Normative Westernization?

the impact of remigres on the foundation of political thought in post-war Germany

Alfons Söllner

pp. 40-60

in: German ideologies since 1945, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003

Abstract

What were the individual factors that influenced the development of a democratic culture in the Federal Republic of Germany? In my opinion, no definitive answer has as yet been given to this question; however, it figures among the most difficult questions posed by West German post-war history. In the beginning, a reference to a remarkable shift in the priorities of research in this field may suffice to at least delimit this question as far as the contribution of American occupation policy to the introduction of a democratic order is concerned. Whereas a large part of the earlier literature was based on the "economist" premise that West German democracy—though not directly imposed by the Americans—had been introduced as an instrument for the "restoration of capitalism,"¹ the more recent research emphasizes the comparatively "mild" character of occupation policy in general,² and of the measures of reeducation in particular. Thus, Hermann-Josef Rupieper has shown that the policy of reeducation was not only highly differentiated in its concept and carried out in a very careful manner, but that it also took into account the reflexive and unavoidably long-term character of a reorientation toward democratic living conditions.