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German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance. / Gillian S Clarke

Swansea University Author: Gillian S Clarke

Abstract

Towards the end of the Second World War the British government embarked on an ambitious policy involving the large-scale employment of German prisoners of war in various sectors of the British economy, particularly in agriculture. By the autumn of 1946 it had succeeded in shipping more than 400,000...

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Published: 2006
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42278
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first_indexed 2018-08-02T18:54:19Z
last_indexed 2018-08-03T10:09:43Z
id cronfa42278
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spelling 2018-08-02T16:24:28.6669869 v2 42278 2018-08-02 German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance. a13aa07bbeffe9cb9cd4be701203a774 NULL Gillian S Clarke Gillian S Clarke true true 2018-08-02 Towards the end of the Second World War the British government embarked on an ambitious policy involving the large-scale employment of German prisoners of war in various sectors of the British economy, particularly in agriculture. By the autumn of 1946 it had succeeded in shipping more than 400,000 of these men to Britain from the Continent and America specifically for this purpose. Contrary to the requirement of the 1929 Geneva Convention, which stated that POWs should be repatriated 'as soon as possible after the conclusion of peace', thousands of these prisoners remained in this country as a supplementary labour force until 1948. Consequently, Britain's actions in this respect raise a number of important questions, which the present thesis seeks to address. Through an examination of a variety of primary source material, including official documents of the British and Canadian governments, parliamentary debates, commentary by contemporary informed observers, as well as a body of valuable secondary literature, it explains why officials believed that such a radical policy was necessary, the many practical difficulties that had to be overcome to bring it to fruition, and how, considering her international treaty obligations, Britain was able to justify legally the retention of POWs for three years after the war's end. Among the conclusions drawn is that Britain's POW policy was born of a selfish desire to alleviate a complex mixture of psychological, economic and political pressures, which came to bear on the country as a result of the war and its aftermath. Since the needs of the prisoners themselves were rarely taken into account, or what they, and others, felt to be their right to return to their homeland at the end of the war, the episode shows how British government officials were prepared to compromise Britain's moral standing in the wake of a global conflict which had, above all, been fought and won by the Allied powers on moral and ethical grounds. E-Thesis Military history.;Political science. 31 12 2006 2006-12-31 COLLEGE NANME History COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Doctoral Ph.D 2018-08-02T16:24:28.6669869 2018-08-02T16:24:28.6669869 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History Gillian S Clarke NULL 1 0042278-02082018162441.pdf 10797986.pdf 2018-08-02T16:24:41.8670000 Output 9567336 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2018-08-02T16:24:41.8670000 false
title German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
spellingShingle German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
Gillian S Clarke
title_short German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
title_full German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
title_fullStr German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
title_full_unstemmed German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
title_sort German prisoners of war in Britain, 1940-1948: Policy and performance.
author_id_str_mv a13aa07bbeffe9cb9cd4be701203a774
author_id_fullname_str_mv a13aa07bbeffe9cb9cd4be701203a774_***_Gillian S Clarke
author Gillian S Clarke
author2 Gillian S Clarke
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2006
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
document_store_str 1
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description Towards the end of the Second World War the British government embarked on an ambitious policy involving the large-scale employment of German prisoners of war in various sectors of the British economy, particularly in agriculture. By the autumn of 1946 it had succeeded in shipping more than 400,000 of these men to Britain from the Continent and America specifically for this purpose. Contrary to the requirement of the 1929 Geneva Convention, which stated that POWs should be repatriated 'as soon as possible after the conclusion of peace', thousands of these prisoners remained in this country as a supplementary labour force until 1948. Consequently, Britain's actions in this respect raise a number of important questions, which the present thesis seeks to address. Through an examination of a variety of primary source material, including official documents of the British and Canadian governments, parliamentary debates, commentary by contemporary informed observers, as well as a body of valuable secondary literature, it explains why officials believed that such a radical policy was necessary, the many practical difficulties that had to be overcome to bring it to fruition, and how, considering her international treaty obligations, Britain was able to justify legally the retention of POWs for three years after the war's end. Among the conclusions drawn is that Britain's POW policy was born of a selfish desire to alleviate a complex mixture of psychological, economic and political pressures, which came to bear on the country as a result of the war and its aftermath. Since the needs of the prisoners themselves were rarely taken into account, or what they, and others, felt to be their right to return to their homeland at the end of the war, the episode shows how British government officials were prepared to compromise Britain's moral standing in the wake of a global conflict which had, above all, been fought and won by the Allied powers on moral and ethical grounds.
published_date 2006-12-31T03:52:39Z
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score 10.997933

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