France and the Reunification of Germany (2^nd Ed., 2nd ed. 2021) Leadership in the Workshop of World Politics

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European bloc, the reunification of Germany was a major episode in the history of modern Europe ? and one widely held to have been opposed by that country's centuries-old enemy, France. But while it has been previously believed that French President François Mitterrand played a negative role in events leading up to reunification, this book shows that Mitterrand's main concern was not the potential threat of an old nemesis but rather that a reunified Germany be firmly anchored in a unified Europe.

Updated with a new introduction and other materials, the book blends primary research and interviews with key actors in France and Germany to take readers behind the scenes of world governments as a new Europe was formed. Tilo Schabert had unprecedented, exclusive access to French presidential archives and here focuses on French diplomacy not only to dispel the notion that Mitterrand was reluctant to accept reunification but also to show how successful he was in bringing it about.

Re-creates French cabinet meetings and communications between Mitterrand and George H. W. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl, Margaret Thatcher, and other world leaders.

Shows the decisive role that France played in the orchestration of German reunification.

Reshapes our understanding of Germany's reunification,

the end of the Cold war and the construction of a New Europe