Writing about the (American) past, thinking of the (German) present: the history of U.S. foreign relations in Germany
- This sixty-year survey of the most prolific field in West German historiography of the United States argues that the developments in scholarship were closely related to 'real time' German-American relations. For German historians writing during the 1950s, studying U.S. diplomacy promised to yield practical insights into the political decision-making process in the capital of the country's military protector. Later, during the 1960s the history of transatlantic relations became entangled in the ' Americanization,' 'Westernization,' and 'democratization' of the Federal Republic's political culture. Because approaches to U.S. foreign relations mirrored the changing intellectual climate within Germany, scholarly trends did not closely follow those within the United States. German historians of U.S. diplomacy usually stressed ideology or political decision-making processes—a trend which became even more prevalent with the recent cultural turns. Also, the field only reluctantly embracedThis sixty-year survey of the most prolific field in West German historiography of the United States argues that the developments in scholarship were closely related to 'real time' German-American relations. For German historians writing during the 1950s, studying U.S. diplomacy promised to yield practical insights into the political decision-making process in the capital of the country's military protector. Later, during the 1960s the history of transatlantic relations became entangled in the ' Americanization,' 'Westernization,' and 'democratization' of the Federal Republic's political culture. Because approaches to U.S. foreign relations mirrored the changing intellectual climate within Germany, scholarly trends did not closely follow those within the United States. German historians of U.S. diplomacy usually stressed ideology or political decision-making processes—a trend which became even more prevalent with the recent cultural turns. Also, the field only reluctantly embraced methodological innovations. Methodologically, the biggest breakthrough came during the 1960s and 1970s, when German historians of the United States acquired the necessary financial means to travel abroad and to carry out multi-archival research projects. This, combined with the remarkable institutional expansion of U.S. history in Germany, led to a quantum-leap in the quality of German works on U.S. foreign relations.…
