List of Maps ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Abbreviations xix Introduction: The Dynamics of Soviet-East German Relations in the Early Cold War 1 Chapter One: 1953: Soviet-East German Relations and Power Struggles in Moscow and Berlin 12 Chapter Two: 1956-1958: Soviet and East German Policy Debates in the Wake of the Twentieth Party Congress 49 Chapter Three: 1958-1960: Khrushchev Takes on the West in the Berlin Crisis 96 Chapter Four: 1960-1961: Ulbricht, Khrushchev, and the Berlin Wall 139 Conclusion 224 Notes 235 Note on Sources 311 Bibliography 315 Index 337
Hope Harrison's book is a truly distinguished example of new Cold War scholarship. As an account of Soviet-East German relations from 1953 to 1961, it is likely to be definitive. As a case study of how a small power can manipulate a super-power, it is sure to become a classic. As both multi-archival history and international relations theory, therefore, Driving the Soviets up the Wall is a remarkable accomplishment indeed. -- John Lewis Gaddis, Yale University Hope Harrison has written a lucid, penetrating, and deeply knowledgeable study on the relationship between the Kremlin and its most important satellite. -- Strobe Talbott, Brookings Institution This book is likely to become the definitive study on the Berlin Wall's construction. It is valuable not only because of the perspective Harrison provides on the behind-the-scenes interactions between Moscow and East Berlin, but also because of the new insight she gives us into the always complicated and sometimes tumultuous relationship between two of the Cold War's most colorful personalities, Nikita Khrushchev and Walter Ulbricht. I would recommend this book to anyone. -- A. James McAdams, William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs, University of Notre Dame Skillfully using new Soviet and German sources, Hope Harrison weaves a fascinating story of the events leading to the construction of the Berlin wall. Readers will be intrigued by her analysis of the Khrushchev-Ulbricht relationship and by her recasting of the GDR-USSR relationship. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Cold War. -- Mel Leffler, University of Virginia This book provides us with important new information on a crucial and understudied period of the Cold War. The documentation is, in fact, quite remarkable. More importantly, the book contains the seeds of an original and controversial interpretation of intra-Bloc relations by showing how the peripheral states of the Soviet empire could exercise a paradoxical sort of power in relation to Moscow. -- Thomas Banchoff, Georgetown University, author of "The German Problem Transformed" No one has had an opportunity to assess as much original archival material concerning Soviet-East German relations during the 1953-1961 period, and to paint as detailed a picture of this relationship, as Hope Harrison. Her argument about East German influence over the Soviets is provocative and convincing. This book will force students of the Cold War to reassess their views of East Germany and its role between East and West. -- Jeffrey Kopstein, University of Toronto, author of "The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany 1945-1989"
Hope M. Harrison is Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies in the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. She is also Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at the Elliott School. She served as Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council from 2000 to 2001.
Harrison has turned over every archival rock in reconstructing the tense relationship between the Soviet Union and Walter Ulbricht's East Germany, from Stalin's death until the construction of the Berlin Wall... Harrison is not alone in teaching us that third parties played a significant role in shaping the Cold War, but hers is a particularly striking example. Foreign Affairs A smoothly written, clearly organized, and massively documented account ... [which] deserves to be read by every serious student of post-war Europe. -- W.J. Lavery History: Reviews of New Books This aptly entitled book makes an outstanding contribution to what has become known as 'the new Cold War history.' Lucidly written and fascinating to read, it demonstrates how, under a unique set of circumstances, a satellite state in the depths of existential crisis could manipulate a superpower. -- Peter Grieder Central European History
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