France and the German question 1945 1990 In the immediate aftermath of World War Two the victors were unable to agree on Germanys fate and the separation of the country the result of the nascent Cold War emerged as a de facto if provisional settlement. Yet East and West Germany would exist apart for half a century making the German question a central foreign policy issue and given the war torn history between the two countries this was felt no more keenly than in France. Drawing on the most recent historiography and previously untapped archival sources this volume shows how Frances approach to the German question was for the duration of the Cold War both more constructive and consequential than has been previously acknowledged.