War, guilt, and world politics after World War II /

War, guilt, and world politics after World War II /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Berger, Thomas U.
Imprint:	Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012, ©2012.
Description:	vii, 259 pages ; 24 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	World War (1939-1945) World War, 1939-1945 -- Reparations. World War, 1939-1945 -- Historiography. Restitution -- Europe. Reparations for historical injustices -- Europe. Cultural property -- Repatriation -- Europe. World War, 1939-1945 -- Confiscations and contributions -- Europe. Guilt -- Political aspects. World War, 1939-1945 -- Psychological aspects. War victims. War reparations. Confiscations. Cultural property -- Repatriation. Historiography. Psychological aspects. Reparations for historical injustices. Restitution. War victims. Europe.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/8901907

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9781107021600 (hardback) 110702160X (hardback) 9781107674950 (paperback) 1107674956 (paperback)
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"This book describes how the states in post-1945 Austria, Germany, and Japan have tried to deal with the legacy of the Second World War and how their policies have affected their relations with other countries in the region"--Provided by publisher. "We live in an age of apology and recrimination. Over the past two decades, the world has witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of expressions of contrition by political leaders for past injustices their countries are held responsible for. At the same time, there has been an upsurge in demands for apologies, restitution and variety of forms of compensation on the behalf of groups and nations that feel they have been victimized. The Federal Republic of Germany may well be the paradigmatic example of this trend. More than sixty years after the end of World War II it continues to wrestle with the legacies of the Third Reich, offering long-overdue compensation to the hundreds of thousands of former slave laborers while arguing with the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic over how to commemorate the millions of ethnic Germans who were driven out of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the war. Germany might seem to have long been a special case in this regard, burdened as it is by an especially terrible history. Yet other examples abound: the bitter disputes between Russia and its neighbors over how to view the Soviet Union, the disagreement between Israelis and Palestinians over whether the Arab population in Israel had fled or were driven from their homes in 1947, or repeated accusations in Asia that Japan has failed to apologize adequately for its history of atrocity and aggression before 1945. And the list could well be extended almost ad infinitum"--Provided by publisher.

Description
Summary:	When do states choose to adopt a penitent stance towards the past? When do they choose to offer apologies for historical misdeeds, offer compensation for their victims and incorporate the darker sides of history into their textbooks, public monuments and museums? When do they choose not to do so? And what are the political consequences of how states portray the past? This book pursues these questions by examining how governments in post-1945 Austria, Germany and Japan have wrestled with the difficult legacy of the Second World War and the impact of their policies on regional politics in Europe and Asia. The book argues that states can reconcile over historical issues, but to do so requires greater political will and imposes greater costs than is commonly realized. At the same time, in an increasingly interdependent world, failure to do so can have a profoundly disruptive effect on regional relations and feed dangerous geopolitical tensions.
Physical Description:	vii, 259 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:	9781107021600 110702160X 9781107674950 1107674956