THE FEMALE FACTOR: THE IMPACT OF GERMAN WOMEN ON AMERICAN POLICY DURING THE OCCUPATION OF GERMANY, 1945-1949

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2020-04-20

Type of Work

Department

Hood College Arts and Humanities

Program

Hood College Humanities

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

CC0 1.0 Universal

Abstract

The Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) administered the area of Germany and the sector of Berlin controlled by the U.S. from 1945-1949. The military government, under the direction of General Lucius Clay, was tasked with the “denazification” and “democratization” of the German people. Occupation troops were expected to carry out the American military policies without establishing relationships with those they were occupying. As a result, each soldier was given a copy of A Pocket Guide to Germany, which stressed the policy of non-fraternization with the German people. However, the non-fraternization policy, along with other economic and cultural policies, proved difficult for the soldiers to follow. Instead of the highly masculinized and militarized German society American occupation troops expected to encounter, they were instead met with a physically and emotionally destroyed German population comprised of mainly of women and children. Thus, American military propaganda did not accurately depict nor prepare the soldiers for the realities of post war Germany. Therefore, my thesis will focus on the impact of German women on American Policy during the Allied Occupation of Germany from 1945-1949. I will address the changes to cultural, political, and economic policies implemented by OMGUS that were indicative of an overwhelmingly female population in Germany. I will analyze the change in American policies from punitive to rehabilitative, as German women were initially viewed by Americans as the “enemy” but were eventually viewed as viable consumers who represented the future of democracy and the acceptance of American values in West Germany.