The Rise of Western Germany Quotes

“railways. Essential repairs to the system had been completed largely by the Occupation forces,”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“special Counterpart Fund, which, at its peak, reached DM 20 billion. This fund, which played a crucial part in German recovery, was administered by the government-owned Reconstruction Loan Corporation, run by Abs. It built houses, ships, repaired bridges and docks, rehabilitated public services like gas, water and electricity, and also met some part of the compensation claims for which the government made itself responsible.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“on 5th May, 1955, the Federal Republic became a fully sovereign state.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Between June and October the Americans, British and French ended the state of war with Germany”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Some Germans argue to-day that the struggle between Adenauer and Schumacher was the making of modern German democracy.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Adenauer was to work unremittingly for the reassumption of sovereignty by elected German representatives, he realised the necessity of working with rather than against the Allies. In the last resort he had already made up his mind where the best hope for his country lay.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Adenauer was no less German, but infinitely more adroit. He, too, was irritated by the ‘moralising’ of the Anglo-Saxons, but he was aware of the deep distrust in which they held the Germans and, in particular, of their fear of Prussian domination”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Long before any other German politician, he had become convinced that the centre of gravity for the New Germany must be on the Rhine rather than in Berlin.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“There must have been thousands of other families the head of which was known to be opposed to the regime, who sustained a sort of twilight existence, keeping out of trouble and hoping for better days; but it was none the less remarkable that a man of Adenauer’s courage, with a long and honourable political record, should have been content to remain passive while his country was led inexorably to its doom. The truth is that Adenauer was not cast in a heroic mould. He was a patriot and a Catholic with an ingrained respect for authority which even the hideous brutality of the Nazis could not eradicate.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Schumacher by now was not only the best known politician in Germany but internationally recognised as the most formidable German opponent of totalitarian rule. Already the Russians were comparing him to Hitler; his followers and many Allied officials were claiming that by preventing the absorption of the Social Democrats into the party of Socialist Unity, he had forestalled a peaceful take-over of the whole country by the communists.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“But if neither side wanted war and both knew it, why did the Russians not persist? The real reason was that the Germans were making them look foolish. The Russians had believed that they could force the Western Powers out of Berlin without war by the end of the winter and that, by doing so, they would convince the Germans that it was better to accept the position of a satellite than trust in such ineffective allies. But the Germans came to the opposite conclusion. Their behaviour, within Berlin and without, showed that they would go to any lengths and accept any risk rather than succumb to Russian dictatorship. Under pressure they once again had become a most formidable people — not militarily but morally.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“The British and Americans were indignant with the Russians for extracting reparations from current German production and in the end refused to allow any more equipment to go to Russia from their zones; but the French, without any fuss and occupying the smallest and poorest territory, extracted proportionately even more than the Russians.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“When an Allied official criticised the undisciplined behaviour of the Red Army in Germany, a Russian officer is said to have replied: ‘This is not the Red Army. The Red Army perished on the battlefields in 1941 and 1942. These are the hordes of Asia whom we have whipped to war so that we might roll back the German onslaught.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany

“Churchill took a much cooler view. ‘Trying to maintain good relations with a Communist is like wooing a crocodile,’ he told Sir Alan Brooke. ‘You do not know whether to tickle it under the chin or to beat it over the head. When it opens its mouth you cannot tell whether it is trying to smile or preparing to eat you up.”
― Aidan Crawley, The Rise of Western Germany