All eyes on the streets: how protest movements influenced international perceptions of Germany and the Germans.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20409487

"All Eyes on the Streets" examines the ways in which West German activists, mobilized into large protest movements, were able to shift the international image of their country during the years of the Cold War. Focusing on the United Kingdom and the United States of America, the dissertation argues that West German activists succeeded in capturing the attention of foreign officials stationed in the country. These officials, whether diplomatic staffers or other "German experts," then wrote up memoranda on the protests that they had observed. These reports, received and read by policy makers at the highest level of government in both the U.K. and the U.S., were highly influential in altering perceptions of Germany and "the Germans". Whereas in the first decade of the Cold War, Germans were often considered to be dangerous militarists, these images were difficult to maintain once officials read reports describing the pacifism of thousands of committed pacifists. This dissertation thus suggests that mobilized social protest had a direct impact on discourse within political institutions and policy making in both the U.K. and U.S. In turn this suggests protest movements cannot be studied in isolation but must be understood as part of a wider political process.--Author's abstract