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Powerful but integrationist : German behaviour regarding European integration

University of British Columbia

This thesis analyzes Germany's policy towards European integration by examining both its motivations for participating in the process of European integration and its limits of acceptance of further integration. It concentrates on the early 1950s and on the years following the end of the partition of Germany — two critical junctures when the Federal Republic of Germany has had to make decisions of general principle about its future role in Europe. Germany is of special interest because it is a rather distinctive case: very pro-integrationist despite being large and increasingly powerful. Support for European unification has been a fundamental assumption of German political behaviour from the earliest days of the Federal Republic. In the period 1949-1957, however, Germany's position towards European integration was more fluid. Germany's main motivations for participating in the process of European integration were initially moral rehabilitation and the regaining of sovereignty. Another important motivation has been the creation of internal and external stability. Regional integration has been regarded as the most appropriate strategy for achieving these aims. Yet there are certain areas where Bonn has been less willing to make compromises. Since the 1950s one of Germany's foremost limits of acceptance of integration has been to not foreclose the possibility of German reunification. Since 1990, when reunification was finally achieved. Germany's limits of acceptance are centred on three principles: free trade, monetary stability, and subsidiarity/federalism. These principles have been essential for the successful political and economic development of the Federal Republic. Germany, therefore, wants to see them firmly established in the European Union.The Federal Republic's distinctiveness can be explained by its historical experience. West Germany's political and economic structure was created in the early 1950s. These formative years also saw the Federal Republic's integration into the West and participation in the process of European unification. West Germany's successful economic and political development was therefore seen as being a result of these two interconnected processes. Germany's disastrous prewar history combined with more than forty successful years in an interlocking network of international institutions has minimized the importance of classic state-sovereignty for the Federal Republic.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-02-09

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4309

Political Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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