25. Postwar French and German press

After the war, in the first period after the liberation, the situation in the French press largely repeated the one that was in Italy, i.e. at the first stage, the press and radio were under the control of the allied forces. As well as in Italy, the revived publications had to undergo a kind of cleaning. Many of the newspapers, stained by their connection with the occupiers and collaborators, were closed. They will appear in the first years after the liberation, either under the old name, or they will carry out their numbering from the new time. But rather quickly return to their previous names. At the same time, in the first post-war years, many new editions will appear, some of which came out illegally before this, some of which have just appeared. In France at that time, a “new press” appeared. In many ways, its appearance is associated with the euphoria that swept the new movement after liberation. The most popular parties in France at this time are the left parties of the communists and socialists. Not surprisingly, in the wake of this interest and left-wing movement, many left-wing publications emerged, seeking to make the press independent from political authorities or from financial and industrial capital. This period was short, because at the end of the 40th-early 50s, the internal policy of France sharply corrected. France launched a pro-Atlantic movement in politics and entered into a series of wars, including colonial wars. But not only political reasons forced the majority of the “new press” to shut down. The main reasons were financial. In the market conditions, such publications could not maintain their independence and either closed down or, having lost their leftism, became a traditional publication.

In Germany, the first post-war period was associated with a substantial division of the country after the collapse of Hitlerism into the occupation zones, and the establishment of a new media system in it depended on who occupied this or that zone. In the western occupation zone, print and radio are built on the western model. Printing - on a private economic basis, radio and TV - on the basis of public law. In the Soviet zone of occupation, and then in the GDR created in its place, the media served the interests of the ruling party and obeyed a strict control system designed to promote the Marxist-Leninist worldview. Private ownership in the media was not. In western Germany, the press experienced 2 stages of transformation. Initially, on the basis of a license issued by the occupation authorities, 160 licensed newspapers are published here. Compulsory licensing was abolished in 49g. At that time, there were 137 licensed newspapers in the western zones. Then the previous editions returned to the print market (those who owned a newspaper up to 45g). New and old newspapers filled the market. After 9 months in the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany, 570 newspaper publications were active. In the Soviet zone, the newspaper publishing house was transferred to the party. The ruling Socialist Party of Germany (SED) concentrated in its hands about 90 editions. By virtue of the markedly federal structure of Germany, the basic laws of the Federal Republic of Germany of 49g provided the German Bundestag with only legislative framework in the field of media. The activity of the media was governed by laws that were published by individual lands. This principle is strictly guarded in Germany. Any attempts to infringe the rights of the land were stopped in every way and any unification of legislation in the field of media still did not happen on any scale. In the transitional period, as well as up to 33, most of the newspapers belonged to political parties. But in the future, the situation changed and the party newspapers were replaced by commercial news media.