Contemporary historians have transformed our understanding of the German military in World War II, debunking the "clean Wehrmacht" myth that held most soldiers innocent of wartime atrocities. Considerably less attention has been paid to those soldiers at the end of hostilities. In Postwar Soldiers, Jörg Echternkamp analyzes three themes in the early history of West Germany: interpretations of the war during its conclusion and the occupation period; military veteran communities' self-perceptions; and the public rehabilitation of the image of the German soldier. As Echternkamp shows, public controversies around these topics helped to drive the social processes that legitimized the democratic postwar order.
| ISBN: | 9781789205572 |
| Publication date: | 20th March 2020 |
| Author: | Jörg Echternkamp |
| Publisher: | Berghahn Books |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 570 pages |
| Series: | Making Sense of History |
| Genres: |
Military veterans European history Political structure and processes |
Contemporary historians have transformed our understanding of the German military in World War II, debunking the "clean Wehrmacht" myth that held most soldiers innocent of wartime atrocities. Considerably less attention has been paid to those soldiers at the end of hostilities. In Postwar Soldiers, Jörg Echternkamp analyzes three themes in the early history of West Germany: interpretations of the war during its conclusion and the occupation period; military veteran communities' self-perceptions; and the public rehabilitation of the image of the German soldier. As Echternkamp shows, public controversies around these topics helped to drive the social processes that legitimized the democratic postwar order.
Postwar Soldiers features in the following genres: Military veterans, European history, Political structure and processes
Postwar Soldiers is available in Hardback
Postwar Soldiers was written by Jörg Echternkamp and published by Berghahn Books
Postwar Soldiers has 570 pages
Yes it is part of Making Sense of History series