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The Soviet Union through German Eyes: Wehrmacht Identity, Nazi Propaganda, and the Eastern Front War, 1941-1945

Pfeifer, Justin Thomas
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417426182

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, History.
This dissertation investigates the worldview of German frontline soldiers during the Eastern Front conflict of the Second World War. It argues that Nazi era propaganda’s creation of a racial and ideological “Other” in the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the attitude of the military in the East. These ideological imaginations of the enemy were often transformed by the realities at the front through the experiences of common enlisted men. While the Nazis constructed a racially and politically charged image of the enemy to justify a war of conquest, the German soldiers fighting in the East developed their own views of an expanding imperial landscape. An identity transformation amongst German combatants took place during the Eastern Front campaign for many reasons, including the effects of Nazi dogma, a foreign environment and local populace, the strains of combat, changing war circumstances, and genocidal policies. This project utilizes the wartime writings of Hitler’s ordinary men to provide a partial reconstruction of their mentality, revealing their beliefs, fears, and perceptions of the Soviet enemy.
Larry Wilcox (Committee Chair)
Beth Griech-Polelle (Committee Co-Chair)
Roberto Padilla (Committee Member)
Robert McCollough (Committee Member)
481 p.
European Studies; History; Holocaust Studies; Military History
Nazi Germany; Eastern Front; Feldpostbriefe; Wehrmacht; World War II; Holocaust; Genocide; Propaganda; Ideology; Worldview; Othering; Identity; Atrocities; Morale

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pfeifer, J. T. (2014). The Soviet Union through German Eyes: Wehrmacht Identity, Nazi Propaganda, and the Eastern Front War, 1941-1945 [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417426182

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pfeifer, Justin. The Soviet Union through German Eyes: Wehrmacht Identity, Nazi Propaganda, and the Eastern Front War, 1941-1945. 2014. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417426182.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pfeifer, Justin. "The Soviet Union through German Eyes: Wehrmacht Identity, Nazi Propaganda, and the Eastern Front War, 1941-1945." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1417426182

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1417426182
17,603
© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.