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It was in Europe that the Cold War reached a decisive turning point in the 1960s, leading to the era of détente. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), with its Final Act in Helsinki in August 1975, led to a rapprochement between East and West in the fields of security, economy and culture. This volume offers a pilot study in what the authors perceive as the key issues within this process: an understanding over the ‘German problem’ (balancing the recognition of the post-war territorial status quo against a formula for the eventuality of a peaceful change of frontiers) and the Western strategy of transformation through a multiplication of contacts between the two blocs. Both of these arguments emerged from the findings of an international research project on ‘Détente and CSCE in Europe, 1966-1975’, funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung and headed by the two editors.
“[All contributions]are valuable to the international history of détente in the 1960s and 1970s...this volume lays important groundwork …for a future history of the CSCE.” · German History
“The key analytical concept giving the volume its coherence is that of communication…The book is a thorough and useful addition to the literature.” · European History Quarterly
Preface
Archival Sources
Abbreviations
Introduction
Oliver Bange and Gottfried Niedhart
Chapter 1. An Intricate Web - Ostpolitik, the European Security System and German Unification
Oliver Bange
Chapter 2. Peaceful Change of Frontiers as a Crucial Element in the West German Strategy of Transformation
Gottfried Niedhart
Chapter 3. France and the German Question in the Context of Ostpolitik and CSCE, 1969-1974
Marie-Pierre Rey
Chapter 4. Transformation or Status quo: The Conflict of Stratagems in Washington over the Meaning and Purpose of CSCE and MBFR, 1969-1973
Stephan Kieninger
Chapter 5. Britain, the German question and the Transformation of Europe: From Ostpolitik to the Helsinki Conference (1963-1975)
Luca Ratti
Notes on contributors
Bibliography
Index