Germany [antikvár]

Introduction While we in the United States have attained the political maturity to accept our responsibilities in the world of today, we find it difficult to visualize the cold war. To the German, the cold war is a grim reality, with the boundary line between the free and communistic worlds running through the heardand of his country, patrolled on both sides by heavily armed forces. His historic capital is isolated as well as divided and subject to the constant threat of strangulation. Any major development in the cold war seems certain to involve Berlin and Germany. Thus, for those with a sense of history, it is important to know the conditions which exist in Germany today and something of what brought them about. Life has provided this opportunity by including a volume on Germany in its World Library. It is fortunate to have this volume written by Terence Prittie, an astute observer who reports with accuracy in easy-to-read language. The book is basically a report on present-day Germany, although it successfully brings in enough of the past to explain in large measure the apparent contradictions in the character of the German people. We are reminded of the almost hysterical obsession of Germany's former rulers that they would be encircled by a combination of eastern and western European nations. Today, Germany is no longer in fear of encirclement, with its territory and its people divided by an imaginary iron curtain which also marks the eastern boundary of Europe's free narions. The importance of this boundary line to the free world leads us to ask what kind of ally we have in the Federal Republic of Germany. Outwardly, it is obviously the kind of government which we wanted to see established. It has given West Germany a thriving economy and a democratic regime which derives its authority from the people in free elections. It is a government which has chosen to become fully associated with the West and to support a closer working relationship among the countries of western Europe. We ask ourselves if this is a policy of expediency or if it represents a real determination by the people of West Germany to associate themselves with the great democracies. Certainly, the Germans of today are neither as arrogant nor as militant as in the past. But in the pursuit of the good living, are they merely complacent, placing their polirical future in the hands of the professional politicians.' Fortunately, there are indications that the young people of West Germany have learned to think for themselves and to show an increasing interest in their government and its acceptance of a common desriny for the free narions of Europe. No one can answer the many questions which Mr. Prittie poses so skillfully as to the future of Germany. Personally, I believe the vast majority of the German people have chosen freedom both at home and in the worid and have accepted fully the responsibiliries which this choice entails. If so, their choice may be a deciding factor in the outcome of the cold war. It makes each day's report from Germany of concern to us and to our future. For the many people who have the feel for history in the making, but not the time to be its students, this book provides the background information which will make possible a more intelligent understanding of the new Germany and its role in world events. Lucius D. Clay General, U.S. Army (ret.) former Military Governor, U.S. Zone of Germany