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Zwei plus Vier
(2021) Geiger,Tim; Lillteicher, Jürgen; Wentker, Hermann
Der Zwei-plus-Vier-Vertrag vom 12. September 1990 war das Gründungsdokument für die Berliner Republik, mit dem das vereinigte Deutschland seine volle Souveränität zurückerhielt. Die dort gefundenen Regelungen betrafen Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft Deutschlands und Europas. Der Band widmet sich daher zunächst vor dem Hintergrund des Abschieds vom Kalten Krieg den internationalen Voraussetzungen für die deutsche Einheit. Es geht zudem um den Umgang mit den 1989/90 wieder zutage getretenen Hypotheken der Vergangenheit, wie der Reparations- und Entschädigungsproblematik sowie der deutsch-polnischen Grenzfrage. Angesichts der beendeten Ost-West-Konfrontation stellte sich überdies die Frage nach neuen Ordnungsentwürfen für Europa: Thematisiert werden die Rolle der KSZE als gesamteuropäischer Organisation, Abrüstung und Auflösung der Militärallianzen als Element zur dauerhaften Stärkung der internationalen Ordnung sowie die Renaissance der Nationalstaaten in Ostmitteleuropa und deren gleichzeitiges Streben in die Europäische Gemeinschaft. Ob das vereinigte Deutschland aus Sicht der ehemaligen vier Siegermächte der Spagat zwischen seiner neuen Führungsrolle und dem Verzicht auf Vormachtstreben gelang, wird abschließend erörtert.
Young “antisemites” and “rescuers” in Nazi-occupied Soviet Belarus
(2025) Saal, Yuliya von
Children were direct witnesses of the Holocaust “by bullets” in occupied Eastern Europe – and sometimes more than that. They were capable of roles and actions that have little in common with our traditional romanticized ideas and expectations about “innocent childhood”. This article is arguing for a more complex understanding of how children and adolescents confronted the Holocaust in the occupied Soviet Union. Minors, like adults, continuously faced the decision to passively watch acts of discrimination, to participate in them, or even to take part in humiliating and harassing Jews – or, conversely, to come to their aid. In this respect, youngsters were more than just victims or “bystanders”. The range of behaviors was very wide, and it is important to realize that children’s agency had different cosequences for the Jewish population.
Claims to universal norms and the forging of transnational networks
(2025) Zöhrer, Michaela; Methfessel, Christian; Stahl, Daniel
The article analyzes the ways in which claims to universal norms promote, or complicate, collaboration in the context of transnational activism. It emphasizes the potential of a constructivist understanding of universality, i.e. not as something intrinsic to certain norms, but rather as an empirically powerful assumption and a strategic tool. The argumentation is based on two case studies. The first looks at how networks of transnational solidarity were formed and conflicts between activist groups emerged in response to conflict-related sexual violence committed during the Bosnian War. The second example looks at responses to the crimes committed by ISIS in Iraq in 2014 and beyond, demonstrating how shifts within the field of transitional justice, and in particular the emergence of norms centered on the concerns and participation of survivors, have shaped the building of networks around the right to reparation.
German chemical firms in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s
(2025) Marx, Christian
This article explores foreign multinationals and their analysis of the future economic relevance of Latin American countries amidst the economic and financial turbulences in the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, it investigates how German chemical companies adapted their investment and foreign market strategies towards the fast-changing Latin American markets. Utilising a variety of archival resources, the article presents two case studies (Bayer/Hoechst) from the German chemical industry, which is one of Germany’s most globalised sectors. The article shows the way in which they adapted to Latin America’s state-led industrialisation and macroeconomic uncertainty by strategically managing the emphasis between exports and FDI. Despite the unmet expectations of the 1950s and 1960s, these companies maintained their presence in Latin America but progressively shifted towards overseas production through their own subsidiaries.
Rooting for a Serbian-Dominated Yugoslavia?
(2025) Methfessel, Christian
The recognition of Slovenia and Croatia was a defining moment in the history of the post-Cold War order in Europe. From the outset, this step was a controversial one, and scholars focussing on the role of the United Kingdom often claim that London’s responses to the collapse of Yugoslavia can be explained by a long British tradition of pro-Serbian sentiment, the Foreign Office’s realpolitik approach, or Britain’s neocolonial interests. This article analyses British foreign policy on the basis of recently declassified documents in order to critically discuss such assumptions about the motives of British foreign policy and thus contribute to the international history of the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s.