Helmut Schmidt is the neglected chancellor of modern German
history, overshadowed by 'the greats' - Bismarck, Adenauer, Brandt
and Kohl. This volume retrieves Schmidt's true significance as a
pivotal figure who helped reshape the global order during the
crisis-ridden 1970s. This major reinterpretation, based on detailed
research in Schmidt's private papers and numerous archives in
Europe and America, reveals him as a leader equally skilled in
economics and security, and adept at personal diplomacy, who dared
to act as a 'double interpreter' between the superpowers during the
nadir of the Cold War. Schmidt was no mere 'crisis-manager': in
fact he brought to the chancellorship a depth of reflection,
evident in two decades of writings and speeches that justifies
considering him an intellectual statesman on a par with Henry
Kissinger. His achievements were prodigious. Hailed as the 'world
economist', Schmidt helped create the G7 forum for global economic
governance and the European Monetary System at a time when
capitalism seemed on the rocks. And as the 'strategist of balance',
he designed NATO's 'dual-track' response to the crisis caused by
the massive Soviet arms buildup of Euro-missiles. This decision,
Kristina Spohr argues, played a crucial part in holding together
the Western alliance and paved the way to defusing the Cold War in
Europe. Schmidt brought his country to the top table of world
politics - what he unashamedly called Weltpolitik - as an equal of
the wartime victor powers. It was through his Chancellorship that
West Germany came of age on the global stage.
General
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