Farewell to an unloved country: Britain and the crisis of the German Democratic Republic

Relations between Britain and the German Democratic Republic (Gdr) have always been quite blurry: on the one hand, they were included in the more general relations with Central-Eastern Europe, but on the other hand, they were part of a "triangular relationship" between London, Berlin and Bonn. The Federal Republic of Germany was a constant and often cumbersome presence that influenced and often limited contacts with the Gdr. In this "asymmetrical triangle", historiography has also focused on the relations between the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic, and only in recent years have a few volumes been published dealing with the relations between London and the "other Germany". Similarly, in analyzing the events of 1989-90, the focus has almost always been on German reunification, British Prime Minister Margaret Tha- tcher’s fervent hostility to such a prospect, and the strained relations between Britain and West Germany that resulted from it. In reality, the complexity of di- mensions and this multi-level context emerged predominantly in the final phase of the Gdr: the purpose of the article, based on the diplomatic documents of the National Archives of the United Kingdom, is to try to shed new light on a topic only marginally treated, that is the British image of the Gdr crisis of 1989-90.

Keywords: Britain; German Democratic Republic; Anglo-German relations; German unification; British Ostpolitik.

Giulia Bentivoglio, Farewell to an unloved country: la Gran Bretagna e la crisi della Repubblica democratica tedesca in "VENTUNESIMO SECOLO" 51/2022, pp 58-82, DOI: 10.3280/XXI2022-051004