The Myth of the Eastern Front
The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture

Some Americans are receptive to a positive interpretation of German military conduct on the Russian front in World War II.

Ronald Smelser (Author), Edward J. Davies, ll (Author)

9780521712316, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 5 November 2007

342 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.9 cm, 0.53 kg

"Smelser and Davies need to be commended for their fascinating and detailed study." -Journal of American History, Gerd Horten

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 positive view of German military conduct, opposed against a newly dismissive view of the Russian military in light of Cold War prejudices, was absorbed by many Americans during the 1950s, and continues to this day in a broad subculture of general readers, German military enthusiasts, war game aficionados, military paraphernalia collectors, and re-enactors who tend to romanticize the German army and its history.

1. Americans experience the war in Russia, 1941–5
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, re-enactors, and 'what-if' history.

Subject Areas: Second World War [HBWQ], History of the Americas [HBJK], European history [HBJD]