Violence in Defeat: The Wehrmacht on German Soil, 1944–1945 (Cambridge Military Histories)

In the final year of the Second World War, as bitter defensive fighting moved with inevitable remorselesslnes back towards German home soil, a wave of intraethnic violence engulfed the country. Bastiaan Willems offers the first study into the impact and behaviour of the Wehrmacht Forces on its own territory and people, focusing primarily on the German units sent to fight Soviet Russia in East Prussia, and in and around its capital of Königsberg. He shows that the Wehrmacht's retreat back into German lands long thought invulnerable to such an attack by the 'primitive' Russian Army, after three long bloody years of some of the most brutal battles on the Eastern Front, contributed significantly to the spike of violence which later occurred throughout the country immediately prior to the Reich's final defeat in 1945. Soldiers from all of the Wehrmacht branches of service, including the newly formed Volksstrum, all arrived with an already deeply ingrained mindset of barbarism. These thoughts from either years of constant propaganda or from being in constant action on the 'Ost Front', saw a callous indifference to life enter into and shape the actions inside the immediate environment of their new area of operations. Willems establishes how the norms of the Wehrmacht as a retreating army also impacted upon their own behavioural patterns, and of those on the home front - arguing that its presence increased the propensity of those concerned to carry out extreme acts of violence on German soil - with the same level of ruthless barbarism they had heard of being shown to village after village since the Invasion of Russia."The suffering of the population in East Prussia under Soviet occupation, even long after the war had ended in 1945, is well known. This book will stimulate lively discussions about how the conduct of the radicalised Wehrmacht units retreating from the Eastern Front onto German territory in 1944/45 impacted these miserable conditions''. - Margit Szöllösi-Janze (Author). "In the final year of the Second World War, as bitter defensive fighting moved to German soil, a wave of intraethnic violence engulfed the country. Bastiaan Willems offers the first study into the impact and behaviour of the Wehrmacht on its own territory, focusing on the German units fighting in East Prussia and its capital Königsberg. He shows that the Wehrmacht's retreat into Germany, after three years of brutal fighting on the Eastern Front, contributed significantly to the spike of violence which occurred throughout the country immediately prior to defeat. Soldiers arriving with an ingrained barbarised mindset, developed on the Eastern Front, shaped the immediate environment of the area of operations, and of Nazi Germany as a whole. Willems establishes how the norms of the Wehrmacht as a retreating army impacted behavioural patterns on the home front, arguing that its presence increased the propensity to carry out violence in Germany"-- Provided by publisher In the final year of the Second World War, as bitter defensive fighting moved to German soil, a wave of intraethnic violence engulfed the country. Here, the author offers a study into the impact and behaviour of the Wehrmacht on its own territory, focusing on the German units fighting in East Prussia and its capital Königsberg. He shows that the Wehrmacht's retreat into Germany, after three years of brutal fighting on the Eastern Front, contributed significantly to the spike of violence which occurred throughout the country immediately prior to defeat. Soldiers arriving with an ingrained barbarised mindset, developed on the Eastern Front, shaped the immediate environment of the area of operations, and of Nazi Germany as a whole. The author establishes how the norms of the Wehrmacht as a retreating army impacted behavioural patterns on the home front, arguing that its presence increased the propensity to carry out violence in Germany. -- Provided by publisher "In the final year of the Second World War, as bitter defensive fighting moved to German soil, a wave of intraethnic violence engulfed the country. Bastiaan Willems offers the first study into the impact and behaviour of the Wehrmacht on its own territory, focusing on the German units fighting in East Prussia and its capital Königsberg. He shows that the Wehrmacht's retreat into Germany, after three years of brutal fighting on the Eastern Front, contributed significantly to the spike of violence which occurred throughout the country immediately prior to defeat. Soldiers arriving with an ingrained barbarised mindset, developed on the Eastern Front, shaped the immediate environment of the area of operations, and of Nazi Germany as a whole. Willems establishes how the norms of the Wehrmacht as a retreating army impacted behavioural patterns on the home front, arguing that its presence increased the propensity to carry out violence in Germany."-- Jaquette In the final year of the Second World War, as bitter defensive fighting moved to German soil, a wave of intra-ethnic violence engulfed the country. Bastiaan Willems offers the first study into the impact and behaviour of the Wehrmacht on its own territory, focusing on the German units fighting in East Prussia and its capital Koenigsberg. He shows that the Wehrmacht's retreat into Germany, after three years of brutal fighting on the Eastern Front, contributed significantly to the spike of violence which occurred throughout the country immediately prior to defeat. Soldiers arriving with an ingrained barbarised mindset, developed on the Eastern Front, shaped the immediate environment of the area of operations, and of Nazi Germany as a whole. Willems establishes how the norms of the Wehrmacht as a retreating army impacted behavioural patterns on the home front, arguing that its presence increased the propensity to carry out violence in Germany