Nowell:
Actually the defect of the post WWI settlement included two main deficiencies: the economic reprisals, about which Max knows enough, and the failure to "occupy until stable." Hitler would have been unthinkable under conditions of continued occupation. So NATO *did* accomplish its *other main mission* -- integration of German military power into a western alliance--in spades as well.
One of the primary benefits of NATO, not often thought about, was that with several hundred thousand British & US troops stationed on German soil, the entire political context was changed. "Defending against Russia" provided an opportunity to reinforce international liberalism in Germany.
When I review literature on imperialism with students, I point out that we "don't know" which anti-imperialist recipe worked because *all* were tried:
Hobson diagnosis: Underconsumption. Recommendation: Free trade and social welfare state. Status: implemented.
Gerschenkron diagnosis: Junkers and protectionism. Recommendation: Destroy Junker class and move to free trade. Status: implemented. (Junkers fed to Russia, some were turned into party members, some executed, lands seized, etc.)
Keynes diagnosis: Punitive economic settlement. Recommendation: free trade zone, economic assistance, limitations of punitive reparations. Status: implemented (some reparations but mostly Marshall plan aid; EC formed).
Clemenceau diagnosis: Inevitably of German effort to dominate Europe. Recommendation: reduce territory and try to control military capability. Status: implemented (loss of much of East Elban territory, permanent presence of NATO troops on German soil).
The only plan that *wasn't* tried was the "pastoralization plan."
-gn -- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 12222
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