An edition of Berlin witness (1993)

Berlin Witness

An American Diplomat's Chronicle of East German's Revolution

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October 9, 2020 | History
An edition of Berlin witness (1993)

Berlin Witness

An American Diplomat's Chronicle of East German's Revolution

  • 0 Ratings
  • 3 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

In a remarkable combination of personal reflections, official dispatches, and sophisticated political analysis, Berlin Witness recounts the dramatic story of the erosion of communism in East Germany and the forging of the new united Germany. Jonathan Greenwald arrived in East Berlin in the summer of 1987, when discontented East German youths were shouting "Gorby, Gorby!" on Unter den Linden and Erich Honecker was still received in Bonn as the respected leader of the Soviet Union's most powerful ally. Germany was divided, and Honecker's GDR was a cornerstone of the armed but apparently stable security order that grew up after the Second World War.

As Political Counselor of the American Embassy, Greenwald expected to chronicle Europe's evolution away from East-West confrontation and to assess for the State Department the implications of strengthening ties between the two German states that were beginning to cause unease in the alliances of both superpowers. Instead, he found and described a revolution that climaxed with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Empire, and the unification of Germany.

The daily entries, beginning with a traditional Communist May Day 1989 when time seemed to stand still, tell the story of that astonishing year from the unique perspective of a senior American diplomat. Greenwald had access not only to the leading personalities of the GDR including Honecker, Egon Krenz, and Gregor Gysi, but also to the idealistic young people and churchmen who set in motion the events that astonished the world and changed all our lives. He participated in the often frustrating efforts to shape an American policy response to the accelerating crisis. In his afterword, he offers insightful, and sometimes skeptical observations about the rush to unification that has left Germany whole and free but racked by new tensions and self-doubts.

Provocative and personal, Berlin Witness is likely to be the definitive American description of the first phase of the German Revolution until the government opens its archives in the next century and will be a valuable resource for anyone wishing to understand the background of the new Germany.

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Pages
366

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Edition Availability
Cover of: Berlin Witness
Berlin Witness: An American Diplomat's Chronicle of East German's Revolution
Mar 26, 2010, Penn State University Press
paperback
Cover of: Berlin witness
Berlin witness: an American diplomat's chronicle of East Germany's revolution
1993, Pennsylvania State University Press
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Source title: Berlin Witness: An American Diplomat's Chronicle of East German's Revolution

Classifications

Library of Congress

The Physical Object

Format
paperback
Number of pages
366

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL27695069M
ISBN 10
0271030615
ISBN 13
9780271030616
Amazon ID (ASIN)
0271030615

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October 9, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
August 2, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 15, 2019 Created by ImportBot Imported from amazon.com record