In the early days of Allied occupation, U.S. troops in Germany lived as high as Roman conquerors. A few parlayed their privileges into tidy personal fortunes; all of them got special prerogatives denied the Germans. Little by little, as circumstances changed a defeated enemy into a necessary ally, occupation authorities trimmed down special privileges. By 1952 it was no longer possible for U.S. Army personnel to get free servants (chargeable to West Germany as an occupation cost), or to ride first-class on a third-class railway ticket. But no amount of self-imposed limitations altered the fact that the Allied occupation troops were...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
