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77-641: The Restitution and Reparations Branch of OMGUS located and returned material to countries from which claimed property had been looted by the Nazis during World War II. OMGUS in 1945 began its own newspaper based in Munich, Die Neue Zeitung . It was edited by German and Jewish émigrés who fled to the United States before the war. Its mission was to destroy Nazi cultural remnants, and encourage democracy by exposing Germans to how American culture operated. There

154-818: A condominium asserting supreme power in Germany, the Allied Control Council was constituted the sole legal sovereign authority for Germany as a whole, replacing the civil government of Germany under the Nazi Party. In 1948, the Soviets withdrew from the ACC due to its conflict with the western Allies, who then established the Allied High Commission . In 1949, two German states ( West and East Germany ) were founded. Allied preparations for

231-401: A Nazi, desperately compounded administrative issues. The Court of Appeals for Germans wanting to appeal their Frageboden status required nearly 22,000 staffers. Structurally, OMGUS was composed of five independent US Military Government Offices ( Landkreis ), OMG Wurttemberg-Baden, OMG Greater Hesse, OMG Bavaria, OMG Bremen, and OMG Berlin. These five independent offices reported directly to

308-456: A capitulation occurs before invasion or after invasion and consequent establishment of military government, an initial period of military government in Germany is inevitable and should be provided for. The EAC also recommended the creation of a tripartite British, US and Soviet agency to conduct German affairs following the Nazis' surrender. The British representative at the EAC, Sir William Strang ,

385-602: A heightened economic collaboration between the different zones, and on 1 January 1947 the British and American zones merged to form the Bizone . Over the course of 1947 and early 1948, they began to prepare the currency reform that would introduce the Deutsche Mark and ultimately lead to the creation of an independent West German state. When the Soviets learned about these plans, they claimed that they were in violation of

462-631: A means of political re-education for the German population by its American publishers. It was a high quality publication, but after 1949 could not keep up with competition amid the rapid re-growth of the newspaper industry in Germany. Starting in early 1947, the American Sector of Berlin had its own separate edition of the NZ . This Berlin edition made sense because in Berlin, the former German capital,

539-420: A set of comprehensive criteria for the removal from public office those "who have been more than nominal participants in its (Nazi Party) activities" and provided for their removal from any civil service or work in civil organisation, labor unions, industry, education or the press and any work other than simple labor. The category of persons to which the directive applied were those who held significant positions in

616-549: A week. The Information Control Division of the American Occupation Authority acted as publisher of the newspaper. Although the Division allowed German editors and journalists to write, it never gave up ultimate editorial control of the publication. This was made clear in the newspaper's title bar: " Die Neue Zeitung – An American newspaper for the German people." Die Neue Zeitung was considered

693-747: A whole and anything that they feared might lead to the emergence of an eventual unified German government. For example; France created the Saar Protectorate in Saarland of its zone but was never recognized by the Soviet Union, one member of the occupying ACC. Relations between the Western Allies (especially the United States and the United Kingdom) and the Soviet Union subsequently deteriorated and so did their cooperation in

770-681: The Allied Control Council had strong influence and the interests of the Soviet Union and United States were increasingly at odds. Publication of the NZ in Berlin was seen as necessary to prevent the Sovietization of the Germans there. The NZ in Berlin operated autonomously under the editorship of Marcel Fodor . The feature section of the Berlin NZ – the so-called Feuilleton , covering literature, art, and culture –

847-615: The Four Powers ( Vier Mächte ), was the governing body of the Allied occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Austria (1945–1955) after the end of World War II in Europe . After the defeat of the Nazis , Germany (less its former eastern territories ) and Austria were occupied as two different areas, both by the same four Allies. Both were later divided into four zones by

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924-677: The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force and was modeled on the one used a few days previously for the surrender of the German forces in Italy. It was not the document which had been drafted for the surrender of Germany by the "European Advisory Commission" (EAC). This created a legal problem for the Allies, because although the German military forces had surrendered unconditionally, no counterpart civilian German government had been included in

1001-717: The 1 August 1945 Potsdam Agreement . Its members ( Four-Power Authorities ) were the Soviet Union , the United Kingdom , the United States , and France . The organisation was based in Schöneberg , Berlin . The council was convened to determine several plans for postwar Europe, including how to change borders and transfer populations in Central Europe . As the four powers had joined themselves into

1078-401: The Allies over every defeated Axis power, was to deal with the central administration of the country (an idea that hardly materialised in the case of Germany, as that administration totally broke down with the end of the war) and to assure that the military administration was carried out with a certain uniformity throughout all of Germany. The Potsdam Agreement of 1 August 1945 further specified

1155-597: The Control Council could act only with the agreement of all four members, this move basically paralysed the institution, while the Cold War reached an early high point during the Soviet blockade of Berlin of 1948–49. The Allied Control Council was not formally dissolved and the four Allies de jure still worked together in ruling both Germany ("Germany as a whole") and Austria but ceased all activity until 1971 except

1232-568: The Control Council decided how to dispose of it in the interests of peace. The composition of that commission was decided in Directive no. 21 (20 November 1945). Law no. 7 (30 November 1945) regulated the distribution of electricity and gas in the various occupation zones. Law no. 9 (promulgated the same day as no. 7) provided for the confiscation of all assets owned by the IG Farben conglomerate . Law no. 32 (10 July 1946) permitted

1309-586: The Control Council was the decision made at the Potsdam Conference regarding the forced removal of German minorities from Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland to Allied-occupied Germany. On 20 November 1945, the council approved a plan to that effect to be completed by July 1946. France, not having been a party to the Potsdam conference, reserved the right not to be bound by any agreements made there; and accordingly refused to accept German expellees into

1386-542: The Council of Minister-Presidents ( Länderrat ), which would serve the immediate responsibilities of civil affairs until the formation of the Federation of West Germany in 1949, as well as the basis for a new German-elected parliament. The longest-serving Military Governor of OMGUS, from 1946 until his resignation on May 15, 1949, was General Lucius Clay. Clay was succeeded by General John J. McCloy. Internally, each of

1463-591: The Feuilleton included freelancers Will Grohmann (fine arts) and Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt (music). Starting in June 1949 a Frankfurt edition of Die Neue Zeitung was established. In 1951, the Munich and Frankfurt editions were merged into a single Frankfurt edition. After September 1953, the Neue Zeitung appeared only in Berlin. In March 1955, the paper ceased operations entirely. The following are some of

1540-595: The Flensburg administration, they agreed to sign a four-power declaration of the terms of the German surrender instead. On 5 June 1945, in Berlin, the supreme commanders of the four occupying powers signed a common Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany (the so-called Berlin Declaration of 1945), which formally confirmed the total dissolution of Nazi Germany with the death of Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945 and

1617-525: The French zone of occupation. On 10 September 1945, the council issued an appeal to the separate Allied military governors, requesting them to relax trade regulations between the four occupation zones but this was only a recommendation, as each Allied government maintained the real power on such matters. On 17 September, the council issued recommendations to the four occupying powers to establish tracing bureaus to assist displaced persons. On 20 September,

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1694-581: The German local authorities to employ women in manual labor, due to the shortage in manpower. Supplement to Directive no. 14 (13 September 1946) equalised the wages of female and minor workers with male workers. Law no. 49 (20 March 1947) abrogated the German law of 1933 which governed relations between the German government and the German Evangelical Church , while keeping the independence of that church in internal matters. Law no. 62 (20 February 1948) repealed all Nazi laws regulating

1771-536: The German occupation from May 1945 onwards. Initially, neither the United States Executive, nor the US Army wanted the responsibility of occupying Germany and seeing it along the path of democratization, though inevitably the US Army was given the task by default, "as the only force that had the logistic and administrative capability to perform the mission." One of the primary reasons for this outcome

1848-460: The German people of the finality of their defeat in World War II, as well as to pave the way for US designs of democratization in Germany. The other, taking much more precedence in the later years of OMGUS from 1947 to 1949, was the increasing competition for political, economic, and cultural influence between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union as Germany became increasingly divided between

1925-465: The German police authorities to conduct any surveillance of political activities by German citizens in the various occupation zones. Some reforms were symbolic in nature. Law no. 46 (25 February 1947) proclaimed the abolition of Prussia as an administrative unit within Germany, citing past militarism associated with that name as the cause for the change. Free state of Prussia and government of Prussia had already been abolished by Hitler in 1934. Part of

2002-626: The Military-Governor. Additionally, a parallel chain of command existed to that of OMGUS through the Allied Control Council (ACC), which coordinated and conducted the Joint-Allied occupation of Germany amongst the various occupying powers. The Allied Control Council (ACC) assumed the highest Joint-Allied authority in Germany where the OMGUS Military Governor met to coordinate with the other military commanders of

2079-477: The Nazi Party or those who joined prior to 1937, the time when membership became compulsory for German citizens. In order to eradicate the influence of Nazi literature on the German population, Order no. 4 (13 May 1946) prohibited the publication and dissemination of Nazi or militarist literature and demanded to hand over any existing such literature to the Allied authorities. Law no. 31 (1 July 1946) prohibited

2156-694: The Office of Military Government Offices in the US Zone was commanded by a brigadier general . Additionally, a number of offices served directly under the OMGUS chain of command. This included the Information Control Division, tasked with carrying out the ideological censorship and denazification propaganda in US zones of occupation. Propaganda and information control in Allied occupied Germany

2233-571: The Office of Military Government – US Zone stationed at Frankfurt-am-Main, Greater Hesse, which served as the headquarters for OMGUS, and the Military Governor. Up until the municipal elections held in February 1946, the job of civil administration and security was conducted by the 3rd and 7th Armies at the tactical level, with detached G-5 liaison offices reporting to the military governors of each independent office, who in turn reported to

2310-527: The Potsdam Agreement, that obviously the Western powers were not interested in further regular four-power control of Germany and that under such circumstances the Control Council had no further purpose. On 20 March 1948, Marshal Vasily Sokolovsky walked out of the meeting of the council and no further Soviet representative attended until the 1970s, thus incapacitating in practice the council. As

2387-624: The Soviet Union, General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower for the United States, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery for the United Kingdom and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny for France. Subsequently, the Control Council issued a substantial number of laws, directives, orders and proclamations. They dealt with the abolition of Nazi laws and organisations, demilitarisation , and denazification , but also with such comparatively pedestrian matters as telephone tariffs and

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2464-516: The United Nations and applicable to GERMANY and the German armed forces as a whole." In reality, of course, German authority had ceased to exist since all remaining German armed forces surrendered before. These parts of the Berlin declaration, therefore, merely formalised the de facto status and placed the Allied military rule over Germany on a solid legal basis. An additional agreement was signed on 20 September 1945 and further elaborated

2541-577: The activities of churches in Germany. From the outset, France sought to leverage its position on the Allied Control Council to obstruct policies it believed conflicted with its national interests. De Gaulle had not been invited to the Potsdam Conference and accordingly the French did not accept any obligation to abide by the Potsdam Agreement in the proceedings of the Allied Control Council. In particular, they resisted all proposals to establish common policies and institutions across Germany as

2618-487: The administration of occupied Germany. Within each zone each power ran its own administration: In September 1946, disagreement arose regarding the distribution of coal for industry in the four occupation zones and the Soviet representative in the council withdrew his support of the plan agreed upon by the governments of the United States, Britain and France. Against Soviet protests, the two English-speaking powers pushed for

2695-614: The assumption of control by the Office of Military Government, this process of media monopolization gave way to gradual inclusion of German media under the auspices of strict censorship and oversight by the ICD. In 1945, the ICD assessed and vetted an initial 73 German editors to resume operations of paper media, newspapers, and journals. Though the ICD and OMGUS assumed a stance of open and positive inclusion by Germans removed from Nazi affiliation, these editors operated under conditions of post-publication censorship, whereby non-compliance could lead to

2772-580: The city of Berlin in October of the same year. On 3 August 1946, the council approved a new provisional constitution for the Greater Berlin metropolitan area. Another reform relating to Berlin took place on 22 August 1946, as the council approved a reform plan for the police of Greater Berlin, which assigned four assistants to the Berlin Chief of Police, each to oversee police work in each of

2849-435: The combat of venereal diseases. On many issues the council was unable to impose its resolutions, as real power lay in the hands of the separate Allied governments and their military governors and the council issued recommendations that did not have the force of law. On 20 September 1945, the council issued Directive no. 10, which divided the various official acts of the Control Council into five categories: Directive no. 11 of

2926-421: The commander-in-chief of the respective occupation forces. "Matters that affect Germany as a whole," however, would have to be decided jointly by all four commanders-in-chief, who for this purpose would form a single organ of control. This authority was called the Control Council. The purpose of the Allied Control Council in Germany, like the other Allied Control Commissions and Councils which were established by

3003-439: The conclusion of hostilities, the ICD was formed as an independent office until being absorbed by OMGUS in February 1946. The chronology of the US Army's informational control policy and propaganda campaign can be broken-down into three main stages including their assertion of a media monopoly by the US Army during the initial occupation, a combination of active censorship and propaganda, and finally an active propaganda campaign in

3080-512: The conclusion of the Nuremberg Trial of Major War Criminals in October 1946, inter-Allied cooperation on war crimes totally collapsed. On 12 October 1946, the council issued Directive no. 38, which, while trying to impose some common rules, allowed the four occupation governments discretion as to treatment of persons arrested by them for suspected war crimes, including the right to grant amnesty. Order no. 1 of 30 August 1945 prohibited

3157-812: The consequent termination of any German governance over the nation: The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Provisional Government of the French Republic , hereby assume supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German Government, the High Command and any state, municipal, or local government or authority. The assumption, for

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3234-469: The contributors to Die Neue Zeitung . The author Erich Kästner was senior editor of the feature section ( Feuilleton ). Robert Lembke , later a television personality, directed the section on domestic politics. Other prominent contributors include: The political cartoonist was Paul Flora . Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council ( ACC ) or Allied Control Authority ( German : Alliierter Kontrollrat ), and also referred to as

3311-548: The council enacted Law no. 10 (20 December 1945), which authorised every occupying power to have its own legal system to try war criminals and to conduct such trials independently of the International Military Tribunal then sitting at Nuremberg. Law no. 10 resulted from disagreements arising among the Allied governments regarding a common policy on war criminals and marked the beginning of the decline in inter-Allied cooperation to that effect. Following

3388-501: The council issued an order prohibiting fraternisation between Allied military personnel and the German population, effective from 1 October, except in cases of marriage or when a military governor decided to billet his soldiers with a German family. Law no. 5 (30 October 1945) created the German External Property Commission, which was authorised to confiscate any German assets outside of Germany until

3465-586: The council's legislative work by reducing the categories of legislative acts to Proclamations, Laws and Orders. Directive no. 9 (30 August 1945) charged the legal division of the council with responsibility for carrying out the provisions of the London Agreement on the prosecution of German war criminals, signed in London on 8 August. Shortly after the commencement of the Nuremberg Trial ,

3542-415: The council. Directive no. 18 (12 November 1945) provided for the dissolution of all German Army units, all within a time limit to be decided upon. This directive reflects the policy taken by the western Allied governments of using German military units for their own logistical purposes, a move objected to by the Soviet government. The complete dissolution of all German military units and military training

3619-554: The creation of a Military Government Provisional Section (G-5 Civil-Affairs Staff Office) within the 7th Army on the order of Supreme Allied Commander for the Allied Expeditionary forces (SHAEF) Dwight D. Eisenhower , which would become the basis for military government in occupied Germany. Following suit, the US Third Army created its own G-5 Staff Office to administer the territories it occupied. Compounding

3696-706: The dissolution of SHAEF on July 17, 1945, both of these districts reported to United States Forces - European Theater (USFET) Command under General Eisenhower, "dual-hatted as both USFET Commander and Military-Governor of Germany," until his appointment to the Joint-Chiefs of Staff. Alongside USFET and the Military Government of Germany was the US Group Control Council, headquartered in Berlin and commanded by General Lucius D. Clay. As Deputy Military Governor of Germany, Clay advocated for

3773-415: The duration of OMGUS from 1945 to 1949. Additionally, OMGUS and indeed the US Army in general experienced severe personnel shortages. Faced with the impending uncertainty of the post-war occupation after four years of war, most soldiers left Germany as soon as their ticket came up. The lack of Army personnel, as well as the depleted number of Germans either not killed, interned after the war, or identified as

3850-492: The former territory of Prussia was no longer even populated by Germans, as it became part of Poland after most Germans had been forcibly relocated westward, while the rest of the territory of Prussia was divided among other German Länder. Law no. 57 (30 August 1947) dissolved all German insurance companies that were connected with the German Labor Front , established on 1 May 1933. One major issue dealt with by

3927-557: The four occupation sectors in that metropolitan area. Law no. 2 (10 October 1945) provided for the total and permanent dissolution of the National Socialist Party and its revival was totally prohibited. As part of the denazification policy, Directive no. 23 (17 December 1945) prohibited any athletic activities performed as part of military or para-military training, the prohibition to be effective as of 1 January 1946. Directive no. 24 (12 January 1946) established

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4004-443: The issue were unstable boundaries of US Army divisions at the time of Germany's capitulation, in which the US Third Army assumed direct command of the administration of the Eastern Military District (Bavaria) under General George S. Patton , and the US Seventh Army commanding the Western Military District (Greater Hesse, and Wurttemberg-Baden), with the civil-affairs staff of each Army reporting to their commanding officer. Following

4081-419: The lessons of defeat more visible to the German population and would enable the Allied governments to carry out punitive policies in Germany, such as transferring territories to Poland. The main arguments against total occupation were that it would create an untold burden on Allied economies and prolong the suffering of the German population, possibly driving new revanchist ideologies. However, his final conclusion

4158-421: The midst of the Cold War. During the initial first months of the US occupation of Germany, the US Army proceeded to create a monopoly over informational and mass media, shutting down newspapers, radios, and journals. As such, US media sources were the only mass media available in occupied Germany, provided primarily by Radio Luxembourg , US Army information fliers ( Mitteilungblätter ), and Army newspapers. With

4235-417: The postwar occupation of Germany began during the second half of 1944, after Allied forces began entering Germany in September 1944. Most of the planning was carried out by the European Advisory Commission (EAC) established in early 1944. By 3 January 1944, the Working Security Committee in the EAC concluded that, It is recognised that, in view of the chaotic conditions to be anticipated in Germany, whether

4312-424: The powers of the Control Council. The actual exercise of power was carried out according to the model first laid out in the "Agreement on Control Machinery in Germany" that had been signed by the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union on 14 November 1944 in London based on the work of the EAC. Germany was divided into four zones of occupation—British, American, French and Soviet—each being ruled by

4389-479: The purposes stated above, of the said authority and powers does not effect the annexation of Germany. This imposition was in line with Article 4 of the Instrument of Surrender that had been included so that the EAC document, or something similar, could be imposed on the Germans after the military surrender. Article 4 stated that "This act of military surrender is without prejudice to and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by, or on behalf of

4466-569: The revocation of media licenses. OMGUS itself created a number of mass media institutions itself including the newspaper Die Neue Zeitung in 1945 in Munich, Bavaria. While initial US attitudes towards German press and media focused on denazification and the promotion of diversity, 1947 brought about a decidedly new focus on anti-Communism. Those who did not conform to the anti-Communist directives of OMGUS, "were either terminated or had their editors replaced." Die Neue Zeitung Die Neue Zeitung ( "The New Times" , abbreviated NZ )

4543-479: The same day made the work of the council more orderly by establishing English, French, Russian and German as the official languages of the council and by establishing an official gazette to publish the council's official acts. Law no. 1 of the Control Council (also enacted on 20 September 1945) repealed some of the stricter Nazi-era laws. This established the legal basis for the council's work. Directive no. 51 (29 April 1947), repealing Directive no. 10, simplified

4620-498: The separation of Military Government from Army Command, in which the Deputy Governor would answer directly to the Theater Commander. In the fall of 1945, Clay redesignated the GCC as the Office of Military Government, United States in Berlin, consolidating all military government offices in Germany independent of the Army Command in Frankfurt. Eisenhower's departure saw to the succession of General Lucius Clay as USFET Commander and Military Governor of Germany, who would remain so throughout

4697-401: The surrender. This was considered a very important issue, inasmuch as Hitler had used the surrender of the civilian government but not of the military, in 1918, to create the "stab in the back" argument . The Allies understandably did not want to give any future hostile German regime any kind of legal argument to resurrect an old quarrel. Eventually, determined not to accord any recognition to

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4774-427: The tasks of the Control Council. On 30 August 1945, the Control Council constituted itself and issued its first proclamation, which informed the German people of the council's existence and asserted that the commands and directives issued by the commanders-in-chief in their respective zones were not affected by the establishment of the council. The initial members of the Control Council were Marshal Georgy Zhukov for

4851-508: The title of Reichspräsident in accordance with Hitler's last political testament . As such, he authorised the signing of the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces, which took effect on 8 May 1945 and tried to establish a government under Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk in Flensburg . This government was not recognised by the Allies and Dönitz and the other members were arrested on 23 May by British forces. The German Instrument of Surrender signed in Berlin had been drafted by

4928-442: The two ideologically divided super-powers. OMGUS’ informational control constituted a vast campaign of mass media dissemination in the form of newspapers, radios, journals, films, conferences, posters, and even musical and artistic exhibitions. Much of this campaign was carried out by the Information Control Division (ICD) . Formerly the psychological warfare division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) up until

5005-416: The various Allies undertaking the German occupation. Immediately below was the Coordinateing Committee, which served many of the same functions of the ACC amongst the Deputy Military Governors, as well as the Allied Control Staff. While the other Offices of Military Government answered to OMGUS and the Military Governor, OMG Berlin, answered to the Berlin Kommandsatura under the auspices of the ACC, from which

5082-438: The various military administrators coordinated the four Allied sections of occupied Berlin In the months of October, November, and December, a great deal of civil administration and denazification was carried out by German appointees operating under the penultimate authority of USFET. In this case, a Council-Minister was appointed for each of the administrative occupied zones (Lander), and in October, 1945, General Clay established

5159-420: The wearing of uniform of the German Army, which now ceased to exist. An order dated 10 September ordered the recall of all German government agents and diplomatic representatives from the countries to which they were assigned. Another order of the same day established a procedure for disseminating information to the press on the council's work, ordering that a press release be issued following every meeting of

5236-458: Was a newspaper published in the American Occupation Zone of Germany after the Second World War . It was comparable to the daily newspaper Die Welt in the British Occupation Zone and was considered the most important newspaper in post-war Germany. Die Neue Zeitung was first published on 17 October 1945 in Munich and continued publication until 30 January 1955. The paper was initially published twice weekly, later increasing to six times

5313-420: Was a primary tool utilized by OMGUS and the Allies. This informational control was informed by two concurrent processes occurring in the wake of the Second World War. The first, denazification, was a primary objective of OMGUS and served to root out whatever remained of the Nazi Party, its associations with German society, and its ideology, particularly from 1945 to 1947. This propaganda was disseminated to persuade

5390-414: Was about to undergo a total collapse, in which case a total occupation and control would be inevitable. He even proposed a draft declaration to be issued by the Allied governments in case no political authority remained in Germany due to chaotic conditions. For a brief period, this prospect was feared by some Allied representatives. After the suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945, Karl Dönitz assumed

5467-445: Was great detail on sports, politics, business, Hollywood, and fashions, as well as international affairs. The US Army tasked with the occupation, denazification , and democratization of post-war Germany was plagued by numerous problems immediately following the capitulation of Germany and the cessation of hostilities. One such problem was confusion emanating from the numerous chain of command and military authorities that succeeded

5544-507: Was prohibited except with special Allied permission. Law no. 21 (30 March 1946) provided for the establishment of labor courts to resolve labor disputes within the German population. These courts were to be run by German judges. Gradually, the Allied governments relaxed their control over German political life and on 3 June 1946, the Political Directorate of the Control Council recommended to hold municipal elections in

5621-454: Was provided for in Law no. 8 (30 November 1945), which became effective on 1 December 1945. Law no. 4 (30 October 1945) re-established the German court system according to German legislation enacted prior to Hitler's rise to power. Directive no. 16 (6 November 1945) provided for the equipment of the German police forces with light weapons to combat crime, while the carrying of automatic rifles

5698-515: Was that a total occupation would be most beneficial, at least during the initial phase. In August 1944, the US government established the United States Group to the Control Council for Germany, which served as a liaison group within the EAC for planning the future occupation of entire Germany. The chairman of this group was Brig. Gen. Cornelius Wendell Wickersham . As the German collapse approached, Strang became convinced that Germany

5775-430: Was the precedent of US military governance well before the initiation of post-war planning and the official formation of OMGUS to administer civil affairs. This precedent was accomplished through the publication of two Army field manuals, FM 27–5, Military Governance , and FM 27–10, The Rules of Land Warfare , as early as 1940, setting the stage for future occupation policy. The invasion and occupation of Sicily in 1943 saw

5852-616: Was undecided on whether a partial occupation of Germany by Allied troops was the most desirable course of action. At the first EAC meeting on January 14, 1944, Strang proposed alternatives that favored the total occupation of Germany, similar to the situation following the First World War when Allied rule was established over the Rhineland. Strang believed that a full occupation would limit the reliance on former Nazis to maintain order within Germany. He also believed that it would make

5929-658: Was under the direction of Friedrich Luft , long known for his theater reviews in the RIAS ("Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor", the radio and TV broadcasting service in the American Sector of Berlin). Hans Schwab-Felisch was another prominent contributor to the Berlin edition's Feuilleton . Schwab-Felisch later worked at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and became editor of Merkur , Germany's leading intellectual review. Other contributors to

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