Author : John Curtis Rasmussen
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 490 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (164 download)
Book Synopsis The American forces in Germany and civil affairs, July 1919 - January 1923 by : John Curtis Rasmussen
Download or read book The American forces in Germany and civil affairs, July 1919 - January 1923 written by John Curtis Rasmussen and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The initial American planning for post-World War II military occupations of foreign territory was based primarily on the record of the American Forces in Germany. For four years after the conclusion of World War I, American troops occupied a portion of the German Rhineland - in keeping with the Armistice Agreement and not as an instrument of American foreign policy. Because the United States did not have troops on German soil for political purposes, nor did she seek revenge upon Germany, an objective study of a military government in operation can be made. As a result of the Rhineland occupation, the United States Army concluded that success in the administration of civil affairs by a military government was to be measured by its ability to convert enemies into friends through just, considerate, and mild treatment of the governed by the occupying power. This success was also to be measured by a military government's ability to establish and maintain an efficient organization from within. The American Forces in Germany, under the guidance of Colonel I. L. Hunt and General Henry T. Allen, did indeed convert enemies into friends. This was achieved because of a genuine desire to aid the Germans, and through a policy of supervision rather than direct administration. American justice was correct, and consequently well received by the people of the occupied territory. Because there had been no prior planning for the Rhineland occupation, an efficient military governmental organization was not established until the advent of the American Forces in Germany in July of 1919 - approximately six months after the commencement of the occupation. The lessons learned in the early stages of the occupation, however, were not forgotten.
