Fulda Gap

Battlefield of the Cold War Alliances

Foreword by Gordon R. Sullivan Contributions by Volker Bausch, Roger Cirillo, Torsten Diedrich, Helmut H. Hammerich, Helge Hansen, Albin F. Irzyk, Dieter Krüger, Siegfried Lautsch, Gregory W. Pedlow, Michael Poppe, Detlef Rotha, Mathias Rupp, Crosbie E. Saint, Matthias Uhl Edited by Dieter Krüger, Volker Bausch Translated by David R. Dorondo

Publication date:

20 November 2017

Length of book:

372 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498569484

This edited collection examines the role of the Fulda Gap—located at the border between East and West Germany—in Cold War politics and military strategy. The contributors analyze the strategic deliberations of the Warsaw Pact and NATO, the balance of forces, the role of the local peace movement, and various other topics, while weaving together the history of the Cold War at local, European, and global levels.

Foreword, Gordon R. Sullivan
Introduction, Dieter Krüger and Volker Bausch
Translator’s Note, David R. Dorondo
Chapter 1: Fulda Gap: A Flashpoint of the Cold War between Myth and Reality, Helmut H. Hammerich
Chapter 2: The Eighth Guards Army of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Fulda Gap, Matthias Uhl
Chapter 3: The Strategic and Operational Considerations of NATO in Europe since the 1970s, Helge Hansen
Chapter 4: The Development of the Military Conceptions of the Warsaw Pact in the Last Two Decades of the East–West Conflict, Siegfried Lautsch
Chapter 5: The Development of NATO Defense Plans for Central Europe in the Final Decades of the Cold War, Gregory W. Pedlow
Chapter 6: The Defense of Highway 84: Recollections of the Commander, B Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1978–1980, Roger Cirillo
Chapter 7: The Fulda Gap: A Personal Perspective from Platoon Leader to Army Group, Crosbie E. Saint
Chapter 8: The GDR and its Mission in the Warsaw Pact, Torsten Diedrich
Chapter 9: The Wartime Mission of the Border Troops of the GDR, Detlef Rotha
Chapter 10: Brinkmanship in the Cold War: Theoretical Foundation and Application, Mathias Rupp
Chapter 11: When the Cold War Almost Turned Hot, Albin F. Irzyk
Chapter 12: When the World Stood at the Abyss—and No One Knew It, Volker Bausch
Chapter 13: The Military Relationship of Forces between the North Atlantic Alliance and the Warsaw Pact, Michael Poppe
Chapter 14: The Alliances and the Fulda Gap: A Balance between Ideology, Politics, Strategy, and Operational Plans, Dieter Krüger

Overall this book provides a valuable contribution to the study of the Cold War. . . the operational, strategic, and theoretical examinations of both alliances provide an excellent and compact contribution to the literature.