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
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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.
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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。
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发文量
42
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