a critical role in restoring the legitimacy of German democracy, encouraging rapid economic expansion, and providing for the Federal Republic's military security. |
