Atrocities and excesses. Illegitimate violence by the US Army in the era of the World Wars, 1914-1945

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Sönke Neitzel
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 407133841

In the second funding phase, Sub-project 7 will investigate the military culture of violence of the ground forces of the United States during the global conflicts of 1914 to 1945. This topic has so far been addressed neither for the European theatre of war nor over this extended period of time. Of crucial importance here is the fact that although the Americans fought alongside the British and Canadians under a unified command structure during both World Wars and, like their allies, were majority English-speaking and majority Protestant, they did not follow the British path of de-radicalisation on the ground during the Second World War, but took a similar path to the Canadians and were even more extreme in their targeting of civilians and enemy prisoners. So far there is no sufficient explanation for this specific radicalisation. This suggests that military cultures of violence rather than situational factors were decisive for the perpetration of atrocities by the armies of these three nations. The USA is therefore the missing link in the analysis of the cultures of violence of the western Allies. The case study on the land forces of the United States is a crucial contribution to placing the results of the first funding phase on the British and the Canadians in a broader context.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 2898: Military Cultures of Violence - Illegitimate Military Violence from the Early Modern Period to the Second World War
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Kim A. Wagner