The Allied Occupation of Germany: The Refugee Crisis, Denazification and the Path to Reconstruction

(Paperback)

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In the years following World War II, the allies occupied a shattered Germany. Britain held North-Western Germany for ten years, overseeing the rehabilitation of 'the biggest single forced population movement in modern history', as Germans from around Europe were expelled from the crumbling Third Reich. This was a humanitarian crisis - with most hospitals, houses, transport networks and schools destroyed during the war, and the British and Americans running enormous and often inhumane refugee camps. Here, Francis Graham-Dixon assesses how the British squared their ethical focus on liberalism with their status as an occupying power, and examines the economic, military and political pressures of the period through the key turning points of the end of World War II - the bombing of Hamburg in 1943, the mismanagement of the refugee camp system and the fallout between occupiers and occupied after the Nuremberg trials of 1945/6. The first book to compare German and British sources from the period, this is an essential contribution to the literature on World War II, the Cold War and post-war Europe.

Reviews

Drawing on an impressive range of archival sources, this study broadens our understanding of the complexities of post-war stabilisation and reconstruction, and the challenges of establishing democracy in the context of military occupation. * Stephen Schroeder, German History *
[A]n important contribution in the field and a very rich source for those interested in the history of the British occupation. * Camilo Erlichman, German Historical Institute London Bulletin *
Francis Graham-Dixon makes excellent use of the relevant sources, and his interpretations are both nuanced and balanced. * Mark Hull, H-Net Reviews *
In our age of mass uprooting and enforced migrancy, when the hardships of refugees and the ethics of humanitarian aid press ever more insistently on the boundaries of engaged democratic consciousness and feasible action, the urgency of looking carefully at earlier episodes become evident and compelling. In his searching examination of the British occupation administration of Germany after 1945, Francis Graham-Dixon provides precisely such historical guidance. * Geoff Eley, Karl Pohrt Distinguished Professor of Contemporary History, University of Michigan, USA *

Author Bio

Francis Graham-Dixon holds a PhD in History from Sussex University and was Visiting Fellow at Humboldt University.