To adapt to the Cold War bipolar order? Or to challenge it? Macmillan and de Gaulle’s rift in the face of the Second Berlin Crisis
Abstract
Based on multi-archival research in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, this article analyses the Second Berlin Crisis (1958–1963) from a Franco-British perspective which has thus far been neglected. It argues that there was a fundamental divergence between Macmillan and de Gaulle about the nature of the crisis and about the role of their respective countries within the Cold War bipolar order. Thus de Gaulle began already at this stage to implement a revisionist concept of détente, which, by contrast with Macmillan’s own understanding of détente, aimed at progressively calling into question the bipolar division of Europe. The ensuing strategic disagreement between the two men had major repercussions for European integration.