ABSTRACT
The Cold War began and ended in Germany. Superpower disagreements over how to treat the ruins of Nazi Germany refl ected and fueled the developing Cold War. The results were a divided Germany and Berlin. They occupied the front line of the Cold War confl ict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, between democracy and capitalism, on the one hand, and oppressive communist rule on the other. The East German regime even solidifi ed the divide with a concrete wall. After forty years of German division and a world split into two camps, the surprise toppling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbolized and further propelled the end of the Cold War. Understanding the respective roles of the two German states and their superpower patrons is central to comprehending the dynamics of the Cold War. This chapter will examine key developments at the front line of the Cold War in Germany, adopting a “pericentric” framework that takes into account not only the superpowers but also their German allies.1
