British Forces in Germany by Bettina Blum

British Forces in Germany by Bettina Blum

From the end of World War II in 1945 until the drawdown in 2019, about two million British military personnel and their families were stationed in northwestern Germany. This book explores the social, cultural and political impact of this presence on both the military and the host communities.

Considering the British occupation and subsequent stationing of troops as an entangled experience, this study reveals how shifting power dynamics and changing geopolitical scenarios impacted German–British relations over more than seven decades. It not only explores official civilian–military relations, but also the varied transnational and cross-cultural encounters at a personal level (including those of soldiers’ spouses and children) that shaped contact zones and influenced policies. Drawing on a wide range of sources from both countries—oral history interviews, written recollections, memoirs, archival documents, and print and audiovisual media—the book gives equal weight to British and German voices. In doing so, it offers fresh, multifaceted insights into post-war British–German history.

This book is recommended for scholars, students, and general readers interested in transnational history, military occupations, troop deployment, and (post-) Cold War Europe.

Bettina Blum leads the DFG-funded project 'British Forces in Germany: The British Occupation and the Stationing of Troops in a Transnational Perspective’ at Paderborn University, Germany, having previously curated exhibitions on this topic. Her further research interests include the Allied occupations of Germany and Japan, public history, gender history and police history. She received her PhD at Münster University, Germany, on Women Police in East and West Germany.