Barbed wire diplomacy : Britain, Germany, and the politics of prisoners of war, 1939-1945

Barbed Wire Diplomacy examines how the United Kingdom government went about protecting the interests, lives and well-being of its prisoners of war (POWs) in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945. The comparatively good treatment of British prisoners in Germany has largely been explained by historians in terms of rational self-interest, reciprocity, and influence of Nazi racism, which accorded Anglo-Saxon servicemen a higher status than other categories of POWs. By contrast, Neville Wylie offers a more nuanced picture of Anglo-German relations and the politics of prisoners of war. Drawing on British, German, United States and Swiss sources, he argues that German benevolence towards British POWs stemmed from London's success in working through neutral intermediaries, notably its protecting power (the United States and Switzerland) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to promote German compliance with the 1929 Geneva convention, and building and sustaining a relationship with the German government that was capable of withstanding the corrosive effects of five years of warfare. Expanding our understanding of both the formulation and execution of POW policy in both capitals, the book sheds new light on the dynamics in inter-belligerent relations during the war. It suggests that while the Second World War should be rightly acknowledged as a conflict in which traditional constraints were routinely abandoned in the pursuit of political, strategic and ideological goals, in this important area of Anglo-German relations, customary international norms were both resilient and effective. This book examines how the United Kingdom government went about protecting the interests, lives, and well‐being of its prisoners of war (POWs) in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945. The comparatively good treatment of British prisoners in Germany has largely been explained by historians in terms of rational self‐interest, reciprocity, and influence of Nazi racism, which accorded Anglo‐Saxon servicemen a higher status than other categories of POWs. By contrast, this book offers a more nuanced picture of Anglo‐German relations and the politics of prisoners of war. Based on British, German, United States, and Swiss sources, it argues that German benevolence towards British POWs stemmed from London's success in working through neutral intermediaries, notably its protecting power (the United States and Switzerland) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to promote German compliance with the 1929 Geneva convention, and building and sustaining a relationship with the German government that was capable of withstanding the corrosive effects of five years of warfare. It expands our understanding of both the formulation and execution of POW policy in both capitals, and sheds new light on the dynamics in inter‐belligerent relations during the war. It suggests that, while the Second World War should be rightly acknowledged as a conflict in which traditional constraints were routinely abandoned in the pursuit of political, strategic, or ideological goals, in this important area of Anglo‐German relations, customary international norms were both resilient and effective Expanding Our Understanding Of Both The Formulation And Execution Of Pow Policy In Both Capitals, The Book Sheds New Light On The Dynamics In Inter-belligerent Relations During The War. It Suggests That While The Second World War Should Be Rightly Acknowledged As A Conflict In Which Traditional Constraints Were Routinely Abandoned In The Pursuit Of Political, Strategic, And Ideological Goals, In This Important Area Of Anglo-german Relations, Customary International Norms Were Both Resilient And Effective. --book Jacket. Explaining Coordination And Cooperation In Anglo-german Relations, 1939-1945 -- Building The Interwar Pow Regime -- Pows And Anglo-german Relations, 1939-1941 -- The Amateurs Try Their Hand : The Provision Of Relief Parcels, 1940-1941 -- The Pow Regime, October 1941-december 1942 : From Cooperation To Coordination -- The Shadow Of The Shackling Crisis, 1943 -- The Role Of The Dominions In British Pow Policy -- The Limits Of Attraction : British Pow Policy And The Great Escape, 1944 -- Avoiding Götterdämmerung, 1945. Neville Wylie. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [275]-297) And Index. Contents......Page 8 List of Terms and Abbreviations......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Introduction......Page 18 1. Explaining Coordination and Cooperation in Anglo–German Relations, 1939–1945......Page 30 2. Building the Interwar POW Regime......Page 55 3. POWs and Anglo–German Relations, 1939–1941......Page 80 4. The Amateurs Try their Hand: The Provision of Relief Parcels, 1940–1941......Page 109 5. The POW Regime, October 1941–December 1942: From ‘Cooperation’ to ‘Coordination’......Page 139 6. The Shadow of the Shackling Crisis, 1943......Page 172 7. The Role of the Dominions in British POW Policy......Page 203 8. The Limits of Attraction: British POW Policy and the ‘Great Escape’, 1944......Page 230 9. Avoiding Götterdämmerung, 1945......Page 254 Conclusion......Page 282 Bibliography......Page 292 B......Page 316 C......Page 318 D......Page 319 G......Page 320 H......Page 322 J......Page 323 O......Page 324 P......Page 325 R......Page 326 S......Page 327 U......Page 328 Z......Page 329 This book examines how the UK government protected the lives, interests, and well-being of its POWs in Nazi Germany. The comparatively good treatment of British POWs in Germany has been explained in terms of self-interest. Wylie presents a more nuanced picture of Anglo-German relations and the politics of prisoners of war Neville Wylie examines Britain's diplomatic efforts to safeguard its prisoners of war in Germany between 1939 and 1945.