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Britain and the GDR, 1949-1990

Stefan Berger and Norman LaPorte

364 pages, bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-84545-697-9 Hb $90.00/£53.00 Published (May 2010)
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During the Cold War, Britain had an astonishing number of contacts and connections with one of the Soviet Bloc’s most hard-line regimes: the German Democratic Republic. The left wing of the British Labour Party and the Trade Unions often had closer ties with communist East Germany than the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). There were strong connections between the East German and British churches, women’s movements, and peace movements; influential conservative politicians and the Communist leadership in the GDR had working relationships; and lucrative contracts existed between business leaders in Britain and their counterparts in East Germany. Based on their extensive knowledge of the documentary sources, the authors provide the first comprehensive study of Anglo-East German relations in this surprisingly under-researched field. They examine the complex motivations underlying different political groups’ engagement with the GDR, and offer new and interesting insights into British political culture during the Cold War.

Stefan Berger is Professor of Modern German and Comparative European History at the University of Manchester, where he is also Director of the Jean-Monnet-Centre of Excellence. Between 2003 and 2008 he directed the European Science Foundation Programme on ‘Representations of the Past. The Writing of National Histories in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Europe’ (NHIST). He has published widely in the areas of historiography, national identity and labour history.

Norman LaPorte is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Glamorgan. He has published widely on German and comparative communism as well as British-East German relations, including The German Communist Party in Saxony. 1924–1933 (Peter Lang, 2003). He is a co-founding editor of the journal Twentieth Century Communism.

list of tables list of Abbreviations Preface Introduction: Britain and the other Germany Chapter 1. negotiating the Emergence of two Germanys. British–GDR relations in the Context of the Evolution of the Post-war Political order, 1945–1955 Chapter 2. From sovereignty to recognition, 1955–1973 Chapter 3. Normalisation of relations and new Beginnings, 1973–1979 Chapter 4. From the second Cold War to the Collapse of the GDR, 1979–1990 Conclusion: Britain and the GDR, 1949–1990 Bibliography Index

FRIENDLY ENEMIES

Britain and the GDR, 1949-1990

Stefan Berger and Norman LaPorte

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