This study of the origins of the Cold War traces the American role in dividing post-war Germany. It explores how US policy-makers chose partition and mobilized reluctant West Europeans behind that approach. The book casts new light on the Berlin blockade, showing that the United States relied on its nuclear monopoly to protect its German agenda.

In this fresh and challenging study of the origins of the Cold War, Professor Eisenberg traces the American role in dividing postwar Germany. Drawing on many original documentary sources, she examines the Allied meeting on the Elbe, follows the Great Powers through their confrontation in Berlin, and ends with the creation of the West German state in the fall of 1949. Unlike many works in the field, this book argues that the partition of Germany was fundamentally an American decision. U.S. policy makers chose partition, mobilized reluctant West Europeans behind that approach, and, by excluding the Soviets from West Germany, contributed to the isolation of East Germany and the emergence of the post-World War II U.S.-Soviet rivalry. The volume casts new light on the Berlin blockade, demonstrating that the United States rejected United Nations mediation and relied on its nuclear monopoly as the means of protecting its German agenda.