Preparing for the Long War: The United States Army and the Early Cold War Period 1945–1950

Abstract

As American and British troops pushed into the heart of the Third Reich during the spring of 1945 (March–May 1945), the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff began making preparations for a postwar force that supposedly would maintain the peace on the European continent and prevent the outbreak of a third, more devastating conflict. Unfortunately, as events turned out, the victorious U.S. Army of some 8 million men that had fought in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) rapidly demobilized once the surrender of Germany (and later Japan) had been achieved. This in turn left Germany and much of Western Europe, already devastated by the effects of the war on their soil vulnerable to exploitation and possible invasion by the Soviet Army. Maintaining the peace in Europe was a U.S. military that was but a remnant of the mighty U.S. and British military machine that had defeated the Wehrmacht, that had now been whittled down to a mere occupation or constabulary force.1 1 For an analysis of U.S. Army operations from January to May 1945 see MacDonald, C. B. (1973/2000). United States Army in World War II: The European theater of operations, the last offensive Washington, D.C.: for the occupation of Germany see Cameron, R. There and back again: Constabulary training and organization, 1946–1950. In Combat Studies Institute. (2004) Armed diplomacy: Two centuries of American campaigning, a conference at the Combat Studies Institute, 5–7 August 2003, Ft. Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, pp. 115–35; Ziemke, E. F. (1990). The U.S. Army in the occupation of Germany, 1944–1946. Washington, D.C. Center of Military History,; Frederiksen, O. J. (1955). The American military occupation of Germany, 1945–1953. Darmstadt, Germany: Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army Europe, and Gott, K. D. (2005). Mobility, vigilance, and justice: The U.S. Army constabulary in Germany, 1946–1953. Fort Leavenworth, KS. Combat Studies Institute.