German writers and the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces debate in the 1980s

Thesis/Dissertation · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:7267482

Stokes, A M

In 1979, NATO announced its decision to deploy American intermediate-range nuclear missiles throughout Western Europe. From then until 1987, when the historic Intermediate-range Nuclear forces (INF) treaty provided for the withdrawal of these weapons as well as those deployed by the Soviets in Eastern Europe, the issue of nuclear weapons preoccupied many Europeans, particularly Germans. Beginning in 1980, fear of nuclear war, with the two Germanies as a potential battlefield, mobilized the largest peace movement that the Federal Republic had witnessed since the fifties, occasioned a massive increase in peace propaganda in East Germany, and brought to public notice that country's first unofficial peace movement. Throughout most of the eighties, writers in both German states opposed missile deployment. This study examines their aims and achievements in this effort and investigates the implications of political engagement for the aesthetic production of selected authors. Analysis of press reports, writers' speeches, interviews, essays and literary texts yielded the following results: INF deployment motivated writers of all political persuasions to take up a variety of peace-oriented pursuits.

• Research Organization: Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7267482
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290600 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
350200* -- Arms Control-- Proliferation-- (1987-)
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EUROPE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NATO
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
POLITICAL ASPECTS
TREATIES
WEAPONS