United States occupation policy, and the establishment of a democratic newspaper press in Bavaria, 1945-1949

After the defeat of the Third Reich there was a brief period during which there was no German newspaper press. Then the foreign powers occupying western Germany established a new, licensed newspaper press in Germany which they hoped would perform the function of a democratic press and thereby serve as a cornerstone of German democracy.
The objective of the present study is to scrutinize the development of a segment of the German newspaper press during the period when it was under the control of foreign military occupation authorities. Hopefully, such a study will contribute to a better understanding of the postwar German newspaper press, and, thereby, of German democracy.