6. Germany in 1945

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about Germany’s ‘Zero Hour’, focusing in particular on: (i) the impact that the final stages of the war had upon the memory of the Germans who had survived; (ii) the concept of ‘Zero Hour’, and how it came to represent the starting point from which Germany’s postwar recovery would begin; (iii) the historical debate surrounding the idea of a zero hour, and the importance of acknowledging continuities and changes when looking at Germany in 1945.

Course

In this course, Professor Richard Bessel (University of York) explores the consequences of the Second World War in Germany. In the first module, we think about the final battles that took place towards the end of the Second World War. After that, in the second module, we think about the last days of the Third Reich in Germany, before turning in the third module to look at the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. In the fourth module, we consider the impact that Allied occupation had upon Germany, then in the fifth module we outline the far-reaching consequences of Germany’s loss of the eastern territories in 1945. Finally, in the sixth module, we think about the poor state that Germany was left in at the end of the Second World War, and how this manifested itself in the attitudes of subsequent generations.

Lecturer

Professor Richard Bessel is Professor Emeritus of Twentieth Century History at the University of York. He specialises in the social and political history of modern Germany, in particular the aftermath of the two world wars. He has published widely within this area, including Germany 1945: From War to Peace (2009) and Nazism and War .(2004).