American Units In Bavaria: Who Occupied The Region?

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945, the Allies divided the country into four occupation zones. The American zone, also known as the US-Zone or the Southwest zone, was controlled by the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) and included the Bavarian exclave of Ostheim, but excluded Lindau and the Palatinate. The American zone ceased to exist after the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, but the US maintained a military presence across the country.

The American zone in Southern Germany

• Bavaria (excluding Lindau and the Palatinate)
• The Prussian provinces of Kurhessen and Nassau
• The portions of the People's State of Hesse east of the Rhine River
• The portions of Württemberg and the Republic of Baden north of the Karlsruhe-Ulm Reichsautobahn

In addition, the ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven were placed under US control to ensure access for supplies. At the end of October 1946, the American Zone had a population of 3.6 million in Württemberg-Baden.

The American zone played a crucial role in the denazification process, with the Law for Liberation from National Socialism and Militarism coming into force in the zone in 1946. This law provided the model for denazification throughout the western zones, requiring all Germans over 18 to complete a questionnaire detailing their role in Nazi Germany.

The Americans also established four states within their zone: Bavaria, Bremen, Greater Hesse, and Württemberg-Baden. These states worked together in the State Council of the American occupation zone.

The American military occupation of the American sector of West Berlin continued until 2 October 1990.

The Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS)

OMGUS was responsible for the US zone of occupation, and was the US element of the Allied Control Authority, the four-power occupation control system. It was headed by General Lucius D. Clay, who was the longest-serving Military Governor of OMGUS, from 1946 until his resignation on 15 May 1949. He was succeeded by General John J. McCloy.

Structurally, OMGUS was composed of five independent US Military Government Offices: OMG Württemberg-Baden, OMG Greater Hesse, OMG Bavaria, OMG Bremen, and OMG Berlin. These five offices reported to the Office of Military Government – US Zone, which was headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Greater Hesse.

One of the primary functions of OMGUS was the restitution and reparation of property looted by the Nazis during World War II. It was responsible for locating and returning material to countries from which property had been claimed. This included works of art and cultural materials of value, which were tracked through the Property Division and the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Section.

In addition to its administrative and restitution roles, OMGUS played a significant role in disseminating propaganda and controlling information in the US zones of occupation. This included the creation of newspapers, such as Die Neue Zeitung, which was based in Munich and edited by German and Jewish émigrés. The goal of this media was to destroy Nazi cultural remnants and encourage democracy by exposing Germans to American culture and society.

The Bavarian Soviet Republic

The roots of the Bavarian Soviet Republic lay in the German Empire's defeat in World War I and the ensuing social and political unrest. In September 1917, the Bavarian Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which rejected revolutionary efforts in Bavaria, submitted a motion to the Bavarian Landtag calling for various political reforms. However, this motion failed.

On November 7, 1918, King Ludwig III of Bavaria was forced to abdicate and fled to Salzburg, Austria, with his family. Kurt Eisner, a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), then proclaimed the establishment of the People's State of Bavaria on November 8, 1918, and became its first Minister-President. Eisner envisioned a socialist state that would address the socioeconomic concerns of ordinary German citizens. However, he faced opposition from both the political right and other left-wing factions.

In the January 1919 elections, Eisner's party suffered a humiliating defeat, winning less than three per cent of the vote. On February 21, 1919, as he was on his way to announce his resignation, Eisner was assassinated by the right-wing nationalist Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley. This created a power vacuum and led to mass protests.

On March 1, 1919, the Congress of Councils proclaimed their own government, but they lacked a strong base of support within the working class. On April 7, 1919, the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the USPD proclaimed the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, with the social activist and poet Ernst Toller as its leader. Toller referred to the event as the "Bavarian Revolution of Love," and his government became known as "the regime of the coffeehouse anarchists."

The new government consisted of anarchists and intellectuals, including the writer Gustav Landauer, the economist Silvio Gesell, and the playwright Erich Mühsam. However, they had no political or administrative experience, and the republic faced both internal and external challenges. Food shortages led to popular unrest, and the communist leader Eugen Leviné was accused of imposing a "`pseudo-soviet`" and not following the example of Lenin's Russia.

On April 18, 1919, nearly 8,000 soldiers were dispatched to Munich by the Berlin Reich government and Hoffman's People's State of Bavaria to crush the communist forces. Leviné managed to gather up to 10,000 soldiers, but they were no match for the Freikorps units and Hoffmann's loyalist elements of the German Army, known as the "White Guards of Capitalism."

On May 1, 1919, the Freikorps broke through the Munich defences, leading to bitter street fighting that left at least 606 people dead, including 335 civilians. The Bavarian Soviet Republic was defeated, and Leviné was later sentenced to death for treason and shot by a firing squad. The Bamberg Constitution was enacted on August 14, 1919, creating the Free State of Bavaria within the Weimar Republic.

The tumultuous period of the People's State of Bavaria and the Bavarian Soviet Republic stoked fear and hatred of "bolshevism" among Bavarian society and contributed to the rise of radical right-wing movements, including Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party.

The Bamberg Constitution

The first state elections after World War II were held on 30 June 1946, where 180 members of a Constituent Assembly were chosen. This assembly was tasked with drafting a new Bavarian constitution. After a draft was passed on 20 September 1946, the American military government vetoed some provisions, leading to a final draft that was approved on 26 October 1946. The new constitution was then accepted by a public vote on 1 December 1946 and published in the official Bavarian government gazette on 8 December 1946, marking its entry into force.

The Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria establishes Bavaria as a free state, with authority emanating from its people. It is divided into four main parts and contains 188 articles. The constitution sets out that Bavaria is a legal, cultural, and social state dedicated to the well-being of its people and the protection of their natural, cultural, and social foundations.

One of the key features of the Bamberg Constitution is its emphasis on the rights of the people. It guarantees equality before the law, freedom of religion, and personal freedom. Additionally, it grants every Bavarian the right to constitutional complaint. The constitution also abolished the privileged position of the nobility and the sovereignty of the state church, moving towards a parliamentary-representative democracy with self-governing municipalities.

The Bavarian monarchy

The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. The Kingdom was ruled by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers and was a constitutional monarchy.

The foundation of the Kingdom of Bavaria dates back to the ascension of Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach as King of Bavaria in 1806. The crown continued to be held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom came to an end in 1918.

In 1805, under the Peace of Pressburg between Napoleonic France and the Holy Roman Empire, several principalities allied to Napoleon were elevated to kingdoms. One of the staunchest of these was the prince-elector of Bavaria, Maximilian IV Joseph, and on 1 January 1806, he formally assumed the title of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria.

Maximilian's successors resisted German nationalism, and Bavaria became the protector of smaller states whose leaders felt threatened by Prussia or Austria in the German Confederation. Religious ties and the Upper German language linked the state more to Austria until their defeat in the Austro-Prussian War.

In 1866, King Ludwig II signed an alliance with Prussia, effectively relinquishing Bavarian independence. With the treaty of 23 November 1870, Bavaria was integrated into the new German Empire, but permitted a relatively large degree of self-determination. The Kings of Bavaria maintained their titles, and separate diplomatic and military corps.

When the German Empire was abolished in November 1918, after the end of World War I, the last king of Bavaria, Ludwig III, was deposed, bringing an end to the Bavarian monarchy.

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