This book also reports the allied mass murder of the german people after the end of world war ii during which the alliesled by general dwight d. List of books and articles about postwar germany online. The book gruesome harvest, should be on the mandatory highschool and college reading list for history and sociology. Richard bessel suggests that germans suffering at the end of the war. While some soldiers and civilians enthusiastically embraced orders to. The best books on the aftermath of world war ii five books expert. Dr bessel examines the changes brought by the war to germany, by the. Until the nazis came to power, black musicians and. There are a series of historical novels by philip kerr about a detective named bernie gunther who fought in ww1 and lived in berlin between the wars then fought for the ss in ww2. War children are those born to a native parent and a parent belonging to a foreign military force usually an occupying force, but also military personnel stationed at military bases on foreign soil. Gcse history wjec usa 19292000 the usa and the wider world. Germanys war by john wear refutes this characterization of germany, bringing history into accord with the facts.
This book also helps you appreciate how the cold war started. Germanys war documents that the allied leaders of the soviet union, great britain and the united states were primarily responsible for starting and prolonging world war iicosting million of lives. A nation under arms, 193945 1st edition by stargardt, nicholas isbn. The decisive blow came in january, when a red army invasion force, nearly. When jim crow reigned amid the rubble of nazi germany. I created this board, not out of morbid curiosity, but the insight as to what berlin, germany all that they paid due to their loyalty to adolf hitler, and for the generations that came after so that they may never forget. The aftermath of world war i saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across eurasia, africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Germany had suffered heavy losses during the war, both in lives and industrial power. Gotha, germany eisenhowers death camp the city of gotha is mostly known to americans, if at all, as the first headquarters of the american army in germany, set up by general dwight d. It was carried out by removing those who had been nazi party or ss members from positions of power and influence and by disbanding or rendering impotent the organisations associated with. The weimar republic was germanys government from 1919 to 1933, the period after world war i until the rise of nazi germany. Day of judgment by jack higgins, berlin 1961 by frederick kempe, orderly and humane. Jeffrey diefendorf has written several books about the reconstruction of both germany and japan after world war ii. Located in the center of europe, it borders the netherlands, belgium, luxembourg, and france on the west.
The shocking history of the brutal occupation of germany after the second world war. This 615page volume is much more than a gruesome chronicle of death and human suffering. Germany after the first world war professor of twentieth. Germany after the first world war by richard bessel. The story of world war ii seen through the eyes of regular german citizens. Popular post war germany books showing 143 of 43 the black eagle inn paperback by. This powerful documentary from 2005 explores the condition of germany when the fighting stopped in 1945 and the subsequent four years of occupation and recon. This book received a hostile reception in germany when it was first published in the 1950s and it was only reprinted after the authors death a few years ago, wasnt it. The reconstruction of germany after world war ii was a long process. It is one of the few books that are available in english that address the murder of millions of noncombatant german civilians and german prisoners of war from 1944 to 1950 as a matter of deliberate allied policy not inefficient logistics as it is most often presented. The majority of black soldiers were relegated to labor and service roles after the war. Is there a good book about german life after the first. The countrys cities were severely damaged from heavy bombing in the closing chapters of the war and agricultural.
If one can find fault with this book, it is for sticking too closely to the new orthodoxy of the history of world war ii. The real causes of world war 2 and its devastating effects. Although these books are fiction, they are without a doubt the best. Christoph fischer goodreads author shelved 21 times as post wargermany avg rating 4. The soviet unionruled tyrannically by joseph stalinhad carried on a propaganda war with nazi germany for most of the 1930s, only to sign a nonaggression pact with hitler in august 1939 and. One of the most gruesome wars of all time, world war 2 is best known for the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki by the united states and the holocaust the genocide of six million european jews by nazi germany. Some economists argued against such a big bill, and predicted that it would take germany until 1988 to pay it. This 1946 british documentary short film depicts the shattered state of germany, both physically and as a society, in the immediate aftermath of world war ii. Division of germany on 23 may 1949 the sectors of germany controlled by france, the uk and the usa were merged to form the federal republic of germany. The hot war series by harry turtledove, in response to chinese intervention in the korean war, president harry s. Germany after the first world war by richard bessel alibris. The countrys cities were severely damaged from heavy bombing in the closing chapters of the war. With the defeat of germany and japan, their plans were put into action. Macdonoghs important book is an antidote to the simplistic but enduring propaganda portrait of world war ii as a clash between good and evil, and debunks the widely accepted image of benevolent allied treatment of defeated germany.
After the defeat in the great war, germany floundered for an incredibly dark decade, in which failed revolutions, starvation, suicide, and paramilitary scuffles all played a part. This is a social history of germany in the years following the first world war. Antony beevor, author of the acclaimed new book about the fall of berlin, on a massive war crime committed by the victorious red army. Ive arranged these books in alphabetical order by the authors last names within. This original and scholarly book offers important insights into the sense of dislocation, both personal and national, experienced by germany and germans after the first world war, and the damaging legacy of the war for german democracy. The forgotten wolf children of world war ii following the end of the devastating conflict, children of east prussia went to great lengths in order to survive.
On 7 october 1949, the soviet zone became the german democratic republic, splitting germany into two states for the next 40 years. Reflecting on the greatest war in human history, one cannot help but think about the terrible conflict as a whole, its leaders, its peoples, and the puzzles still open about its conduct. When the war ended, the allies assumed control of germany and decommissioned its entire military. Why german soldiers dont have to obey orders history. Leaders on both sides realised that at stake from the very beginning was a complete restructuring of the world order. In this massive but thorough meditation, stargardt european historymagdalen coll.
Europe, after what we call the ending of the war, was a continent in complete. After wwii, europe was a savage continent of devastation. The german war, by nicholas stargardt the new york times. After wwii, europe was a savage continent of devastation in his book, which has just won the hesselltiltman prize for history, keith lowe describes a land with no governments, schools, banks or. A decade after witnesses of war, his impressive deconstruction.
The thing that stuck in my mind was that the tone, phrases, attitudes, etc of the book were of the winner writes history slant which would be so odd to us today. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, new ones were formed, boundaries were redrawn, international organizations were established, and many new and old ideologies took a firm hold. Popular cold war germany books meet your next favorite book. The pamela shulman professor in european and holocaust studies at the university of new hampshire, he has looked at the way planning shaped the rebuilding of postconflict societies. There are so many aspects of postwar germany, i cant possibly give a complete list of books and other sources. Germanys defeat and the subsequent demobilization of her armies had devastating social and psychological consequences for the nation, which richard bessel sets out to explore in this book.
He and his family ran afoul not just of the german government but of the us. Having a child by a member of a belligerent force, throughout history and across cultures, is often considered a grave betrayal of social values. The reasons for the brutality of this era were threefold. Germandanish war, also called second schleswig war, 1864, the second of two conflicts over the settlement of the schleswigholstein question, a complex of problems arising from the relationship of the duchies of schleswig and holstein to denmark, to each other, and to the german confederation. War reparations as the loser, germany was forced to pay for the war. Dr bessel examines the changes brought by the war to germany, by the return of the.
The book didnt sell at all in germany in the 1950s, while in britain and the united states it sold modestly well. World war 2 changed the course of history for the world. In 1921 these reparations were set at 269 billion marks, or roughly 32 billion dollarsa staggering sum. Germany s war by john wear refutes this characterization of germany, bringing history into accord with the facts. It was a global war fought between the allies the french empire, the british empire, the russian empire, the united states of america and others and the central powers the german empire, austrohungarian empire and the ottoman empire. Germany after the first world war by bessel, richard.
After world war i, more blacks, mostly french senegalese soldiers or their offspring, ended up in the rhineland region and other parts of germany. I seem to remember somebody mentioning a what if fiction book that looked back at wwii after the fact, written as if germany had won wwii. As the war raged, the leaders of the allies met several times to direct the course of the fighting and to begin planning for the postwar world. This is a list of alternate history fiction, sorted by type. Eisenhower in april 1945, and as the site of one of the prisoner of war camps where captured german soldiers were treated in a barbaric fashion with total disregard to the rules of civilized. The first world war took place from the 28 july 1914 to the 11 november 1918. Establishment historians characterize national socialist germany as a uniquely barbaric, vile and criminal regime that was totally responsible for starting world war ii and carrying out some of the most heinous war crimes in world history. The aftermath of the first world war the holocaust. Germany was divided into four allied occupation zones british, french, american and soviet in the aftermath of the nazi rump administration flensburg governments unconditional surrender and formal capitulation on the 8th of may 1945 v. The best books on the aftermath of world war ii five.
Entnazifizierung was an allied initiative to rid german and austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the national socialist ideology. Nicholas stargardts the german war comes therefore as something of a reality check, a shock to the system or my system at least. Dr bessel examines the changes brought by the war to germany, and those resulting from the return of. Oct 16, 2017 and so, hitler tells germany that he is their savior, and they wanted to believe, due to having lived through wwi and the economic disaster that was germany. Altogether, the loss of the former eastern regions of germany, combined with the wartime destruction of industry and transport infrastructure, effectively removed 4. Shortly after pearl harbor, president franklin delano roosevelt fdr met with english prime minister winston churchill to decide how the forces of the allies should take action against the axis powers germany, italy, and japan during world war ii. Deutschland, officially federal republic of germany, republic 2015 est. Germanys defeat and the subsequent demobilization of her armies had enormous economic, social, and psychological consequences for the nation, and it is these which richard bessel sets out to explore. And when it was all over, she emerged as the wars most highly decorated spy. The brutal history of the allied occupation hardcover.
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