Drawing the Line: The American Decision to Divide Germany, 1944-1949

by Carolyn Woods Eisenberg

In this fresh and challenging study of the origins of the Cold War, Professor Eisenberg traces the American role in dividing postwar Germany. Drawing upon original documentary sources, she explores how U.S. policy makers chose partition and mobilized reluctant West Europeans behind that approach. The book casts new light on the Berlin blockade, demonstrating that the United States rejected United Nations mediation and relied on its nuclear monopoly as the means of protecting its German agenda.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Germany, American History, Politics

540 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 1996

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book. It shows that it was the US that wanted to divide Germany and not the USSR after WW2. The US was cynical and disingenuous in its dealings with the Russians and with its western allies.
The US wanted to ensure a neocon agenda in Germany. It predated the neocon agenda of the Chicago Business School, trailblazing a pathway for Friednman and his disciples. It was prepared to sacrifice the East Germans to achieve this. Its claims of being the champion of democracy & freedom are undermined by this scholarly work which has comprehensive references to demonstrate the perfidy of the US negotiators.
A tour de force!

[Stephen Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

What comes through is the sheer lack of common direction for American policy towards Germany at the end of the war. Combined with Norman M. Naimark's The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949, the conventional narrative of the partition of Germany and the start of the Cold War is considerably weakened. In particular, it's interesting how the desires of the UK and France were also swept away by US determination.