German Warriors - From Waterberg to Isa Khel

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Sönke Neitzel
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2019 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 418870715

The book is a history of German armed forces from Wilhelm II to Angela Merkel. First, it will analyze the military culture of the Bundeswehr and, second, it will put its findings in the context of the 20th century. It will demonstrate to what extent the German military culture changed beyond the major political and social caesura. Methodologically, the study combines social, cultural and structural historical approaches with the operational history .Although the view of politics and civil society on the armed forces is always taken into consideration, the focus lies on the internal perspectives of the military. The book deals in particular with combat troops of the army and the question to which degree there is evidence of a persistent warrior culture. The title of the book underlines this approach. The subtitle marks the period of investigation: At the Waterberg in the north of present-day Namibia 1904, the largest battle in the campaign against the Herero took place. It was by far the most important military event of Imperial Germany in the long peace period from 1871 to 1914 and is synonymous with a Prussian-German doctrine of annihilation, which then fully unfolded in the world wars. In 2010 the fiercest combat operations of German ground forces took place the region around Isa Khel in Northern Afghanistan. This village is synonymous of a critically discussed warrior culture in the Bundeswehr.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants