The myth of the Eastern Front: the Nazi-Soviet war in American popular culture

From the 1950s onward, Americans were quite receptive to a view of World War II similar to the view held by many Germans and military personnel on how the war was fought on the Eastern Front in Russia. Through a network of formerly high-ranking Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr officers who had served on the Eastern Front, Germans were able to shape American opinions into an interpretation of World War II that left the Wehrmacht with a "clean" reputation in World War II history. A broad subculture of German military enthusiasts continues to romanticize the German army to this day. "From the 1950s onward, Americans were quite receptive to a view of World War Two propagated by many Germans on how the war was fought on the Eastern Front in Russia. Through a network of former high-ranking Wehrmacht and current Bundeswehr officers who had served in Russia, Germans were able to convince Americans that the German army had fought a "clean" war in the East and that atrocities there were committed solely by Nazi organizations. This view fit well with the prevailing anti-Communism of the Cold War and continues to this day in a broad subculture of general readers, German military enthusiasts, wargame aficionados, military paraphernalia collectors, and reenactors who tend to romanticize the German military."--Jacket Bogen er et opgør med myten om, at tyske militære enheder fra Værnemagten (Wehrmacht) ikke begik grove krigsforbrydelser i Sovjetunionen under 2. Verdenskrig, kun de specielle SS ledede indsatsgrupper blev beskyldt for grove forbrydelser og krænkelser mod den civile russiske befolkning, minoriteter og krigsfanger. Ledende tyske officerer, der alle havde deltaget i 2. Verdenskrig i Sovjetunionen, hjalp godt til med at holde myten i live bl.a. på grund af det ændrede syn på Sovjetunionen under den kolde krig Contents Illustrations Preface Introduction 1 Americans Experience the War in Russia, 1941-1945 2 The Cold War and the Emergence of a Lost Cause Mythology 3 The German Generals Talk, Write, and Network 4 Memoirs, Novels, and Popular Histories 5 Winning Hearts and Minds: The Germans Interpret the War for the United States Public 6 The Gurus 7 Wargames, the Internet, and the Popular Culture of the Romancers 8 Romancing the War: Reenactors, and “What If History” Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author:
Professor Ronald Smelser is former president of the German Studies Association and the Conference Group for Central European History as well as a former member of the American Advisory Board of the German Historical Institute in Washington

About the Author:
Professor Edward J. Davies II served on the advisory board for National Geographic's Concise History of the World