The Set Up of Modern Germany

It was an interesting article about the relationship between American troops and German women in post World War II Germany. What was striking about the article was the new found freedom that German women were already tasting, arguably, under the Nazis. I am not implying that all women were experiencing independence and freedom under the Nazis but there was certainly a breakthrough in the traditionally patriarch dominated German society.

This became more evident when the Nazi party fell and Germany surrendered to the Allied Powers. Women for the first time were able to express their sexual freedom as well as work and study in places that were traditionally dominated by men. For the first time, women outnumbered men in post-war Germany. While men were either killed, held prisoners of war, or divorced, women found themselves free from all social constraints and norms. Some of these developments rose from the total destruction of the society and the nation. Germany found itself occupied by four nations - Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Germans were left with barely enough food and the nation's infrastructure in shambles. These new developments portray the new beginning of modern Germany where old traditions and German values have been broken down.

It is more apparent in newly created East Germany. German women can now work and contribute meaningfully to the state. While West Germany tried to maintain the old policy of discouraging women from stepping outside their homes but as capitalism and democracy developed, women found new opportunities. It's interesting to note that the destruction of lives, society, and the nation as a whole leads to news changes in attitude, culture, tradition, and the relationship between a man and a woman.