Security and Sovereignty: A Proposal for the Interpretation of the "German Question" in Historical Perspective

This essay argues that West German post-war history, just as the "German question", can be valuably approached by assessing the concepts of "security" and "sovereignty" through their historical development. The discursive omnipresence of the latter terms after 1945 links the German question to its macro-historical frame, and to some degree even establishes a mise-en abyme relationship between the two. By giving some insights into four German events - the Paris Treaties and German re-armament in the 1950s, the discussions on the Emergency Acts and the student's movement of the late 1960s, the renewal of the security and sovereignty policies brought by the SPD-FDP coalition during the 1970s and finally the controversies over NATO's double-track decision and nuclear armaments after 1979 -, this article will substantiate the thesis that research on both West German security and sovereignty is helpful to reveal some central historical features that not only affected the Federal Republic, but also cast their influence well beyond the German national borders.