German Failure to Resist Post World War II Reconstruction.

摘要

In light of the United States ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is useful to look to the past for examples of successful occupation and reconstruction campaigns. Germany in World War II provides a look at both sides of occupation and resistance and how they affected reconstruction. Germany planned, organized and equipped forces to resist the Allies, but in the end was entirely unsuccessful in its efforts. The Allies incorporated occupation planning early in the war and trained and organized forces to handle occupation and reconstruction. The Allies were also concerned about the German people engaging in resistance after occupation and therefore planned operations to shape the public opinion in the Allies favor. The outcome of the war is well known and Germany did not resist (organized or large scale resistance) but cooperated with the allies and rebuilt the country into the one of the worlds leading economic powers. The question is why did the Germans fail to resist? Does the answer lie in the Allies planning and execution of their military government operations? Was German morale so devastated by defeat that they were no longer able to organize a resistance to allied demands? The answers to these questions are the lessons to be learned by the United States, and they are worthy to be examined for applicability in our current reconstruction and counterinsurgency efforts. This paper will first look at German preparations for resistance and how that effected the last days of the war and occupation. Secondly, it will look at Allied preparation for occupation and reconstruction in a hostile occupied Germany. Third, this paper will analyze how the failure of Nazi ideology combined with Germanys physical losses to create a population more concerned about where their next meal came from than resisting occupation forces.