POST-WAR GOVERNANCE - THE LEGAL AND HISTORICAL STATUS OF THE FLENSBURG GOVERNMENT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51204/HLH_26102AKeywords:
Flensburg Government, Karl Dönitz, unconditional surrender, occupation of Germany, recognition of governments, state continuityAbstract
The Flensburg Government, assembled around Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz be-tween 1 and 23 May 1945, operated in the interval between the collapse of the National Socialist regime and the establishment of complete Allied authority over Germany. Its status is sometimes described in terms of legal continuity or tran-sitional administration. This article argues that both descriptions require careful qualification. It separates three issues: the basis of Dönitz’s appointment within the domestic order of the Third Reich, the international status of the Flensburg authorities, and the continuity of the German state after complete military de-feat. Hitler’s political testament provided a factually accepted basis for Dönitz to assume command, but not an uncontested constitutional title. The Allies used German representatives to implement military surrender while withholding rec-ognition of the cabinet as the government of a sovereign state. The arrest of its members on 23 May ended this limited activity; the Berlin Declaration of 5 June 1945 subsequently formalised the Allied assumption of supreme authority with-out annexing Germany. The Flensburg Government is best understood neither as an internationally mandated transitional administration nor as the recognised successor of the Third Reich, but as a remnant of the defeated state and military apparatus that temporarily performed narrowly defined functions under Allied sufferance.
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