The British in Interwar Germany: The Reluctant Occupiers, 1918–30

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The British in Interwar Germany analyses the British presence in Germany from the armistice until the end of the Rhineland occupation in 1930. It looks at British involvement in the Rhineland, Danzig, Upper Silesia, Schleswig and East Prussia and on the inter-Allied Control Commissions (IAMCC), which were supervising German disarmament. Drawing widely on a range of primary sources, David Williamson explores the problems facing British military and civil officials, their attitudes towards the Germans and their relations with their allies – particularly the French. The book also examines the everyday lives of the British soldiers and administrators in Germany and their interaction with the Germans, with particular attention being paid to the city of Cologne and the British colony that developed there. This new edition brings David Williamson’s study fully up-to-date and now contains a greater coverage of the relevant social history, as well as maps, illustrations and a useful glossary. The British in Interwar Germany will be of great interest to students and scholars of Weimar Germany and Britain and Europe during the interwar years. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note on References List of Abbreviations Glossary of German and French Terms Used Most Frequently in the Text Maps Introduction Part I: The Armistice and the Peace Introduction 1. The British-occupied Area of the Rhineland during the Armistice: December 1918–January 1920 The Armistice and the decision to occupy the Rhineland, October–November 1918 The first weeks of the occupation The voyage of the Rhineland Flotilla, December 1918–January 1919 The crisis in morale and the formation of the British Army of the Rhine British Military Government in the Cologne Zone The threat of famine The economy A clash between two worlds: Anglo-German relations in the Cologne Zone in 1919 Conclusion 2. The Reluctant Assumption of Continental Commitments, 1919 The genesis of the control commissions The Rhineland The creation of the Inter-Allied Rhineland Commission, May 1919 The triumph of the civilians: The Rhineland Agreement Schleswig, Danzig and the eastern borders Plans for a further advance into Germany Preparing for ratification Cologne and Coblenz, June–December 1919 Organizing the control commissions Dispatch of the preliminary commission into Germany, September 1919 Danzig and the plebiscite commissions Conclusion Part II: Enforcing the Treaty, 1920–2 Introduction 3. The Plebiscites, 1920–2 Schleswig, January–June 1920 Allenstein and Marienwerder, January–August 1920 Upper Silesia, 1920–2 The plebiscite The third Polish uprising and the return of British troops The Upper Silesian question referred to the League British business and Upper Silesia: A postscript to the plebiscite Conclusion 4. Danzig: The ‘Gibraltar of the North’ The economy, food and coal The proposed Polish-Danzig convention Danzig and the Soviet-Polish war, July–August 1920 Creation of the Free City Conclusion 5. The British Element in the Inter-Allied Control Commissions, 1920–2 The impact of the Kapp Putsch and the Ruhr uprising, March–April 1920 The resumption of inspection Moral disarmament Divisions within the British element of the IAMCC, 1921–2 The proposed Committees of Guarantee Conclusion 6. Britain and the Rhineland, 1920–2 Sir Harold Stuart, January–October 1920 The British Army of the Rhine and the ‘Colognials’, 1920–1 Passing the buck to the Quakers: The food question Arnold Robertson’s appointment as high commissioner, October 1920 The sanctions crisis Lord Kilmarnock The shadow of Poincaré The British Zone, 1922 Inflation and the production boom ‘Tommy as Croesus’: The BAR in 1922 The Ruhr again Conclusion Part III: The Turning Point: The Ruhr Crisis, 1923–4 Introduction 7. The French Occupation of the Ruhr and German ‘Passive Resistance’, January–September 1923 The British reaction: ‘Benevolent passivity’ Cologne as a ‘Trojan Horse’ ‘The island of the blest’? Conclusion 8. France’s Hollow Victory MICUM, the Régie and the Rhenish Notenbank The separatist challenge Conclusion 9. The Impact of the Ruhr Crisis on the Control Commissions, 1923–4 The five points and the Allied demand for a general inspection Conclusion Part IV: After the Ruhr Crisis, 1924–30 Introduction 10. The Consequences of Dawes and Locarno for the Occupation and the IAMCC, 1924–7 The Dawes Plan and the London Conference, April–August 1924 The slow return to normality: The Rhineland, 1924 The impact of the Dawes Plan on the Rhineland The evacuation of the northern zone deferred Breakthrough over the security question The occupation on borrowed time, January–November 1925 The Wauchope-D’Abernon axis Locarno The evacuation of Cologne and the northern zone Winding up the IAMCC Conclusion 11. The British in the Wiesbaden Bridgehead, 1926–30 The problems of occupation in the Locarno era ‘The lost legion’: The Rhine Army, January 1928–July 1929 The re-emergence of the evacuation question, 1928–9 The Hague Conference, 6–31 August 1929 The last months of the Rhine Army, September–December 1929 The end of the Rhineland occupation, June 1930 Conclusion Conclusion Notes Select Bibliography Index