SINCE HITLER’S DEATH :
A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT POST WWII GERMANY

Claudia Dunlea

DESCRIPTION: Germany’s modern history has been exceptionally turbulent. Germany’s unification in 1871 disrupted the European balance of power and Germans helped plunge Europe into World War I, launched World War II, and perpetrated the Holocaust. These unprecedented crimes indelibly saddled Germany with a heavy legacy of guilt and responsibility. One result of Germany’s total defeat in 1945 was its division into two separate and mutually antagonistic states: West Germany, a NATO member, developed into one of the strongest economies in the world and East Germany, part of the Warsaw Pact, became one of the most repressive regimes in Europe. Following the unexpected collapse of East Germany in 1989, Germany rushed toward unification, a complicated process that was completed within a year. Today, a reunited Germany ranks among the leaders of the European Union. However, unification has opened yet another distinct chapter in the country’s turbulent but fascinating history. This series will survey Germany’s eventful history since 1945, from “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” (dealingwith the past) to “Wiedervereinigung” (reunification) and beyond.

SIX LECTURES:

1. Germany 1945: Defeated, occupied and divided
2. Two Germanies during the Cold War: The Adenauer Era
3. Two Germanies during the Cold War: Brandt’s “Ostpolitik”
4. Aspects of “Vergangenheitsbewältigung”: Glamorizing RAF terror in West Germany?
5.  The Fall of the Berlin Wall and German Reunification
6. Wiedervereinigung and beyond: Germany in the 21st century

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Claudia Dunlea is Visiting Instructor of History at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). She received her doctorate in European Integration History from the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 2003. Dr. Dunlea is the author of a book that investigates the origins of a supranational European foreign policy in the 1950s. Her recent research on the diplomatic relations of the European Union was published in two articles. She is one of the Lifelong Learning Society’s most popular lecturers.