When I hear Americans such as US National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice compare the occupation of Iraq with that of Germany (and sometimes Japan) after WWII, distant memories flood in, for I am a child of that experience. Indeed, in the twelve months following the unconditional surrender of Hitler's Nazi regime in May 1945, I lived under serial Russian, American, and British occupation. Sometimes I think of myself as an expert in comparative occupation studies.
The first conclusion I draw from such experience is this: everything depends on who the occupying power is. When Soviet troops invaded Berlin at the end of April 1945 many of us went into the streets to welcome them. Such enthusiasm did not last long.
by Ralf Dahrendorf
When I hear Americans such as US National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice compare the occupation of Iraq with that of Germany (and sometimes Japan) after WWII, distant memories flood in, for I am a child of that experience. Indeed, in the twelve months following the unconditional surrender of Hitler's Nazi regime in May 1945, I lived under serial Russian, American, and British occupation. Sometimes I think of myself as an expert in comparative occupation studies.
The first conclusion I draw from such experience is this: everything depends on who the occupying power is. When Soviet troops invaded Berlin at the end of April 1945 many of us went into the streets to welcome them. Such enthusiasm did not last long.