Lecture Frank Bösch Dealing with Dictatorships: German Relations to Autocracies since the 1950s

Germany is nowadays criticised for having had too long close relations with autocracies throughout the world, such as Russia, China or Iran. In his new book Deals mit Diktaturen. Eine andere Geschichte der Bundesrepublik (2024), Frank Bösch has made extensive use of archival sources to explore the origins of these relations. He considers Germany’s global interactions with East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. At the same time, he shows how Germany set boundaries to cooperation with some dictatorships through public and international pressure, and how the country’s engagement for human rights gained in significance.

Frank Bösch is professor of European history in the 20th century at the University of Potsdam and director of the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF). He is the author of numerous books on contemporary history, including on Christian Democrat parties (Die Adenauer-CDU, 2001), political culture (Öffentliche Geheimnisse. Skandale, Politik und Medien in Deutschland und Großbritannien 1880-1914, 2009), history of media (Mediengeschichte. Vom asiatischen Buchdruck zum Computer, 2019), and German history in a global perspective (Zeitenwende 1979. Als die Welt von heute begann, 2019). In February 2024 his latest monograph, on Germany’s dealing with autocracies (Deals mit Diktaturen. Eine andere Geschichte der Bundesrepublik) was published with C.H. Beck.

1 May 2025, 5:15 PM – 7:00 PM, Drift 25, room 1.02, Registration: b.j.z.wesseldijk@uu.nl by Monday 28 April, 5.00 PM.