Expelling the Germans: British Opinion and Post-1945 Population Transfer in Context (Oxford Historical Monographs)

Expelling the Germans focuses on how Britain perceived the mass movement of German populations from Poland and Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War. Drawing on a wide range of British archival material, Matthew Frank examines why the British came to regard the forcible removal of Germans as a necessity, and evaluates the public and official responses in Britain once mass expulsion became a reality in 1945. Central to this study is the concept of population transfer: the contemporary idea that awkward minority problems could be solved rationally and constructively by removing the population concerned in an orderly and gradual manner, while avoiding unnecessary human suffering and economic disruption. Dr Frank demonstrates that while most British observers accepted the principle of population transfer, most were also consistently uneasy with the results of putting that principle into practice. This clash of principle with practice reveals much not only about the limitations of Britain's role but also the hierarchy of British priorities in immediate post-war Europe. Contents......Page 8 List of Abbreviations......Page 9 Introduction......Page 12 1. Frankfurt-on-Wye/Monmouth an der Oder: Population Transfer before the Second World War......Page 24 2. ‘Not a Difference of Principle, but a Difference of Emphasis’: Wartime Studies on Population Transfer, 1940–1945......Page 50 3. From Prague to Potsdam: Expulsions from Czechoslovakia and Poland, May–July 1945......Page 105 4. ‘In Germany Now’: The German Refugee Crisis, July–October 1945......Page 133 5. ‘A Thankless Task’: Official Responses to the Expulsions, August–December 1945......Page 175 6. Crisis! What Crisis?: Refugee Rumours and Scares, October 1945–January 1946......Page 218 7. ‘Useless Mouths’: Transfers from Czechoslovakia and Poland, 1946–1947......Page 238 Conclusion......Page 285 Bibliography......Page 290 B......Page 322 C......Page 323 D......Page 324 G......Page 325 L......Page 326 O......Page 327 P......Page 328 S......Page 329 W......Page 330 Z......Page 331 An examination of British involvement in the forced migration of German minorities from Poland and Czechoslovakia, this work based on archival research focuses on the refugee crisis caused by this mass movement of population, and on subsequent British attempts to offset its worst effects