Origins of the East and West German navies: From the Kriegsmarine to the Volksmarine and Bundesmarine, 1944-1956

This comparative study of the dissolution, transition, and new foundation of naval forces in East and West Germany contributes to our understanding of how the two Germanies diverged; how Germans, Britons, Americans, and Soviets interacted within the framework of the maritime sphere; and how the legacies of the period 1944-1956 resulted in two very different German navies.; Part I of the study examines the Kriegsmarine, for both East and West Germans reacted to the Kriegsmarine precedent when they established new German naval forces. Part II investigates the dissolution of the Kriegsmarine, and concludes that despite clear differences in British, American, and Soviet practices, both the Western powers and the Soviet Union were committed to rooting out all vestiges of German naval power. The establishment of new German maritime units during the post-war years--such as Mecklenburg's Maritime Security Police, Cuxhaven's Mine Sweeping Group, the Klose Patrol Group, and the Bremerhaven Naval Historical Team--is analyzed in Part III. With the onset of the Cold War, the British and Americans utilized German naval expertise to a greater extent than did the Soviets, but neither they nor the Soviets envisioned establishing client German navies during the 1940s. The final sections of the study analyze various precursors to the East and West German navies, such as the People's Police--Sea, the Border Police North (Coast), the American Labor Service Unit Bravo, and the West German Seegrenzschutz. The study concludes that East Germany had organized a covert navy well before it officially established the "Naval Forces of the National People's Army," while West Germany and the United States pursued a more subtle strategy of forming non-military German maritime organizations from which a future West German navy could draw men, materiel and equipment once the Federal Republic's role in the NATO alliance was clarified.; The study as a whole emphasizes human factors, examines German agency in East and West during the transition from defeat to alliance, and explores how the Volksmarine and the Bundesmarine were shaped by the interaction of Germans, Britons, Soviets, and Americans during the decade preceding their official foundation.