Germany and the United States

Recognition and the First Rupture

Prussia recognized the United States by treaty in 1785; diplomatic relations followed in 1797. Recognition of the German Empire in 1871 required George Bancroft, already the American minister in Berlin, to be accredited to the new imperial government. War later dismantled that diplomatic framework. On 3 February 1917, Secretary of State Robert Lansing returned Ambassador Johann von Bernstorff's passports and announced the withdrawal of the American ambassador from Berlin. His note explained that Germany's renewed submarine campaign had abandoned assurances about civilian shipping. Congress's declaration of war followed two months later. [1] [2] [3]

The Financial Work of Restoring Relations

Full diplomatic relations resumed in December 1921. Financial reconstruction then tied Germany to the United States even while Washington insisted that Allied war debts and German reparations were separate obligations. Under the 1924 Dawes Plan, Germany’s annual reparations payments were reduced and foreign supervision accompanied a loan to stabilize its economy. American banks subsequently supplied funds that helped Germany pay its European creditors, who in turn serviced debts to the United States. The 1929 Young Plan reduced and rescheduled the total reparations burden and provided for an end to foreign supervision. Its dependence on credit became a profound weakness as the Depression cut lending. [1] [5]

The German mission in Washington became a channel for emergency measures. On June 19, 1931, Secretary of State Henry Stimson met the German chargé, Leitner, at Woodley and explained President Herbert Hoover’s exploration of a year’s suspension of intergovernmental payments. Stimson stressed that executive action needed congressional support and that relief had to involve the other creditor powers. With information reaching the press, he wanted foreign representatives to hear the proposal directly. Leitner took notes as Stimson outlined both the economic danger and the political limits on American action. [6]

Hoover released his statement the following day, and Stimson sent it to the American ambassador in Paris for immediate transmission to the French government. The proposed postponement covered principal and interest on government debts, reparations, and relief obligations; it excluded debts held by private parties. American concessions would depend on corresponding action by other major creditors and confirmation by Congress. Hoover expressly rejected cancellation. His proposal connected European recovery to American exports, employment, and farm prices, while maintaining that reparations remained a European responsibility. [7]

Persecution and Another War

Nazi persecution brought another reduction in representation. After the November 1938 pogrom, President Franklin Roosevelt recalled Ambassador Hugh Wilson for consultation. Germany recalled Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff from Washington in response. Diplomatic officials still had urgent protective work to do. On November 16, Wilson reported German Foreign Office assurances that American Jews would not have to contribute to the billion mark levy imposed on Germany’s Jewish community and that foreign insurance policyholders were outside a decree canceling compensation for damage. He cautioned that the assurances were not a formal reply. The position of foreign Jews under restrictions on retail and export trade remained unresolved. [1] [8]

Germany severed relations and declared war on December 11, 1941. Its defeat was followed by Allied occupation and division. Washington later established full diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic in May 1955, raising its Washington mission to an embassy under Heinz Krekeler. [1] [9]

Alliance, Division, and Unresolved Claims

During Chancellor Konrad Adenauer’s Washington visit in June 1955, he and President Dwight Eisenhower considered the approaching four power talks with the Soviet Union. Their joint statement sought an early path toward German reunification but rejected neutrality as the basis for German independence. Both governments favored collective security. [9]

The following June, Adenauer visited Eisenhower at Walter Reed Hospital while the president was recovering. Eisenhower spoke about bringing the two parts of Germany together, and Adenauer welcomed the course of the Washington discussions. A lighter exchange with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles turned to German assets left unresolved after the war. Eisenhower acknowledged that the problem remained unsettled. [10]

An agreement with the German Democratic Republic in 1974 established American recognition and diplomatic relations. Washington accepted East Germany’s existence as a separate government, while still regarding the Federal Republic as the sole legitimate successor of the historical German state. [1]

A Negotiated Unification

The 1990 settlement required agreement on borders, armed forces, and the international position of a united Germany. The United States supported continued German membership in NATO, while the Soviet Union initially pressed for neutrality. Both German states and the four wartime powers negotiated restrictions on military forces and foreign deployments, together with the termination of the powers' remaining rights. They signed the final settlement in Moscow on 12 September 1990; it entered into force on 15 March 1991. Washington continued its relations with the Federal Republic as unification took effect, rather than recognizing another new German state. [4] [1]

The Partnership after Unification

Unification moved the relationship beyond the occupation settlement, while leaving American security commitments and German participation in European institutions central to it. By October 2024, the governments were coordinating military assistance, training, and air defence support for Ukraine. Their economic dialogue also covered critical technologies and the transition to cleaner energy. [11]

The relationship also rested on institutions that outlasted individual governments. The Fulbright program, established in Germany in 1952, and the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange, launched in 1983, sustained educational and civic contacts. In the 2020s, climate and energy cooperation and exchanges over emerging technology added new work to that established network. [11]