6 - The German Churches and the Specter of Americanization

Summary

When National Socialist rule collapsed in May 1945, many Germans thought the “hour of the churches” was upon them. Almost alone among German institutions, the churches emerged from twelve years of Nazi rule with their moral authority strengthened for having spoken out against Nazi injustice at home and abroad. Protestants and Catholics alike sought to recast German society to conform to Christian principles. They spoke of the need to rebuild the Christian West and to roll back the tide of bolshevism and secularism sweeping across Europe. Most importantly, they saw themselves as spokesmen for the defeated German nation at a time when other native political and social institutions had ceased to exist. As one historian described the situation, “In the beginning were the churches - and no state.”

For these reasons, the American military government sought to enlist the churches in its efforts to reconfigure German institutions and society along democratic lines. It rapidly initiated contact with both churches and soon extended privileges to church leaders still unavailable to other institutions and individuals in Germany. Yet, within months, relations between the churches and the American and British occupiers had soured. The churches rejected - publicly as well as privately - not just specific occupation policies but also values, traditions, and ideas they associated with the Americans.