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Der Kieler Matrosenaufstand von 1918 ist bis heute die größte Meuterei in der deutschen Geschichte. Aus einzelnen Matrosenerhebungen entwickelte sich binnen weniger Tage eine landesweite Revolte in Marine und Heer, die in der Novemberrevolution gipfelte. Die deutsche Militärgeschichtsschreibung hatte jahrzehntelang große Schwierigkeiten mit diesem Ereigniskomplex, wobei das Quellen- und Deutungsmonopol der von Akteuren in Offiziersuniform dominierten amtlichen Kriegshistoriografie stark ins Gewicht fiel. Christian Lübcke kann auf der Basis bislang kaum beachteter Dokumente zeigen, dass in der Weimarer Republik, im Dritten Reich und noch in der jungen Bundesrepublik Sichtweisen dominierten, die wenig mit Wissenschaft, aber umso mehr mit Selbstrechtfertigung, Revisionismus und Apologie zu tun hatten To date, the 1918 Kiel Mutiny is the largest mutiny in German history. Within the space of a few days, individual uprisings by sailors developed into a countrywide revolt in the navy and army, which culminated in the November Revolution. For decades, German military historiography had great difficulties with this nexus of events, strongly influenced by the fact that official war historiography, which was dominated by actors in uniform, enjoyed a monopoly on sources and interpretation. On the basis of hitherto disregarded documents, Christian Lübcke can show that during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the young Federal Republic views predominated, which had little to do with scholarship and much more with self-justification, revisionism and apologia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a project started by the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg on war games in Prussia. Topics discussed include military simulation of Germany, training of military decision makers, history of war in German-speaking countries, civilians in 19th century and war games played by armies.

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Information on the Militär(s) in der Politik. Soldaten und politische Verantwortung in Deutschland im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, a conference organized by Zentrums für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr (ZMSBw) in Potsdam, Germany from March 22-23, 2018 is presented. Topics discussed include history of militarism, relationship between politics and military in Germany and political decisions of the region.

The article offers information on the periodical on topics including editorial board members Magnus Brechtken and Thomas Raithel; Subscription policy of the periodical along with a table of content for the issue on topics including German military histotiography; and German-American relations.

Information on Militärisches Entscheiden. Voraussetzungen, Prozesse und Repräsentationen einer sozialen Praxis von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, a conference on military decisions that was held in Münster, Germany from October 19-21, 2017 is presented. Topics discussed include military history of Germany, their decision making process and collaborative research on decision theory.

Information on the Einsatz ohne Krieg? Militär, Gesellschaft und Semantiken zur Geschichte der Bundeswehr nach 1990, a conference on military history that was held at the Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr in Potsdam, Germany from June 21-23, 2017 is presented. Topics discussed include Bundeswehr armed force after 1990, its completed missions and its military history.

In recent years, mostly in Anglophone circles, there has been a discussion regarding a "German Way of War". According to this thesis, the German Empire embarked on a military "Sonderweg" [special path] in contrast to other states. This was supposedly particularly evident in a more radical form of warfare exhibited during colonial wars and the First World War. This view postulates a continuity of German military culture between the First and the Second World War. The present article tests this thesis by means of an examination of the Eastern Front during the First World War and concludes that the supposition of a specifically German military culture during the German Empire and a continuity between the form of warfare practised on the Eastern Front of the First World War and "Operation Barbarossa" often bears the markings of a backward-looking projection. In comparison to the Austro-Hungarian as well as the Russian Army, the German military was the most restrained until late 1917. Ultimately the success of Bolshevism since late 1917 led to a radical mental change; the state of command now exasperated, as the counterinsurgency in Ukraine in 1918 demonstrated. Simultaneously the German Army also largely tried to go easy on the civilian population. A further surge of radicalisation was revealed in the conflicts in the Baltic States in 1919. These may have possessed a formative character for the later Nazi movement, but not for the military, who saw the "Baltic fighters" as "undisciplined rabble". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Wehr-, Kriegs- oder Militärgeschichte?" by Rainer Wohlfeil on German military and political history and the future of the Militärgeschichtliche Forschungsamt military history society originally published in the first 1967 issue of the military history periodical "Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen" is examined.

The article presents a report from a March 24-27, 2015 conference in Kiel, Germany on the role of the German navy in the history of Kiel held by the regional history department of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel university, the Stadt- und Schifffahrtsmuseum Kiel naval museum, and the Stadtarchiv Kiel municipal archive. Topics of presentations delivered included the role of the navy in Kiel's urban planning, interactions between military personnel and civilians in Kiel, and the role of military music in Kiel's social fabric.

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Die Kaiserlichen Schutztruppen waren im Unterschied zur Preußischen Armee und zur Marine der Kaiserlichen Kommandogewalt weitgehend entzogen. Dieser Bruch mit der konservativen Militärpolitik wurde dadurch ermöglicht, dass die politischen und militärischen Eliten in der Gründungsphase der Schutzgebiete und -truppen den absoluten Primat auf die kontinentale Sicherheit legten und ein ernsthaftes Engagement der etablierten Streitkräfte an der Peripherie entschieden ablehnten. Den Führungsspitzen der Armee und der Marine missfiel es aber grundsätzlich, dass die leitenden Stellen der zivilen Kolonialbehörden militärische Kernkompetenzen ausübten. Durch die ganze Institutionsgeschichte der Schutztruppe hindurch sollten sie daher in einem Konflikt mit den Kolonialbehörden über die konstitutionelle Stellung dieser militärischen Formation stehen. Zwar blieb die zivile Kontrolle über das Militär in den Kolonien auf dem Papier erhalten, sie konnte in ausgeprägten Bedrohungslagen dem Druck der Militärs jedoch nicht standhalten. So ignorierte der Kommandeur der ostafrikanischen Schutztruppe, von Lettow-Vorbeck, alle verfassungsrechtlichen Hindernisse und übernahm die militärische Macht im Schutzgebiet. Obwohl es sich dabei letztlich um einen Militärputsch handelt, war Lettow-Vorbecks Handlungsweise zutiefst in der preußischen Militärtradition verankert und machte es möglich, dass der Kommandeur zum Kriegshelden wurde. In contrast to the extra-constitutional position of army and navy in Imperial Germany, the German colonial troops were not under the exclusive command of the Kaiser. This contradicted Prussian military traditions. The specific constitutional position of Germany's colonial troops was largely the result of a lack of interest by army and navy. To the latter the colonial fringe was of little importance in a future war. Yet, as a matter of principle, the military authorities insisted on denying civilian administrators a say in military affairs. Consequently army and navy fought a long battle with the colonial office over the constitutional position of the colonial troops. In the end the notion of civilian control over the military in the colonies prevailed. But this victory over the traditions of Prussian militarism remained on paper. When crisis struck in summer of 1914, the military commander in German East Africa, von Lettow Vorbeck, ignored all constitutional obstacles and simply took control of the war effort. Although this action ended up in a coup it was deeply rooted in Prussian military tradition and therefore made it possible for Lettow Vorbeck to become a war hero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seit den 1990er Jahren ist eine zunehmende Öffnung der Bundeswehr gegenüber den Medien zu beobachten, die sich maßgeblich auf die wachsende Beteiligung deutscher Streitkräfte an Auslandseinsätzen und damit einher gehenden neuen kommunikativen Ansprüchen zurückführen lässt. Wurde die Medienarbeit in der ersten Hälfte der Neunziger Jahre noch durchgängig reaktiv betrieben, kam es in den Folgejahren zu einer aktiveren Gestaltung der militärischen Medienbeziehungen. Wie offen oder restriktiv die Medienbeziehungen im Einzelnen gestaltet werden, hängt jedoch von einem komplexen Faktorenbündel ab. Beispielweise prägen die unterschiedlichen Systemlogiken von Militär und Medien, die komplexen Organisationsstrukturen innerhalb der Bundeswehr oder das verfügbare Personal und dessen Qualifikationen die militärischen Medienbeziehungen. Since the 1990s, the German Bundeswehr increasingly opened up to the media. This can be mainly traced back to the growing number of out of area missions in conjunction with new communication needs. In the beginning of the 1990s, military media relations were generally conducted in a reactive manner, whereas they were actively shaped in the subsequent years. How open or restrictive media relations were conducted in detail is dependent upon a complex combination of factors. As such, military media relations are shaped for example by the different systems logics of the military and the media, by the complex organizational structures of the German armed forces or by the available personnel and its qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts entwickelten die Militärs in Deutschland und Großbritannien ihre Medienstrategien von einem stark auf die Medien reagierenden Ansatz hin zur Umsetzung eigener, aktiver Ziele. Dazu gehörte der Versuch, ganze Bevölkerungen in ihrem Denken und Handeln zu beeinflussen. Derartige Ziele wurden in der Folge gerade dann als machbar eingestuft, wenn militärische Situationen aussichtslos schienen. Beispiele hierfür bilden unbewegliche Fronten im Ersten Weltkrieg ebenso wie die militärische Schwäche Großbritanniens im Vergleich zur Sowjetunion im beginnenden Kalten Krieg. Wann immer jedoch begrenzte Ressourcen die Militärs vor die Entscheidung zwischen Medienstrategien und etablierten militärischen Vorgehensweisen stellten, entschieden sie sich für die Letzteren. At the beginning of the 20th century, a passive, reacting attitude dominated the military media-strategies in Germany as well as in Great Britain. New, active procedures and goals came up in the years before the First World War. Those included attempts to influence the thoughts and actions of whole populations. In the following years goals like that seemed feasible, especially when situations seemed to offer no military solution. Examples are the entrenched fronts of the Great War or the military weakness of Great Britain in comparison to the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Cold War. Nevertheless, whenever a lack of resources forced the military to decide between media-strategies and established military approaches, the military choose the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Das Forschungsprojekt "Militär und Medien im 20. Jahrhundert" beleuchtet die Beziehungen zwischen Militär und Massenmedien vor allem aus militärischer Sicht. Neben dem Ziel, das Wissen zu diesem zentralen, jedoch bislang nur in Ansätzen untersuchten Thema der Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts zu erweitern, soll das Projekt auch einen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der Traditionen, Strukturen und Erfahrungen liefern, die das Verhältnis des Militärs zu den Medien(gesellschaften) prägten und aus welchen sich aktuelle mediale Selbstrepräsentationen des Militärs und der von ihm geführten Kriege speisen. Erste Forschungsergebnisse des Projekts werden in diesem Themenheft präsentiert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information is presented about several topics discussed at a colloquium on military history organized by the German Committee for the History of World War II and the Working Committee for Military and Society in Early Modern Europe, held on May 17-19, 2010, at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz. Topics under discussion include the awarding of the Werner-Hahlweg Prize, the biography of Nazi officer Heinrich Himmler, and the history of king Frederick the Great.

The article provides critical notes on the text of the 18th century manuscript "Unterricht für die Feldingenieurs" by Johann Gottlieb Tielke. It describes the place of the original manuscript within the catalog of the Bibliothek des Militärgeschichtlichen Forschungsamtes/Library of Military History Research Office (MGFA) in Potsdam, Germany. It then discusses the historiographical use of Tielke's book to illuminate the socio-cultural aspects of German military life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other subjects under discussion include artillery cannons, the relation between Enlightenment-era values and military science, and the Prussian soldier Gerhard von Scharnhorst.

Oliver Bange/Harald Potempa: "Imperialkriege - gestern und heute?" 50. Internationale Tagung für Militärgeschichte (ITMG), Potsdam, 19. Juni bis 1. Juli 2009 Christiane Wienand: Kriegsenden, Nachkriegsordnungen und Militärreformen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Potsdam, 26./27. Februar 2009 Aleksandar-S. Vuletic: "Die Kamera als Waffe". Propagandabilder des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Symposium der Deutschen Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen in Berlin, 24. bis 26. September 2009 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]