This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Winning the peace: the British in occupied Germany, 1945-1948. Knowles, Christopher Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. 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WINNING THE PEACE: THE BRITISH IN OCCUPIED GERMANY, 1945-1948 Christopher Knowles A thesis submitted to the Department of History, Kings College, London, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, February 2014 1 Abstract This thesis examines the contribution made by twelve important and influential individuals to the development of a policy of physical and economic reconstruction, political renewal and personal reconciliation in the British Zone of occupied Germany in the first three years after the end of the Second World War. The selected individuals all possessed power, authority and influence, at different levels of the hierarchy, and collectively represent the view of the ‘governing elite’ of the occupation, including some of its internal differences. They have been categorised in three groups of four: those at the top of the hierarchy, the three Military Governors and one of their senior generals; four senior civilian diplomats and administrators responsible for promoting democracy in Germany; and four young officers with no adult experience but war, who held responsible and influential positions despite their youth. A biographical approach is a novel methodology for studying the British occupation of Germany. It highlights the diversity of aims and personal backgrounds and in so doing can explain some of the apparent contradictions in occupation policy. Personal influences were especially important in a period of transition from war to peace, when official policy guidelines appeared unclear or inappropriate and organisational structures created for the occupation were short-lived and changed rapidly. A wide range of sources has been used including memoirs and autobiographies, official documents, personal papers and oral history interviews. Although sources were created at different times for different purposes, most accounts were found to be remarkably consistent, both internally and with each other. Subjective accounts have been placed in their historical context in order to understand individuals’ perceptions, motivations and personal interests, together with the limitations and constraints on their scope for action. 2 Acknowledgements Many people, too numerous to mention all by name, have helped me at various stages of my research. I would like to thank my fellow students at the Institute of Contemporary British History at Kings College London, especially Kath Sherit who organised our student reading group, and Mary Salinsky who read and commented on my draft thesis. I would like to thank the late Sir Michael Palliser and Jan Thexton for agreeing to be interviewed, and Michael Howard for giving me a signed copy of his memoir Otherwise Occupied and answering various questions. Renate Greenshields shared her memories of what it was like to be one of the first German war brides in Britain and introduced me to the family of Vaughan Berry. Professor George Bain kindly gave me his permission to research the papers of Allan Flanders at the Modern Records Centre. Sisters, sons, daughters, nephews and nieces of other individuals I have researched have been generous in providing family memories, including Martin and Mike Albu, Nick Chaloner, Leila Ingrams, Joan Woodward and Kate Owen, who lent me copies of personal letters from her uncle, Vaughan Berry. Librarians and archivists who have been especially helpful include Sarah Paterson at the Imperial War Museum, Andrew Riley at Churchill Archives Centre and Heinz Egleder at Der Spiegel. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my supervisors Professors Pat Thane and Bernd Weisbrod, who have encouraged me to think carefully about all aspects of my research. Lastly without the help and support of my wife, Mary Anne and children, Emily and Jack, I could never have started on the six year project of a part-time PhD or completed the thesis. 3 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3 Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 4 List of illustrations .................................................................................................................................... 8 The twelve principal individuals discussed in the thesis ......................................................................... 9 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 10 1.1 Research questions, scope and purpose of the thesis .............................................................. 10 1.2 Methodology: A biographical approach ..................................................................................... 13 Advantages and disadvantages of a biographical approach ......................................................... 14 Selection criteria and categorisation .............................................................................................. 16 Exclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Time period .................................................................................................................................... 21 How the thesis is organised ........................................................................................................... 22 1.3 Sources ...................................................................................................................................... 22 1.4 Historiography ............................................................................................................................ 26 PART I PHYSICAL RECONSTRUCTION: THE MILITARY GOVERNORS AND ARMY GENERALS ................................................................... 33 2 Bernard Montgomery, Brian Robertson and Alec Bishop: Creating order out of chaos and ‘rebuilding civilisation’: May 1945 – April 1946 ............................................................. 34 2.1 Classically educated soldiers in the service of the British Empire .............................................. 37 Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery .............................................................................................. 37 Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Robertson ....................................................................................... 40 Major-General Sir Alec Bishop .....................................................................................................