Winning the Peace

The British in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948

Nonfiction, History, British, Military, World War II
Cover of the book Winning the Peace by Christopher Knowles, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christopher Knowles ISBN: 9781474267441
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: January 26, 2017
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic Language: English
Author: Christopher Knowles
ISBN: 9781474267441
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: January 26, 2017
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English

By adopting a unique biographical approach, this book examines the aims and intentions of twelve important and influential individuals who worked for the British Military Government in occupied Germany during the first three years after the end of the Second World War. British policy was distinctive, and the British zone was the largest and economically most important of all four zones. Although the three Western Allies all ended in the same place with the creation of an independent Federal Republic of (West) Germany in 1949, they took different paths to get there. The role of the British has been much misunderstood.

Winning the Peace strikes a balance between earlier self-congratulatory accounts of the British occupation, and the later more critical historiography. It highlights diversity of aims and personal backgrounds and in so doing explains some of the complexities and apparent contradictions in British occupation policy. The book concludes that, despite diversity among those studied, all twelve individuals followed a policy described as the 'three Rs' - Reconstruction, Renewal and Reconciliation - rather than the 'four Ds' - De-militarisation, De-nazification, De-industrialisation, and Democratisation - highlighted in earlier histories of the occupation.

Whilst reflecting on the role of human agency, Christopher Knowles examines why individuals sometimes failed to achieve what they originally intended, and how their aims and perceptions changed over time to reveal broader political, sociological and cultural forces, outside their direct control. This book is an innovative study for those interested in the Allied occupation, the post-war history of Germany and the study of military occupation generally.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

By adopting a unique biographical approach, this book examines the aims and intentions of twelve important and influential individuals who worked for the British Military Government in occupied Germany during the first three years after the end of the Second World War. British policy was distinctive, and the British zone was the largest and economically most important of all four zones. Although the three Western Allies all ended in the same place with the creation of an independent Federal Republic of (West) Germany in 1949, they took different paths to get there. The role of the British has been much misunderstood.

Winning the Peace strikes a balance between earlier self-congratulatory accounts of the British occupation, and the later more critical historiography. It highlights diversity of aims and personal backgrounds and in so doing explains some of the complexities and apparent contradictions in British occupation policy. The book concludes that, despite diversity among those studied, all twelve individuals followed a policy described as the 'three Rs' - Reconstruction, Renewal and Reconciliation - rather than the 'four Ds' - De-militarisation, De-nazification, De-industrialisation, and Democratisation - highlighted in earlier histories of the occupation.

Whilst reflecting on the role of human agency, Christopher Knowles examines why individuals sometimes failed to achieve what they originally intended, and how their aims and perceptions changed over time to reveal broader political, sociological and cultural forces, outside their direct control. This book is an innovative study for those interested in the Allied occupation, the post-war history of Germany and the study of military occupation generally.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Richard Wright in a Post-Racial Imaginary by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Encounters Beyond the Gallery by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Terrorism and Temporality in the Works of Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Filmspeak by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book The Great Warming by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book The Anglo-Irish War by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Pylos and Sphacteria 425 BC by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book The Parliament of Blood by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Fredric Jameson and The Wolf of Wall Street by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Charles Henri Ford: Between Modernism and Postmodernism by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Gone Shopping by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book The Life of Bertrand Russell by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book 100 Ideas for Lesson Planning by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Twilight in Italy by Christopher Knowles
Cover of the book Building Toys by Christopher Knowles
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy