Graduate Student, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages
PTVL & PhD student
Thesis Title: The BAOR and the Germans - from enemies to partners?
|
Dr. Mark Clapson
Dr Patricia Hogwood |
About
I am a History PhD candidate at the University of Westminster in London and also teach Undergraduate History students at the Department of Social and Historical Studies at Westminster. Previous qualifications include a BA (Hons) in Modern History (University of Westminster), an MA in the History of International Relations (London School of Economics and Political Science) and a Postgraduate Certificate of Special Study (Pg Cert SS) in Supporting Learning.
My project deals with the British Army of the Rhine and its relations with the Germans between 1948 and 1956.
My key question is this: to what extent was the BAOR, which was 80,000 strong by 1954 and geographically spread over the former British zone of occupation, an effective tool for the improvement of Anglo-German relations on the diplomatic, military and individual levels in the context of early European integration and the Cold War?
My project is intends to evaluate the impact of the British attempt to transform the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) from an occupation force of the defeated Nazi Germany to an alliance partner of the Federal Republic of Germany which joined NATO as a full member in 1955. Naturally the German perception of this attempt plays an important role here.
The time period covered is from 1948 to 1956. In 1948 it became increasingly evident that the western zones of Germany would merge into a semi-sovereign state. By the end of 1956 the fairly good political understanding that had been developed between Britain and Germany arguably began to take a turn for the worse. This was partly due to the general deterioration of British relations with Europe over the question of British entry into the EEC. From 1956 onwards the question of BAOR troop costs and the German unwillingness to cover these contributed to this.
The project will also analyse the difficulties encountered on both the British and the German sides during the attempts to come to a better understanding between the BAOR and the German public as well as the degree of success that was achieved.
The project therefore attempts to shed light on a new angle of Anglo-German diplomatic, military and social relations after 1945 and evaluate its impact on the wider context of European integration after the Second World War.
