British Forces in Germany. The occupation and the stationing of troops in a transnational perspective

The research project examines the social and cultural impact of the stationing of British troops in north-western Germany over the period of three generations on both the approximately two million members of the Armed Forces and the local population. Whereas historical research has mostly concentrated on American impacts on social and cultural developments in the Federal Republic of Germany, this study analyses the significance of British influences. Following the approaches of transnational history, the research project examines the interplay of cultural transfers and ‘translations’, focusing on the extent to which both societies have became intertwined.

The project studies the living conditions of military personnel in self-sufficient communities (expatriate communities), the resulting opportunities to meet and interact with members of the local population on different social levels, and the ways in which each side reacted to ‘foreign’ cultural phenomena, both positively and negatively. The project looks in particular at the individuals who were able to liaise between the groups and to act as mediators. Special attention has to be paid to the fact that transfers included not only ‘translations’ of ‘German’ and ‘British’ cultural phenomena but also the conveyance of a military perspective into a civilian world and vice versa. It is therefore necessary to ask how different experiences of war and peace could be ‘translated’ and which difficulties and opportunities for understanding existed between militarily organized expatriates and the local civilian population. Finally, the results of this study will be compared with findings from research on other forces deployed in a foreign country to identify the particularities of the British stationing of troops in Germany.

Unlike most other studies on Allied Forces in Germany, this project equally weights German and British perspectives and considers their interdependency. The primary focus is on the period between the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany and the withdrawal of British Forces, specifically within the region of the former British occupation zone. The research will use the Grounded Theory method in evaluating British and German archival material, previously inaccessible sources in the possession of private individuals and military units, audiovisual media and interviews. A large part of these sources was gathered during the completed exhibition project “The British in Westphalia” that I curated. The broad response to the exhibition both on a public and scientific level highlighted the significance of the subject of Anglo-German relations, which has gained even more importance because of the withdrawal of British troops and preparations for Brexit.