Studies in Social Life – serie

Who, in 1945 and 1946, could have foreseen that the economic and social integration of the millions of Germans from the East expelled into West Germany after Wodd War II would largely be accomplished in a few years? And, who could have foreseen that many years after this accomplishment the political repercussions of the expulsions would go on? Yet, surprisingly enough, this is what has happened. In 1969, as usual, the major issues of the federal election campaign in West Germany hardly reflect any specific economic and social concerns of the expellees, not even those bruited about by the NPD (N ationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands). At the same time, how­ ever, all the political parties vying in the campaign, with the exception of the newly founded, less influentialDKP (the new German Commu­ nist Party), pay considerable deference to the political interests of the expellees in the German question. Whether these interests represent the opinion of most of the expellees and whether the expellee associ­ ations in fact speak for many voters is another matter. Why are these questions rarely posed? Why, despite the economic and social integration of the expellees, do the East German Home­ land Provincial Societies - the Landsmannschaften - retain much influence? The explanation of this phenomenon becomes increasingly clear if one reads the intelligent and superbly documented analysis by Hans Schoenberg.

Who, in 1945 and 1946, could have foreseen that the economic and social integration of the millions of Germans from the East expelled into West Germany after Wodd War II would largely be accomplished in a few years? And, who could have foreseen that many years after this accomplishment the political repercussions of the expulsions would go on? Yet, surprisingly enough, this is what has happened. In 1969, as usual, the major issues of the federal election campaign in West Germany hardly reflect any specific economic and social concerns of the expellees, not even those bruited about by the NPD (N ationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands). At the same time, how­ ever, all the political parties vying in the campaign, with the exception of the newly founded, less influentialDKP (the new German Commu­ nist Party), pay considerable deference to the political interests of the expellees in the German question. Whether these interests represent the opinion of most of the expellees and whether the expellee associ­ ations in fact speak for many voters is another matter. Why are these questions rarely posed? Why, despite the economic and social integration of the expellees, do the East German Home­ land Provincial Societies - the Landsmannschaften - retain much influence? The explanation of this phenomenon becomes increasingly clear if one reads the intelligent and superbly documented analysis by Hans Schoenberg.

The Netherlands is an unusual nation in many ways. It is not only that nearly half her land is below sea level. Nor is it that she is one of the world's most crowded lands; her more than 13 million people create a population density of about 1000 per square mHe. Nor is it that half her national income is dependent upon world trade. Nor is it that so small anation could achieve peace and prosperity with so little natural resources. What is most unusual is that the Netherlands has made such a rapid and total adjustment to the demands of modern technological society. In no small measure this was achieved by a deliberate policy of planning, direction, control and development. Its postwar history teIls how a determined people under intelligent govern­ ment leadership rose from a broken economy to a level of economic and social development that places their society among the most modern in the world. The Netherlands is a success story that in some measure has been overlooked by a wider world. This will be an attempt to record her story, touching upon some of the causes and results of this success. The Netherlands is undoubtedly one of the most planning conscious of modern nations. This is not to say that the Dutch government or its people have any concept comparable to the totality of Soviet Five Year Plans.