British Army of the Rhine

Regular price €40.99
Quantity:
In stock with our UK publisher. 14-28 days
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
14 days return policy Shipping & Delivery
A01=Peter Speiser
Anglo-German Relations
attitudes toward Germany
Author_Peter Speiser
BAOR
BAOR behavior
BAOR in Saxony
BAOR occupation of North Rhine-Westphalia
BAOR off duty activities
BAOR training
Berlin Airlift
Berlin blockade
British Army of the Rhine
British Attitudes towards Germany
British Control Commission
British families in Germany
British Policy towards Germany
British wives
British wives and childre
Category=JPS
Category=NHD
Category=NHW
Cold War
creation of West Germany
crimes committed by BAOR
damage from military maneuvers
defense against communism
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
European defense
European integration
Germany housing crisis
Germany under Allied Occupation
housing
integration of Europe
Ivone Kirkpatrick
Konrad Adenauer
military maneuvers
NATO

Product details

  • ISBN 9780252040160
  • Weight: 513g
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 12 May 2016
  • Publisher: University of Illinois Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
Secure checkout Fast Shipping Easy returns
Between 1945 and 1957, West Germany made a dizzying pivot from Nazi bastion to Britain's Cold War ally against the Soviet Union. Successive London governments, though often faced with bitter public and military opposition, tasked the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) to serve as a protecting force while strengthening West German integration into the Western defense structure.

Peter Speiser charts the BAOR's fraught transformation from occupier to ally by looking at the charged nexus where British troops and their families interacted with Germany's civilian population. Examining the relationship on many levels, Speiser ranges from how British mass media representations of Germany influenced BAOR troops to initiatives taken by the Army to improve relations. He also weighs German perceptions, surveying clashes between soldiers and civilians and comparing the popularity of the British services with that of the other occupying powers. As Speiser shows, the BAOR's presence did not improve the relationship between British servicemen and the German populace, but it did prevent further deterioration during a crucial and dangerous period of the early Cold War.

An incisive look at an under-researched episode, The British Army of the Rhine sheds new light on Anglo-German diplomatic, political, and social relations after 1945, and evaluates their impact on the wider context of European integration in the postwar era.

Peter Speiser is a lecturer in history at the University of Westminster.

More from this author