Instrumentalization of the Soviet Threat in Adenauer’s Foreign Policy
https://doi.org/10.17994/IT.2017.15.4.51.5
Abstract
The instrumentalization of a factor of the Soviet threat by the federal chancellor Conrad Adenauer is considered in the article. The assessment by Adenauer of foreign policy opportunities and chances of Germany from the beginning of cold war is reconstructed. As main sources base the sources of a personal origin, especially public statements are used. Adenauer sought to use the growth of contradictions between the USSR and the western allies for the entry of Germany into the western system of the unions. Actions of the chancellor on rational application of the conflict the East-West for the western integration are considered on the examples of the use of precedent of the Korean war, inclusion of Germany in containment doctrines of communism, support of the ideas of "Christian Abendland's rescue". From the beginning of the Korean war Adenauer, significantly exaggerating the threat, addressed to the western powers with a request of additional guarantees of the safety meaning inclusion of Germany in the western defensive alliance. The chancellor emphasized Asian essence of the Soviet totalitarian empire, opposing it the free people of Christian Europe, continued repeating about the need of collective repulse to the Soviet threat, assigned a special part on a front line of Cold war to the Western Germany. Both foreign policy steps and Adenauer's initiatives, and techniques of internal political promotion for designing of public opinion are considered in the article. The chancellor used anticommunism in internal political fight as the instrument of consolidation of society round the ideas, round the party, opposing it something alien and hostile, constantly speaking about danger. Thus Adenauer consciously simplified the situation, overestimated a military-political component of the Soviet danger. As a result of the analysis the anticommunism, an anti-Soviet course by identification of exaggeration of threat, a demonizing of an image of the USSR is defined as functional, stimulating aspect of the German western integration.
About the Author
Alexey Sorokin
Dostoevskiy Omsk State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dr Alexey Sorokin - Associate Professor, Department of History and Theory of International Relations, Dostoevskiy Omsk State University
Omsk 644077
References
1. (1952). An alle Deutschen! Flugblatt der CDU mit Auszug aus der Regierungserklärung vom 3. Dezember 1952 [The leaflet of CDU with a fragment from the government statement of December 3, 1952]. Haus der Geschichte, Bonn. EB-Nr.: 1993/11/0913.
2. (1954). Adenauer-Archiv. Bestand III:54. Gespraechaufzeichnungen mit führenden auslaendischen Politikern [Protocols of conversations with the leading foreign politicians] // Stiftung BundeskanzlerAdenauer-Haus.
3. Adenauer K. (2006). Briefe 1961-1963 [Letters 1961-1963]. Padeborn: Ferdinand Schoening. 577 p.
4. Adenauer K. (1987). Erinnerungen 1945-1953 [Memories 1945-1953]. 6. Auflage. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. 589 p.
5. Adenauer K. (1994). Erinnerungen 1953-1955 [Memories 1953-1955]. 5. Auflage. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. 556 p.
6. Adenauer K. (1989). Erinnerungen 1955-1959 [Memories 1955-1959]. 4. Auflage. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. 551 p.
7. Adenauer K. (1975). Reden 1917-1967. Eine Auswahl [Speeches 1917-1967. Selected]. Ed. by Hrsg. von H.-P. Schwarz. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. 495 p.
8. Adenauer K. (1984). Teegespraeche 1950-1954 [Tea conversations 1950-1954]. Ed. by Bearb. von H. J. Küsters. Berlin: Siedler. 815 p.
9. Barabash V.V., Bordugov G.A., Kotelenets E.A. (2010). Obrazy Rossii v mire [Images of Russia in the world]. Moscow: Assotsiatsija issledovatelej rossijskogo obshhestva. 296 p.
10. Baring A. (1969). Aussenpolitik in Adenauers Kanzlerdemokratie. Bonns Beitrag zur Europaeischen Verteidigungsgemeinschaft [Foreign policy in Adenauer`s chancellor democracy. Bonn contribution to the European defensive community]. Munich/Wien: Oldenbourg. 492 p.
11. Besson W. (1970). Aussenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Erfahrungen und Massstaebe [German foreign policy. Experiences and scales]. Munich: Piper. 493 p.
12. Buckley N., Fontanella-Khan J., Cienski J. (2014). Poland calls for Nato troop deployment // Financial Times. April 1 2014. URL: https://www.ft.com/content/3867c08a-b999-11e3-b74f-00144 feabdc0 (accessed: 25.06.2018).
13. Conze E. (2009). Die Suche nach Sicherheit: Eine Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von 1949 bis in die Gegenwart [Security search: German History since 1949 up to the present]. Munich: Siedler Verlag. 1072 p.
14. DeRouen K. R. Jr. (1995). The Indirect Link: Politics, the Economy, and the Use of Force // Journal of Conflict Resolution 39 (3). P. 671–95.
15. Die Außenminister-Konferenzen von Brüssel, London und Paris, 8. August bis 23. Oktober 1954 (2003) // Dokumente zur Deutschlandpolitik. II. Reihe. Bd. 4. München: Oldenbourg. 876 S.
16. Doering-Manteuffel A. (1983) . Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland in der Aera Adenauer. Aussenpolitik und innere Entwicklung 1949-1963 [The Federal Republic of Germany in Adenauer`s era. Foreign policy and internal development 1949-1963]. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. 279 p.
17. Ezhov V.D. (2003). Konrad Adenauer. Nemets chetyrekh epokh [Konrad Adenauer – the German of four eras]. Мoscow: Molodaja gvardija. 311 p.
18. Faber R. (2002). Abendland. Ein politischer Kampfbegriff [Occident. A political battle concept]. Berlin/Wien: Philo. 205 S.
19. Filitov A.M. (2004). Nota 10 marta 1952 goda: prodolzhajushhajasja diskussija [Note on March 10, 1952: the continuing discussion] // Rossija i Germanija. Vypusk 3. Мoscow: Nauka. P. 311-330.
20. Fordham B. (1998). The Politics of Threat Perception and the Use of Force: A Political Economy Model of U.S. Uses of Force, 1949-1994 // International Studies Quarterly 42 (3). P. 567–90.
21. Freeland R.M. (1972). The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism: Foreign Policy, Domestic Politics, and Internal Security, 1946-1948. New York: Knopf. 419 p.
22. Friede D. (1959). Das russische Perpetuum mobile [Russian Perpetuum mobile]. Wuerzburg: MarienburgVerlag. 244 p.
23. Gaddis J. L. (1982). Strategies of Containment. London: Oxford University Press. 512 p.
24. Geppert D. (2002). Die Ära Adenauer [Adenauer`s era]. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. 160 p.
25. Gotto K. (1974). Adenauers Deutschland- und Ostpolitik 1954-1963 [Adenauer`s german and east policy 1954-1963] // Adenauer-Studien III. Untersuchungen und Dokumente zur Ostpolitik und Biographie. Mainz: Matthias-Gruenewald-Verlag. P. 3-91.
26. Goertemaker M. (2004). Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland [History of the Federal Republic of Germany]. Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. 915 p.
27. Haftendorn H. (1976). Adenauer und die Europäische Sicherheit [Adenauer and European security] // Konrad Adenauer und seine Zeit. Bd. 2. Beitraege der Wissenschaft. Stuttgart: Deutsche VerlagsAnstalt. P. 92-110.
28. Herbert U. (2014). Geschichte Deutschlands im 20. Jahrhundert [German history in the 20th century]. Munich: C.H. Beck. 1451 P.
29. Kappeler A. (1988). Die deutschen Flugschriften über die Moskowiter und Iwan den Schrecklichen im Rahmen der Russlandliteratur des 16. Jahrhunderts [The German leaflets about Muscovites and Ivan the Terrible in literature on Russia during 16th century] // Russen und Russland aus deutscher Sicht 9.-17. Jahrhundert. Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 1988. P. 150-182.
30. Kissinger H. (1997). Diplomatija [Diplomacy]. Moscow: Ladomir. 848 p.
31. Lappenkueper U. (2008). Die Aussenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949 bis 1990 [German foreign policy from 1949 to 1990]. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag. 164 P.
32. Loth W. (1994). Stalins ungeliebtes Kind. Warum Moskau die DDR nicht wollte [Unloved Stalin`s child. Why Moscow didn't want the GDR]. Berlin: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag. 285 P.
33. Meissner B. (1976). Die Ostpolitik Konrad Adenauers [The east policy of Konrad Adenauer] // Konrad Adenauer. 1876-1967. Stuttgart/Zurich. P. 125-138.
34. Moore W. H. and Lanoue D. J. (2003). Domestic Politics and U.S. Foreign Policy: A Study of Cold War Conflict Behavior // Journal of Politics 65 (2). P. 376–96.
35. Morsey R. (1990). Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Entstehung und Entwicklung bis 1969 [The Federal Republic of Germany. Foundation and development until 1969]. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag. 274 P.
36. Neumann I. (2004). Ispol’zovanie “drugogo”: obrazy Vostoka v formirovanii evropejskih identichnostej [Uses Of The Other: ''The East'' in European Identity Formation]. Мoscow: Novoe izdatel`stvo. 336 p.
37. Niedhart G., Altmann N. (1988). Zwischen Beurteilung und Verurteilung: Die Sowjetunion im Urteil Konrad Adenauers [Between evaluation and judgment: The Soviet Union in Konrad Adenauer's assessment] // Adenauer und die deutsche Frage. Goettingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. P. 99-117.
38. Oneal J. and Tir J. (2006). Does the Diversionary Use of Force Threaten the Democratic Peace? // International Studies Quarterly 50 (4). P. 755–79.
39. Petelin B.V. (2006). Konrad Adenauer: patriarch germanskoj politiki [Konrad Adenauer: patriarch of the German policy] // Novaja i novejshaja istorija. No. 3. P. 142-169.
40. Ruggenthaler P. (2007). Stalins großer Bluff: Die Geschichte der Stalin-Note in Dokumenten der sowjetischen Führung [Big Stalin`s bluff: history of Stalin`s note in documents of soviet leadership]. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag. 256 p.
41. Russett B. (1990). Economic Decline, Electoral Pressure, and the Initiation of Interstate Conflict // Prisoners of War? Ed. C. Gochman and A. N. Sabrosky. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath. P. 123–140.
42. Schild A. (1999). Zwischen Abendland und Amerika. Studien zur Ideenlandschaft der 50-er Jahre [Between the West and America. Studies of an ideological landscape of the 50s]. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag. 250 p.
43. Schwarz H.-P. (1971). Das aussenpolitische Konzept Konrad Adenauers [Foreign policy concept of Konrad Adenauer] // Adenauer-Studien I. Mainz: Matthias-Gruenewald-Verlag. P. 71-108.
44. Senjavskaja E.S. (2006). Protivniki Rossii v vojnah XX veka: Evoljucija „obraza vraga“ v soznanii armii i obshhestva [Russian opponents in wars of the XX century: Evolution of "an enemy image" in consciousness of army and society]. Мoscow: Rossijskaja politicheskaja entsiklopedija (ROSSPEN). 288 p.
45. Sorensen T. C. (2003). JFK's Strategy of Peace // World Policy Journal. Vol. 20. No. 3 (Fall, 2003). P. 2-6.
46. Steininger R. (1996). Deutsche Geschichte seit 1945. Darstellung und Dokumente in vier Bänden. Band 2: 1948-1955 [German history since 1945. The description and documents in 4 volumes. Volume 2: 1948-1955]. Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. 384 p.
47. Steininger R. (1990). Eine vertane Chance. Die Stalin-Note vom 10. März 1952 und die Wiedervereinigung. Eine Studie auf der Grundlage unveröffentlichten britischer und amerikanischer Akten [A missed chance. Stalin`s note and reunification. Research based on unpublished British and American documents]. Berlin/Bonn: Dietz. 158 p.
48. Weidenfeld W. (1976). Konrad Adenauer und Europa. Die geistigen Grundlagen der westeuropäischen Integrationspolitik des ersten Bonner Bundeskanzlers [Konrad Adenauer and Europe. Spiritual fundamentals of the Western European integration policy of the first Bonn chancellor]. Bonn: EuropaUnion-Verlag. 438 p.
49. Wettig G. (2015). Die Stalin-Note. Historische Kontroverse im Spiegel der Quellen [Stalin`s note. Historical controversy in reflection of sources]. Berlin: be.bra Verlag. 210 p.
50. Wettig G. (2000). Programmatische und pragmatische Elemente in Stalins Deutschland-Politik 1945-53. Untersuchung aufgrund sowjetischer und ostdeutscher Akten [Program and pragmatic elements in Stalin`s German policy in the 1945-53rd. Research based on Soviet and East German documents] // Historisch-politische Mitteilungen. 2000/7. p. 79-107.
51. Williams Ch. (2002). Adenauer. Otets novoj Germanii [Adenauer. The father of the new Germany]. Мoscow: Izdatel`stvo АSТ. 708 p.
52. Winkler H.A. (2015). Geschichte des Westens: Vom Kalten Krieg zum Mauerfall [Western history: from Cold War to Fall of the Wall]. Munich: C.H.Beck. 1258 p.
53. Wulf L. (2003). Izobretaja Vostochnuju Evropu: Karta tsivilizatsii v soznanii jepohi Prosveshhenija [Inventing Eastern Europe: The map of the civilization on the mind of the Enlightenment]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. 548 p.
54. Zemskov V.B. (2011). Rossija “na perelome” [Russia on a change] // Na perelome: obraz Rossii proshloj i sovremennoj v kul`ture, literature Evropy i Ameriki (konets 20-nachalo 21 vv.). Moscow: Novyj chronograf. P. 4-46.
55. Zhuravleva V.I. (2012). Ponimanie Rossii v SSHA: obrazy i mify, 1881-1914 [Understanding of Russia in the USA: images and myths, 1881-1914]. Moscow: RGGU. 1136 p.
Review
For citations:
Sorokin A. Instrumentalization of the Soviet Threat in Adenauer’s Foreign Policy. International Trends / Mezhdunarodnye protsessy. 2017;15(4):77-92. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17994/IT.2017.15.4.51.5
Views:
17
Email this article 