MACMILLAN The Federal Republic of Germany at Fifty: At the End of a Century of Turmoil

Product Description Fifty years after the formation of the Federal Republic and a decade after German unification, we stand on the cusp of a new century and a new millennium of German history. At the same time European Monetary Union marks a giant stride towards European integration and the end of the deutschmark. The 1998 election was the first in the Federal Republic directly to oust a government, ending the Kohl era and bringing the new Social Democrat-Green coalition to power. At this time of great change, leading international scholars reflect on the dramatic transformations of Germany's past and on Germany's future prospects. Postwar democratic and economic renewal is set in the context of continuing debates about German identity; there are assessments of the major leaders, parties and ideologies; of the still unfinished agenda of integrating East and West; of how the new generation of German leaders will interact with ageing governmental structures; of the Bundesbank and the successes and failures of economic policy, the trade unions and the media; and of Germany's energizing role in Europe and the world. Review '...an excellent reminder as well as an eye-opener for some of its readers...it deserves a place on all introductory reading lists as one of the best general overviews of Germany's history over the last 50 years.' - Hartmut Mayer, International Affairs About the Author PETER H. MERKL, is Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has taught there since 1958. His books on Germany include Origin of the West German Republic; Germany: Yesterday and Tomorrow; German Foreign Policies, West and East; Political Violence under the Swastika: 581 Early Nazis; The Making of a Stormtrooper; West German Foreign Policy: Dilemmas and Directions; Developments in West German Politics (co-editor); and The Federal Republic at Forty and...at Forty-Five (editor). He was President of the Conference Group on German Politics and remains very active in the IPSA and the ISA.