Winning the Peace: The British in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

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.

Reviews

Christopher Knowles has written a compelling, perceptive, and analytically rigorous monograph His book is a welcome contribution to a fast-evolving literature. * Journal of Modern History *
[An] informative and well-written account of the transition from war to peace and the British occupation policies in Germany which sheds light on agency and the motives and attitudes of key individuals Knowles interprets the occupation period as a complex and multifaceted process and adds valuable aspects to existing explanations. * Cercles *
This is a valuable contribution to any reading list devoted to this phase of British-German history or to the study of military occupation. * Journal of British Studies *
[This] persuasive monograph will be essential reading for anyone interested in the subject. * German History *
A knowledgeable and very well-written book, which fosters detailed research ... [and] provides a good overview of the structures, background and developments of the early British occupation. * H-Soz-Kult (Bloomsbury translation) *
Approaching the British occupation regime in Germany through a range of biographies sheds a new light on the occupation regime itself. The book is particularly strong in reconstructing the mental worlds of military governors, civilian administrators and diplomats as well as younger military officers. Making good use of diverse generational experiences, Christopher Knowles argues convincingly that the positive contribution of these people to the remaking of Germany after the Second World War should be recognised. * Stefan Berger, Director of the Institute for Social Movements and Chairman of the committee of the History of the Ruhr Foundation, Bochum, Germany *
Chris Knowles multi-layered appraisal of the aims, intentions and achievements of the British occupation of Germany through his examination of the diverse views and experiences of a sample of British generals, civilian administrators and young junior military government officers not only uniquely exposes and deconstructs the constraints on the occupiers and their potential for agency but also makes a significant contribution to the new field of occupation studies. * Rebecca Boehling, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, USA *
Christopher Knowles Winning the Peace is a significant contribution to the history of the British occupation in Germany after 1945. Investigating the collective biography of twelve officers it considerably extends our knowledge of the British policies by highlighting the wide variety of often conflicting ideas and strategies within the military and civil administration of Germany. * Michael Schaich, Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the German Historical Institute London, UK *
[T]his book is invaluable reading for anyone wishing to study the British zone of occupation in Germany a category, it is hoped, that will soon rival the already burgeoning literature on the US zone of Germany. * European Review of History *

Author Bio

Christopher Knowles is Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London, UK.