Rolf-Dieter Muller, Janice W. Ancker (TRN) Hitler's Wehrmacht, 1935-1945

Annotation

An ';impressively comprehensive' study of the Nazi military and its culpability in war crimes by ';one of the foremost historians of World War II' (Stephen G. Fritz, author of Ostkrieg). Since the end of World War II, Germans have struggled with the legacy of the Wehrmachtthe unified armed forces mobilized by Adolf Hitler in 1935. Historians have vigorously debated whether the Wehrmachts atrocities represented a break with the past or a continuation of Germanys military traditions. Now available for the first time in English, this meticulously researched yet accessible overview by eminent historian Rolf-Dieter Muller provides a comprehensive analysis of the Wehrmacht, illuminating its role in the horrors of the Third Reich. Muller examines the Wehrmachts leadership principles, organization, equipment, and training, as well as the front-line experiences of soldiers, airmen, Waffen SS, foreign legionnaires, and volunteers. He skillfully demonstrates how state-directed propaganda and terror influenced the extent to which the militarized citizenryor Volksgemeinschaftwas transformed under the pressure of total mobilization. Finally, Muller evaluates the armys conduct during the war, from blitzkrieg to the final surrender and charges of war crimes. Brief acts of resistance, such as an officers ';rebellion of conscience' in July 1944, embody the repressed, principled humanity of Germanys soldiers. But ultimately, Muller concludes, the Wehrmacht became the ';steel guarantor' of the criminal Nazi regime.