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Book Review of Myth of the Eastern Front by Ronald Smelser and Edward J. Davies wrote: The reverence which Americans hold towards the German Army of World War II is a remarkable statement on the fluidity of perception of organizations, events and ideals over time. The Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS are now extolled as some of the most elite fighting forces of all time and they are held as something of an ideal which other nations try to reach for with their armed services. This viewpoint ignores the blatantly racist ideology which drove the men who made up these services to join the armed forces and fight for Germany against the perceived 'Slavic and Jewish threat' surrounding Germany and especially embodied in the communist Soviet Union. It also blatantly ignores the war crimes committed by both the Wehrmacht and SS, instead trying to pass the blame on to the Nazi occupational authorities and to “other units” in the SS and not the front line divisions. This attitude has sunk in deeply and expresses itself almost anywhere you could expect to possibly find it including popular novels set in the time period, TV documentaries and even modern day historiography. Not that long ago I went to the bookstore to try and find a reliable account of the siege of Stalingrad and was amused by the fact that, judging from the covers and book descriptions of most books available on the subject, the unknowing book browser would have had a hard time realizing that it was the Germans who were trying to annihilate a besieged Russian force and not the other way around.

It is this cultural phenomena which the new book Myth of the Eastern Front written by Edward J. Davies and Ronald Smelser deals with. It is a fascinating account of how American perception of the German forces in World War II have shifted from holding them as a mindless, faceless, genocidal, ideological horde embodying the core ideals of Nazi fascism, towards holding them as chivalrously noble soldiers, professional above all else, fighting devoutly for their homeland without thought for who currently leads their nation or the ideology which he espouses. Myth of the Eastern Front details this metamorphosis from the attitude of the American press during World War II and the philosophy behind the Nuremberg war crimes trials, the goal of which was partially to prevent the very myth-making that later took place, to the modern day internet gurus who obsess over the minutiae of the German Army and modern reenactors who spend their weekends trying to relive the life of Waffen SS Soldiers. It also tries to explain why this change took place, showing the effects that the Cold War, the United States Army's research groups recruited from former Wehrmacht soldiers and the internal politics of West Germany each had on this social transformation.

This analysis is very detailed, indeed this detail is in part its major fault, it spends a grand majority of its time on detailing specific sections of this change in perception and not enough on making a proper foundation for its thoughts, making the book feel like it is really only accessible to those with a detailed knowledge of World War II and the post-War era. Much of the book feels as though it is missing what should properly be its first chapter, a chapter detailing Nazi ideology, propaganda and the practice of its Army in the field and its occupational forces and administration in conquered territories. Instead the book opens up on a chapter exploring the perception of Nazi Germany and Russia in the American Press during World War II and proceeds chronologically forward from there. It is from this glaring omission which the book suffers greatest.

This lack of context is especially noticeable when the book bogs down in its later chapters by discussing specific details of a variety of Internet websites geared towards discussion of the Nazi military and the perception of what made Germany lose World War II. For instance, the book repeatedly makes the point that a key part of the mind-set of those who romanticize Nazi Germany in World War II is that a combination of the Russian Winter and superior numbers of the Russian army were the most important factors of what caused the German defeat in 1942 and 43 on the eastern front. It goes on to dismiss this attitude repeatedly but never offers an explanation of what actually happened or any sort of detail explaining how the Red Army, a formidable fighting force later in the war, actually defeated the Nazi forces.

The book, however, does make a more than compelling case on showing how Nazi ideology and war crimes have been ignored, and at worst outright denied, by these romancers. However, again, the book suffers in that it never truly details, beyond a very small selection of examples, the breadth, scope and nature of the Wehrmacht's war crimes. While it does spend a great amount of time showing how they've been ignored and denied. Starting with the memoirs written by Nazi Generals and soldiers to modern day novelists and military experts.

On the whole Myth of the Eastern Front's fairly academic nature is, perhaps, excusable considering that it comes from two academic professors, and that it is this academic nature which makes it an invaluable tool towards understanding the special perception which America, and to a lesser extent Britain and Canada, holds towards Nazi Germany and its military. There is no book quite like it on the market and its flaws are outweighed by the amount of genuine insight it brings to the field.

White Haven wrote:The OP article seems a little confused...it starts out discussing overestimation of Nazi combat prowess, and to back up that claim, it mentions racism and war crimes. I'm not at all defending the Waffen SS or other similar organizations, but the message seems to be 'These were terribly bad men, and as such couldn't have been competent.' They may well have been incompetent, but that's not relevant to whether they were unpleasant.

Let me just chime in that as someone who has repeatedly said that the German military has been ludicrously wanked I find this book very interesting. I think I'll be buying it. Though I would like to know if it's good for thwapping Nazi-wankers who claim that the Soviets could never match the Germans at the operational and tactical level; even they must usually concede STAVKA's strategic skills.

However I'm wondering if the new attitude to the German military is something ingrained in the western psyche; e.g. the look at the way the Zulus, the Highlanders, etc etc were romanticized once they were safely subdued. So since the Nazi's are all dead, and the Germans have spent decades bleating that "We know nuthing, nuthing!" people begin to pay more attention to the whacky Nazi engineering projects and snazzy uniforms, and less attention to the whole genocide thing.