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The Overlooked Majority: German Women in the Four Zones of Occupied Germany, 1945-1949, a Comparative Study

Stark, John Robert
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1045174197

Abstract Details

2003, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
When the Allies entered Germany in late-1944, most of the male population of Germany was either incapacitated or absent. German women, the majority of the German population, were confronted with rebuilding Germany under the supervision of military governments. This dissertation is a comparison of the experiences of German women in the Soviet, British, American and French zones of occupation. It also informs the historian and military commander regarding the effects of perceptions about women in the home country and how these can affect military occupation. The policies of the four occupying powers directly reflected the roles of women in the home countries. The Soviets immediately set up German socialist organizations to incorporate German women into the new communist government of the East. Through the benefits of these organizations and the communist punishment system, the communists worked to recruit German women to their cause. The British military government used a decentralized approach by allowing some British women to experiment with the education of German women. After the founding of a large centralized socialist German women’s organization in March 1947 in the Soviet zone, the British officially began educating German women to participate in Germany’s recovery. The Americans were rather late in recognizing German women as an important group. Once they did in late-1947 the Americans formed a Women’s Affairs Branch of their military government, which had a limited effect on assisting German women to become politically active. The French never had a program to assist German women. Instead, the French watched German women as a potentially dangerous political faction. German women now hold more seats in the German representative assemblies than women in any other large western-style democracy. This is partially a result of the work of German women in the Soviet zone combined with the reaction of the western occupation powers to stir German women to a new level of political consciousness. Historians will be interested in learning about the differences in the occupation policies of the four occupation powers. Commanders of military occupations can learn from the successes and mistakes of the four military governments of Germany 1945-1949.
Alan Beyerchen (Advisor)
441 p.
German History; German women; postwar Germany; occupation of Germany; occupation policy; World War II occupation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stark, J. R. (2003). The Overlooked Majority: German Women in the Four Zones of Occupied Germany, 1945-1949, a Comparative Study [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1045174197

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stark, John. The Overlooked Majority: German Women in the Four Zones of Occupied Germany, 1945-1949, a Comparative Study. 2003. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1045174197.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stark, John. "The Overlooked Majority: German Women in the Four Zones of Occupied Germany, 1945-1949, a Comparative Study." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1045174197

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.