An IfZ PublicationSince 1945 Germany s role in the project of European integration has been central to the economic and political development of Europe The fourth volume of the German Yearbook of Contemporary History edited by Mark Gilbert Johns Hopkins University Eva Oberloskamp and Thomas Raithel both Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History IfZ assembles selected articles which have been published previously in the Vierteljahrshefte fur Zeitgeschichte and specially commissioned contributions by international authors The chapters cover a wide range of topics The theories and visions of European integration that were articulated in Europe and in the United States after the end of the Nazi regime and of World War II are the starting point for the volume The period covered by the book stretches to the foundation and earliest stages of European Economic and Monetary Union which received substantial momentum from German unification in 1989 90