Germany: 1945 to 1949

Term Paper # 100268

History > European - 20th Century

An examination of the social characteristics of German society from 1945 to 1949.

1,551 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses German society's happiness, during the years from 1945-1949, over the demise of the old Nazi and moneyed elite, as well as the society's fanciful desire to "forget" the past. The paper also looks at the persistence of racist attitudes and the ideological and social divide between east and west which accompanied the partition of Germany by the occupying Allied powers. The paper argues that the German social situation in the late 1940s was one where the German people sought to escape the past, but found that geopolitical encumbrances, old attitudes and a divided land made that impossible.

From the Paper:

"Most obviously from a social perspective, the end of the war meant the end of the ancient regime which had dominated Germany prior to the war and then during the course of the war. The erstwhile Nazi officials who remained as the war drew to a close "crawled and lick-spittled" as they sought to gain favor with the collapse of the Third Reich. At the same time, the youth of the land were angry and aggrieved at those who had callously called them forth into battle and then abandoned them when things were direst. Finally, the great masses of the German people were eager to be rid of National Socialism and receptive to re-education (Malzahn, 36).'

Sample of Sources Used:

Malzahn, Manfred. Germany, 1945-1949: A Sourcebook. New York: Routledge, 1991. Questia.com. 11 Nov. 2006 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104176456>
Merritt, Richard L. "Normalizing the East German Media." Political Communication, 11.1 (1994): 49-66.
Mohler, Peter P.H. "Democracy Imposed: U.S. Occupation Policy and the German Public, 1945-1949." Public Opinion Quarterly, 62.1 (1998): 124-125.
Poiger, Uta G. "Denazification in Soviet-Occupied Germany: Brandenburg, 1945-1948 (Book Review)." Journal of Modern History, 76.4 (2004): 995-997.
Scheck, Raffael. "They are just Savages: German Massacres of Black Soldiers from the French Army in 1940." Journal of Modern History, 77.2 (2005): 325-344.