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A transformative military occupation aimed at the radical ideological change of an occupied country must exercise cultural control. The occupiers must complement repression with propaganda and censorship to create new narratives and prohibit those deemed undesirable. Do transformative military occupations carried out by dictatorships and liberal democracies differ in the way in which they handle information control? I argue that the mechanisms of cultural control used by the Third Reich in France (1940-1942) and by the United States in Germany (1945-1949), shared significant similarities in spite of the fact that their respective agendas were inspired by opposite ideological tenets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The largely unknown speech of the chief administrator of SMA (Soviet Military Administration) Thuringia, Ivan S. Kolesničenko (1907-1984), on 10 January 1947 marked the beginning of the transition from a military to a politically organised (albeit militarily secured) occupation regime in the Soviet Zone of Occupation in Germany. The starting point was the realisation in late 1946 that an improved relationship with the German side was necessary for the better implementation of the original goals of the occupation, among them a peace treaty which would be acceptable for all the Allies and the Germans in all four Zones of Occupation. This transition intersected with the changes in policy towards Germany in 1947 - in itself a contentious topic of historiography until today. Kolesničenko's speech can be seen as a key document for the history of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) and its occupation policy. Between 1945 and 1949 he served as the political head of SMA Thuringia. His initiative was coordinated with the SMAD leadership, which sent copies of the speech to the chief administrators of the other Länder and provinces and thus endued it with the character of an official policy document for the entire zone. The initiative aimed at changed "working styles", other forms of organisation, an - explicitly so named - "Perestrojka" of principles, methods and structures of occupational rule. At the centre was the restructuring of the network of commanders and the strengthening of political control processes regarding German administrations, Länder governments and Länder parliaments. This was supposed to be based on the principle of "control instead of intervention". This "Perestrojka" concept contains no strategic change regarding guidelines related to the policy towards Germany, but possessed decisive importance for later occupation practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no definitive, single-volume history of the Allied occupation and reconstruction of West Germany from 1945 to 1955. This is a significant and surprising lacuna in the literature on US and European history, international relations, and the rapidly growing field in reconstruction and stabilization operations. Scholars, historians, and policymakers need a comprehensive treatment of the German occupation. There is now an opportunity to fill that need. This bibliographic essay reviews the wealth of source material that has become available in recent decades. We can now synthesize primary sources and specialized scholarship to tell the story, for the first time, of how the Allies occupied and rebuilt the western part of Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the Second World War, the British, American and French believed education could be used to promote democracy in Germany. The Western powers faced particular difficulties with the field of physical education because of the strong Nazi influence in this area during the Third Reich. The premier pre-war physical education teacher training institute was located in the Soviet sector of Berlin. To help solve that problem as well as the dearth of qualified physical education teachers in post-war Germany, the Western Allies wanted to create a new institution for physical education. This article places the creation of the Deutsche Sporthochschule in Cologne within broader Allied education plans and goals for the occupation of Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent military interventions by the West highlight persistent and unresolved problems regarding future foreign policy. Reconsidering the wider legacy and precedent of the British occupation of Germany from 1945 is critical in understanding these debates. Addressing a neglected topic, this article examines whether Britain reconciled its liberal democratic values as an occupying power, and in particular how its government tried to invoke the Christian ‘moral mandate’ of the British churches and voluntary organizations as an instrumental feature of policy, part of its civilizing mission in Germany. Central to this, however, were manifest contradictions between the churches’ rhetorical efforts to help the presentation of the moral case for military rule, and a policy vacuum that offered few practical measures to help German civilians, and especially expellees and refugees. Moreover, Britain's claims of moral leadership were at odds with its decision to delegate refugee matters to the German authorities. There were major differences in approach by church leaders, Whitehall ministers and civilian administrators in Germany in assessing how magnanimous to be in their treatment of Germany. With greater unanimity of purpose, humanitarian initiatives might have had greater success and become a more uniting symbol for reconciliation. The main failing was in the churches’ inability to modify government policy. Compassionate rhetoric and humanitarian relief efforts could not repair the damage caused by earlier political decisions to marginalize forced migrants that effectively punished them as Germans, a legacy of the occupation often sidestepped in order to focus on greater British achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the complex interplay between the American military governor and German political leaders through an analysis of two crises that occurred over the making of the Basic Law. Why did a trial of strength between General Lucius Clay and the Social Democratic Party leadership in March and April 1949 come about? Understanding Clay's intervention in the politics of constitution-making in occupied Germany requires a more probing investigation than references to the temperament of a “proconsul” or a bias against a left-wing party. The analysis of Clay's intervention in this account shows how the Social Democrats evaded and challenged directives from the occupation authorities, and illuminates the limits of his influence over German framers of the Basic Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experience of the small rural community of Wildflecken in the Bavarian district of Lower Franconia after the second world war. This area became an important center for those uprooted by the war, including Polish displaced persons, evacuees from German cities, and Germans who fled or were expelled from Eastern Europe. Because of its strategic location, it also attracted the interest of the US Army. The multi-faceted refugee crisis strongly influenced the development and implementation of occupation policy, while the presence of American and non-German outsiders helped to integrate ethnic German refugees into rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an examination into the planned use of military deterrence in the occupations of Germany and Japan in the aftermath of World War II. Comments are given noting the popular rhetoric suggesting that the two occupations were examples of peaceful and progressive campaigns but assertions are made suggesting that the deliberate threat of violence from U.S. occupying forces was still an important part of maintaining control.

This article explores an overlooked aspect of the Soviet occupation of post-war Germany, namely, the influence of wartime violence on German behavioural patterns during the post-war period. Whilst many historians have noted that violent Soviet conduct in Germany merely encouraged the intensification of existing anti-Soviet attitudes therein, few have attempted to thoroughly investigate its influence on German behaviour. The conclusions made by those few historians who have done so are unsupported by the Soviet archival evidence drawn upon in the article. Using this evidence, the article highlights the tentative links between the violent repression of an occupation force and the muted responses of its subjects. It concludes that the nature of the repression and of the broader occupation landscape in which it developed, was integral in ensuring that the characteristically docile behaviour of the German population toward the Soviet occupier continued unabated throughout much of the occupation period. Those horrible weeks are in the past. The Nazis frightened us into thinking that the Russians would send all Germans to perpetual slavery in cold Siberia. Now we see that this was a blatant lie. The measures taken by the Soviet Komendant demonstrate that the Russians are not planning to insult and exterminate us. Once again, I have gained a perspective on life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is the completion of an article begun in the November 1984 issue of "Zeitschrift für Sozilalreform." The failure to achieve of a uniform national social security policy among the four occupying powers in post-WWII Germany is reviewed. A history through 1948 of negotiations and legal proposals for social security in occupied Germany is presented.

The article presents the text of a directive by the allied control authority occupying Germany after WWII. The document outlines the provisions of a compulsory social security system exclusive of accident insurance for all workers and employees in occupied Germany. The social insurance covers pensions, health benefits, casualties, and unemployment.

The article discusses German law pertaining to social security that was enacted in March 1945 but differentially applied in the British versus other Allied zones of occupation. The British introduced the first regulations governing the simplification of social security. Provisions of that statutory simplification are summarized.