German-American Relations and Attitudes: 1945-1960 - Assignment Example

Occupation troops were at times seen as liberators, and at times as occupiers. These forces collided through the period of 1945-1960 to create a changing face of American policy and a complex portrait of German attitudes.Immediately following the war the one central issue that all the occupying forces agreed upon was denazification. All parties agreed that Germany must be punished in some fashion and their efforts culminated in the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946. The effect on Germany and the people were somewhat ambiguous.

It failed to actually purge the system of the old Nazi attitudes and instead became a token apologetic rehabilitation. According to Fallbrook, "Some observers bitterly commented that the way Germans were talking now, Hitler must have been the only Nazi in Germany" (122). To a large extent, the denazification process created anti-American feelings as the Germans viewed themselves as the common enemy.The Potsdam Agreement had called for a single economic system that included decentralization. Germans had anticipated that the ending of the war would pave the way for a socialist transformation of Germany.

However, the Marshall Aid plan came with "conditions and constraints" and there was an underlying motive to 'Americanize' Germany (Fulbrook 130). These efforts resulted in a German backlash as they were opposed by political, economic, and trade union interests. These negative feelings would spill over into other concerns.With the Cold War as a catalyst and anti-capitalism feelings as the vehicle, Germany was divided in 1949. The West was benefiting financially from the recent economic changes.

Refugees were finding jobs, the economy was rebounding, and the black market had disappeared. The West had openly embraced capitalism and, "In 1949, many West Germans saw a potential new role in a new Europe" (Fulbrook 136). Germans were going through a period of daily life that was improving and distancing themselves from the memories of the past.The division of Germany, the Cold War, and the outbreak of the hostilities in Korea brought about a large American troop presence in West Germany in response to the perceived Soviet threat.

This period is often referred to as the 'golden fifties'. Germans were impressed and surprised by the Americanization of West Germany. Americans brought jazz, rock and roll, a love for automobiles, and a consumer attitude that the new generation of Germans admired. GIs, many of them black, became intimate with German females. Blacks often commented that they were more accepted in Germany than they were in America. By the close of the 1950s, Germany was becoming prosperous and this economic success translated into support for democracy.

The Germans had a long history of anti-Communist sentiment and this was a "powerful transitional ideology in the 1950s" (Fulbrook 150). Adenauer's policies were able to gain support and Germany became more integrated with the West. Opposition groups such as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were out of favor and in disarray (Fulbrook 150).