"Germany 1990 is not Germany 1939" - The British response to German unification

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, Dresden Technical University (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Seminar "Britain in Europe - Europe in Britain", language: English, abstract: When the first bricks and pieces of the Berlin Wall fell to the ground on 9 November1989, the German soil might not have been the only thing that has been shaking onthat day: As soon as the news arrived in Number 10 Downing Street, London, thefloor in Margaret Thatcher's office might have been shaking as well.The metaphorical earthquake German reunification is considered today to have beenin those days did not only cause disorientation and confusion in both German statesbut also in Great Britain.Since the four victorious powers decided to split the German nation into four parts -that later became only two - at the Yalta conference, the British felt save from theirgreatest enemy during the Second World War. The balance of power between theSoviet Union and the West seemed to be restored after the Cold War. Germany wasnot strong enough to even try to start a new war, which caused a strong securelyfeeling among the British people and its government.Now, that this stony guarantee for peace got its first cracks it forced the peacefulatmosphere - not only the British created in the bygone decades - to crack as well.In this paper I want to describe the response of both British politicians and the Britishpeople to the events that happened in the months between November 1989 andOctober 1990, but mainly concentrate on two of the most important ones for Britishpolitics during this time, namely the Nicholas Ridley affair and the revelation of theminutes of the Chequers meeting.The British press of course has not ignored these events. Since it became one of themost important commentators on the upheaval that went on in Germany and theBritish domestic discussions and affairs, I want to underline the statements andcomments made by politicians or other spokesperson of public opinions with excerptsof British newspapers.[...]