Refusal on the Rhine: The French Zone of Occupation and the German Refugee and Expellee Crisis, 1945-1949

The end of World War Two saw the influx of millions of German-speakers from Central and Eastern Europe into a physically and economically devastated Germany that had lost a quarter of its pre-1938 territory. Yet one region in Germany remained largely closed to the refugees and expellees: the French zone of military occupation. In 1945, the French occupying authorities refused entry to the refugees, and though they eventually took in some over the course of their occupation, it was an order of magnitude lower than those absorbed into the American, British and Soviet zones. This thesis investigates the reasons behind this initial French position of refusal and its evolution from the immediate end of hostilities in 1945 to the creation of the West German state in 1949. In doing so, it places the question of the refugees in the broader context of France’s overall war aims and its policy towards post-war Germany and Europe. The same security, economic and demographic concerns that drove...Show moreThe end of World War Two saw the influx of millions of German-speakers from Central and Eastern Europe into a physically and economically devastated Germany that had lost a quarter of its pre-1938 territory. Yet one region in Germany remained largely closed to the refugees and expellees: the French zone of military occupation. In 1945, the French occupying authorities refused entry to the refugees, and though they eventually took in some over the course of their occupation, it was an order of magnitude lower than those absorbed into the American, British and Soviet zones. This thesis investigates the reasons behind this initial French position of refusal and its evolution from the immediate end of hostilities in 1945 to the creation of the West German state in 1949. In doing so, it places the question of the refugees in the broader context of France’s overall war aims and its policy towards post-war Germany and Europe. The same security, economic and demographic concerns that drove France’s Germany policy also shaped its response to the refugee crisis; the issue of the refugees and expellees usefully illustrates the trajectory French policy took over the occupation period.Show less

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Refusal on the Rhine: The French Zone of Occupation and the German Refugee and Expellee Crisis, 1945-1949