Memory and Power in Post-War Europe: Studies in the Presence of ...

Nationhood in German legislation 245
are contingent on political developments. Moreover, the dominance of
specific group memories is circumscribed by historical junctures and
carried by emerging generational shifts.
The portrayal of the nation in educational policies
The state-centred institutionalisation of nationhood
In the project of modern nation-building the state has played a formative
role. The institutional arena of education legislation has been of particular
importance for this project. In the aftermath of the Second World War,
the German nation was discredited by the experiences of Nazism. Under
pressure from the Allies, the two post-war German states had to reform
their history schooling and purge narratives of nationalistic elements.
National identity and the professionalisation of pedagogues
in West Germany
The significance of education for matters of national identity and collective
memory was a central concern for the Allies after the German surrender
in 1945. One of the primary goals of the three Western Allies was to
prevent a resurgence of nationalism. Allied reforms were aimed largely at
the democratisation and demilitarisation of education. Democratisation
meant different things to different occupying authorities, but all officials
agreed on the need for the reform of the rigid, three-tiered educational
system and of the teaching materials that remained from the Nazi period.
The degree to which this commitment was acted upon varied greatly, not
only by occupational sector, but even by locality. All three Allied authorities
had initial aims to restructure education along the lines of their own
educational systems. The French occupation authorities emphasised federalism
and supported quick efforts at changes in teaching materials and
personnel. 3 Policies regarding the accessibility of the top tier of German
secondary education were largely unsuccessful due to the concerted opposition
of teachers and parents. British educational officials were much
more keen on German participation in educational reform than their
French counterparts. Their planning was focused mostly on the rewriting
of teaching materials in cooperation with German educators deemed
untainted by national socialism. 4 Meanwhile, American officials made
3 Angelika Ruge-Schatz, Umerziehung und Schulpolitik in der Französischen Besatzungszone
1945–1949 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1977).
4 Maria Halbritter, Schulreformpolitik in der Britischen Zone von 1945 bis 1949 (Weinheim:
Beltz Verlag, 1979).