page_title: Germany–United States relations
section_title: West Germany
hierarchical_section_title: Germany–United States relations / History / Cold War / West Germany
caption_attribution_description: John F. Kennedy meeting with Willy Brandt at the White House.
context_page_description: Germany–United States relations, also referred to as German–American relations, are the bilateral relations between Germany and the United States. German–American relations are the historic relations between Germany and the United States at the official level, including diplomacy, alliances and warfare. The topic also includes economic relations such as trade and investments, demography and migration, and cultural and intellectual interchanges since the 1680s. The nations fought against each other in two world wars. In the late 1940s the U.S. occupied western Germany and built a demilitarized democratic society. West Germany achieved independence in 1949. It joined NATO with the understanding that its safety being long dependent on the military might and strategic reliability of the U.S. Germany had outsourced its security to the U.S. and NATO. East Germany became a Soviet satellite. After Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe in 1989, Germany was reunified with American support. It became an economic and political powerhouse in Europe and a close ally of the U.S. However relations cooled after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.
context_section_description: The emergence of the Cold War made the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) the frontier of a democratic Western Europe and American military presence became an integral part in West German society. The US presence may have helped smooth over possibly awkward postwar relationships if they had not come under the aegis of the biggest intact army and economy. That lessened the lag before the formation of the precursors to today's EU and may be seen as a silent benefit of Pax Americana. During the Cold War, West Germany developed into the largest economy in Europe and West German-US relations developed into a new transatlantic partnership. Germany and the US shared a large portion of their culture, established intensive global trade environment, and continued to co-operate on new high technologies. However, tensions remained between differing approaches on both sides of the Atlantic. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent German reunification marked a new era in German-American co-operation.
caption: John F. Kennedy meeting with Willy Brandt, in the White House, March 13, 1961.
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