Adenauer S Foreign Office

The creation of the Foreign Office under Adenauer tells us much about the possibilities and limits of professional diplomacy in the mid-twentieth century. It also demonstrates three themes central to the early history of the Federal Republic: the integration of the new state into the international community, the cooptation of German elites and traditions by the new political system, and the creation of government in a state under foreign occupation. In this important study, Thomas Maulucci argues that, despite an improvised start and a considerable continuity of practice and personnel with pre-1945 Germany, the changed international anddomestic situation proved decisive in creating a ministry that could help to implement new directions in German foreign policy. In addition, Maulucci explores the interactions between international, political, and social history, contributing to a literature that bridges the gap between the pre- and post-World War Two eras that characterized previous writing on German history. Based on extensive research in German, American, British, and French archives, Adenauer's Foreign Office is the only English-language book of its kind. The troubling question of personnel continuity in the German diplomatic service is of considerable importance today, especially because of the Foreign Office's previous attempts to portray its past in the best possible light. Of interest to scholars and students of German history and politics as well as non-specialists, this book provides new insights into post-war diplomacy, the sociology of German elites, and the problems involved in creating a new government after losing a major war.

First Published in 1989. Tackling the problem of Germany's role in the history of world politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is one of the most interesting tasks of historiography. Furthermore, the relationship between Britain and Germany is of central significance in understanding this role.

" At the end of the Second World War the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) was at the lowest ebb of its 75 year history. The allieds suspended the Ministry's operations and took over direct responsibility for Germany's foreign policy. With the progressive return of control over foreign affairs to the German government in the 1950s, the Auswärtiges Amt also began to function once again. ""Relaunching German Diplomacy: The Auswärtiges Amt in the 1950s"" charts the process of building up a ministry whose morale had been shattered by its recent history and which needed to define a new approach for Germany to foreign affairs. The book looks at how the Auswärtiges Amt and its diplomats, many of whom had served under the National Socialist regime, came to terms with their own past, and describes the developments in structure and personnel which made it a modern ministry well adapted to the post-war world. The author shows how this politically difficult and organisationally complicated transformation process produced an energetic and successful response from all those involved at the time. For anyone interested in how Germany's foreign policy structures evolved after the war, this book is essential reading, but it also offers the general reader a fascinating insight into the early years of the Federal Republic of Germany. The book is a comprehensive account for researchers of West German foreign policy in the 1950s, who need to understand the relevant institutional framework, as well as valuable reading for the student of institutional history who is interested in the characteristics of a bureaucracy responsible for managing foreign relations. Claus M. Müller is a German diplomat who has published previously on the history of the German Foreign Ministry. During his doctoral studies of diplomatic history and international relations at the University of Cambridge, he focussed on the role of diplomats in a changing international environment. "

Craig traces the development of modern German statecraft from Bismarck, who brought German diplomacy to its highest efficiency, to Adenauer's conduct of foreign affairs.

Although many recent publications deal with the substance of West German external relations, none (in English at any rate) focuses heavily upon the structure and processes of foreign policy-making. Thus, by covering the latter as well as the former, this translation of Pfetsch's book fills an important gap. The author provides a detailed, thorough, and precise outline of the institutions and instruments involved in West German foreign policy formulation. Choice What internal functions affect foreign policy making? How do non-tangible forces, such as recent German history, public opinion, the nature of the economy, etc., play a part in overall German foreign policy? In examining these questions and others, Pfetsch provides detailed data on West German political, economic, social, and cultural performances that challenge the view that interprets relations solely as a result of international structures. West Germany in International Relations demonstrates how internal, as well international, factors shape foreign policy making.