Gerhard Wettig – författare

This book is a study on the Soviet foreign policy when the task of renovating the country was placed on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's (CPSU) political agenda. It discusses Gorbachev's new approach to foreign policy and the political change that reshaped Soviet and European history.

This book is a study on the Soviet foreign policy when the task of renovating the country was placed on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's (CPSU) political agenda. It discusses Gorbachev's new approach to foreign policy and the political change that reshaped Soviet and European history.

This book is a study on the Soviet foreign policy when the task of renovating the country was placed on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union''s (CPSU) political agenda. It discusses Gorbachev''s new approach to foreign policy and the political change that reshaped Soviet and European history.

This book is a study on the Soviet foreign policy when the task of renovating the country was placed on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union''s (CPSU) political agenda. It discusses Gorbachev''s new approach to foreign policy and the political change that reshaped Soviet and European history.

The Cold War was a unique international conflict partly because Josef Stalin sought socialist transformation of other countries rather than simply the traditional objectives. This intriguing book, based on recently accessible Soviet primary sources, is the first to explain the emergence of the Cold War and its development in Stalin's lifetime from the perspective of Soviet policy-making. The book pays particular attention to the often-neglected "societal" dimension of Soviet foreign policy as a crucial element of the genesis and development of the Cold War. It is also the first to put German postwar development into the context of Soviet Cold War policy. Stalin vainly tried to mobilize the Germans with slogans of national unity and then to discredit the West among the Germans by forcing the surrender of Berlin. Further attempts to prevail deadlocked him into a confrontation with the newly united Western powers. Comparing Stalin's internal statements with Soviet actions, Gerhard Wettig draws original conclusions about Stalin's meta-plans for the regions of Germany and Eastern Europe. This fascinating look at Soviet politics during the Cold War provides readers with new insights into Stalin's willingness to initiate crisis with the West while still avoiding military conflict.

Vor 30 Jahren wurde der Warschauer Pakt aufgelöst. Die NATO verblieb als einziger militärischer Block in Europa. Die Sowjetunion verzichtete auf die jahrzehntelang ausgeübte politische Kontrolle weiter Teile Mittelost- und Osteuropas. Moskau ermöglichte damit die Beendigung des Kalten Krieges – ohne Gewalt. Diese Entwicklung ist dem Wirken Michail Gorbatschows geschuldet, der in der Erkenntnis der systembedingten Schwäche seines Landes eine politische Wendung versuchte. Ausgangspunkt war ein Zugehen auf den Westen: von der Konfrontation zur Kooperation. Die Art und Weise, wie er diese Kehrtwende vollzog, führte einerseits zur Befriedung der Beziehungen zu den NATO-Staaten, andererseits aber entglitt ihm damit die Kontrolle über das Imperium, im Inneren wie nach außen.Der überaus komplexe und sich auf mehreren Ebenen vollziehende Verlauf dieser Entwicklung wird auf Basis umfangreicher Recherchen in russischen Archiven von Gerhard Wettig, Altmeister der deutschen Sowjetunionforschung, detailliert dargelegt.