Book Reviews : A German Community Under American Occupation. By JOHN GIMBEL. (Stan ford : Stanford University Press, 1961. Pp. vi, 259. $5.50.)

• Published date: 01 September 1961
• Date: 01 September 1961
• Author: Bruce B. Frye
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400326
• Subject Matter: Articles

786

ized

each

other.

In

Germany

Chancellor

Adenauer

rejected

extremist

demands

for

a

return

of

the

Saar

and

adopted

a

strategy

of

patience.

In

the

Saar

aware-

ness

of

the

rapidly

increasing

power

of

West

Germany

helped

to

strengthen

pro-German

sentiment.

As

a

result

of

these

and

other

developments,

Saar-

landers

gained

a

freedom

of

choice

which

allowed

them

peaceably

to

return

to

Germany.

Not

surprisingly,

the

historical

section

of

the

book

is

the

better

of

the

two.

Jacques

Freymond

is

Professor

of

International

History

and

Director

of

l’Institut

Universitaire

de

Hautes

Etudes

Internationales

in

Geneva.

He

obviously

prefers

the

techniques

of

the

historian,

at

which

he

is

adept.

By

contrast,

at

times

his

sociological

analysis

has

an

aspect

of

amateurish

dabbling.

For

example,

the

use

of

content

analysis

is

limited

and,

in

the

judgment

of

this

reviewer,

unessential

to

the

conclusions.

Appendices

containing

elaborate

charts

of

governmental

structure

and

maps

showing

the

political

and

electoral

geography

of

the

Saar

are

not

fully

related

to

the

text.

The

treatment

of

pressure

groups

is

elementary.

Mr.

Freymond

could

probably

have

economized

on

space

and

material

by

com-

bining

his

sociological

analysis

with

his

historical

survey.

Of

course,

a

strictly

historical

approach

might

not

meet

the

needs

of

those

who

will

write

the

final

volume

in

the

series.

When

that

volume

appears,

some

of

the

weaknesses

noted

above

may

prove

to

be

sources

of

strength.

Perhaps

for

the

present

it

is

wiser

to

regard

the

book

as

a

detailed

and

sometimes

provocative

description

of

the

most

recent

phase

in

a

struggle

over

one

of

Europe’s

perennially

disputed

areas.

Lehigh

University

W.

ROSS

YATES

A

German

Community

Under

American

Occupation.

By

JOHN

GIMBEL.

(Stan-

ford :

Stanford

University

Press,

1961.

Pp.

vi,

259.

$5.50.)

The

American

Occupation

has

been

described

and

analyzed

in

several

excellent

works

which,

in

general,

have

sought

to

deal

with

the

large

picture

of

the

Occupation.

This

study

will

be

valued

by

students

of

recent

Germany

be-

cause

it

limits

its

scope

in

such

a

way

that

it

enables

the

reader

to

derive

an

intimate

sense

of

the

feeling

of

the

Occupation

and

its

failures.

Gimbel’s

study

pertains

to

the

city

of

Marburg,

but

veterans

of

the

Occupation

will

find

striking

comparisons

between

Marburg

and

the

remainder

of

the

American

Zone.

Gimbel

finds

a

paradox

in

the

Occupation.

American

economic,

social,

and

political

policy

promised

a

revolution

which

never

occurred.

American

policy

sought

to

transform

Germany

and

deliver

it

into

democratic

hands,

but

the

Occupation

only

succeeded

in

alienating

those

who

agreed

with

our

democratic

objectives

and

in

aiding

the ex-Nazis

and

foes

of

our

democratic

ideals.

The

explanation

of

the

American

failure

is

a

familiar

one.

American

ideal-

ism

was

compromised

by

the

practical

necessities

of

governing

a

shattered

country.

International

events

produced

basic

alterations

in

policy.

The

posture

of

the

conqueror

prevented

any

real

friendship

between

Americans

and

Germans,

and