13 September 2006
After a gap of six months, I am re-starting this blog to write about my dissertation, which needs to be completed in 12 months time – in September 2007.
My area of interest is the British Occupation of Germany after the second world war. In particular, to what extent did the British and Americans succeed in ‘winning the peace’ as well as the war? And how did people, on both sides, become reconciled to the former enemy and even, in many cases, become friends, allies and partners?
The period between the end of the war in Europe, in May 1945, and the economic recovery of Western Europe from 1948 onwards, has been largely neglected by historians.
Those who have studied it, have looked at issues such as the Cold War, the division of Europe into two opposing blocs, the Marshall Plan and economic recovery in the West, and the influence of the occupying powers on the future development of German politics and society.
As a student of Contemporary British History, it seems to me that a significant gap in our knowledge lies, not in understanding the period of occupation in terms of international diplomacy, or the history of Germany, but in what it can tell us about British history, society, politics and culture.
For five years, and with reserved powers in some areas for longer, the British ruled an area half the size of their own country and had direct responsibility for a population of over 20 million. At its peak the number of people employed by the Control Commission for Germany, British Element, to give it its proper name, was 26,000.
With very few exceptions, this episode in British history is ignored in surveys of Britain, except in so far as it contributed to increased global tensions and the cold war, or was an economic burden on the British treasury.
My dissertation aims to show that the British occupation of Germany can tell us as much about how the British saw themselves, as about how they perceived Germany and the Germans.
It will focus in particular on how British policy and actions in Germany were presented by the government, to people at home. In this way, I hope it can shed some light on both the policies and attitudes of government, and on the concerns of the general population, during the critical period of transition from war to peacetime.
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