9 - Occupation Costs, Stationing Costs, Offset Payments - The Conflict over the Burdens of the Cold War

Summary

Germany was the focal point of the Cold War; perhaps that is the very reason why armed conflict never broke out there. The major weapons employed in the Cold War were propagandistic and economic in nature. The latter proved decisive in the end. Soon after the end of World War II, American planners recognized the importance of West Germany's economic potential in the growing contest with the Soviet Union, and this realization was a crucial motivating factor behind the rapid incorporation of the Federal Republic into the Western community of nations. As a consequence, the sacrifices West Germany was called on to make during the Cold War were primarily financial. In the years 1950 to 1968, appropriations for defense ate up between 20 and 38 percent of the Federal Republic's budget. Because the Federal Republic had neither the military nor economic means to provide for its own security, its incorporation into the Western defense system was vitally important. The military presence of West Germany's most important allies - of American troops in particular - thus became an integral part of German defense policy. Moreover, the presence of foreign troops stood as a symbol of Germany's membership in the Western defense community and as a prerequisite for the Western nations' acceptance of German recovery in Europe.