Legitimising Occupation: The Quest for Popular Consent during the British Occupation of Germany, 1945–1949

IF 0.3 3区 历史学 Q2 HISTORY Journal of Modern European History Pub Date : 2024-08-09 DOI:10.1177/16118944241265584
Camilo Erlichman, Christopher Knowles
{"title":"Legitimising Occupation: The Quest for Popular Consent during the British Occupation of Germany, 1945–1949","authors":"Camilo Erlichman, Christopher Knowles","doi":"10.1177/16118944241265584","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the quest for legitimacy and popular consent during the British occupation of north-western Germany between 1945 and 1949. It does so through an analysis of two major propaganda campaigns that sought to publicly legitimise the British occupation at home and in Germany: ‘Germany under Control’, a large-scale exhibition put on display in London in 1946; and ‘Operation Stress’, the largest propaganda campaign in the British Zone, run in 1948 to legitimise food policies. Through an investigation of the internal rationale amongst British policymakers, the objectives behind the campaigns, the popular reception, and the broader outcomes, the article shows that both campaigns ended in failure and did not succeed in convincing the population of the need to maintain British rule in Germany. Propaganda was an ineffective tool to generate popular legitimacy at a time of austerity at home and severe material suffering in the British zone of occupation. As such, the British authorities encountered populations whose ‘moral economy’ and expectations from government were fundamentally opposed to the maintenance of the occupation. Both campaigns, therefore, epitomise the pitfalls of propaganda campaigns when facing bitter social realities and demonstrate the intricacies of the quest for legitimacy during military occupations.","PeriodicalId":44275,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Modern European History","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Modern European History","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/16118944241265584","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article explores the quest for legitimacy and popular consent during the British occupation of north-western Germany between 1945 and 1949. It does so through an analysis of two major propaganda campaigns that sought to publicly legitimise the British occupation at home and in Germany: ‘Germany under Control’, a large-scale exhibition put on display in London in 1946; and ‘Operation Stress’, the largest propaganda campaign in the British Zone, run in 1948 to legitimise food policies. Through an investigation of the internal rationale amongst British policymakers, the objectives behind the campaigns, the popular reception, and the broader outcomes, the article shows that both campaigns ended in failure and did not succeed in convincing the population of the need to maintain British rule in Germany. Propaganda was an ineffective tool to generate popular legitimacy at a time of austerity at home and severe material suffering in the British zone of occupation. As such, the British authorities encountered populations whose ‘moral economy’ and expectations from government were fundamentally opposed to the maintenance of the occupation. Both campaigns, therefore, epitomise the pitfalls of propaganda campaigns when facing bitter social realities and demonstrate the intricacies of the quest for legitimacy during military occupations.
查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
占领合法化:1945-1949年英国占领德国期间对民众同意的追求
本文探讨了 1945 年至 1949 年英国占领德国西北部期间对合法性和民众同意的追求。文章通过分析英国在国内和德国寻求公开合法化占领的两个主要宣传活动:1946 年在伦敦举办的大型展览 "控制下的德国",以及 1948 年为使粮食政策合法化而在英国区开展的最大规模宣传活动 "压力行动"。通过对英国政策制定者的内部理由、宣传活动背后的目标、民众的接受程度以及更广泛的结果进行调查,文章表明这两次宣传活动均以失败告终,未能成功说服民众相信英国有必要维持对德国的统治。在国内经济拮据、英国占领区物质生活严重匮乏的时期,宣传是一种无法产生民众合法性的无效工具。因此,英国当局遇到的民众的 "道德经济 "和对政府的期望从根本上反对维持占领。因此,这两场宣传活动都体现了宣传活动在面对严峻的社会现实时所存在的缺陷,并展示了军事占领期间寻求合法性的复杂性。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
CiteScore
0.70
自引率
0.00%
发文量
42
期刊最新文献
Introduction: Disability and Family Care in Modern European History Social Science Data as a Challenge for Contemporary History From Darkness to Sunshine: Blind Babies, Families and the Sunshine Homes, 1918–1939 From Institutions to Families? The Changing Allocation of Responsibility for Cognitively Disabled Children in Dutch Postwar Long-Term Care Policies Redefining Family Relationships: The Impact of Disability on Working-Class Families during the Industrial Revolution in Britain
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1