This work examines interpretations of the war during its final phase and the occupation period, the self-perceptions of military communities, as well as the reinvention of the image of the German soldier. The controversies about the war, the Wehrmacht, and value orientation did not form a barrier, but instead were a dynamic element in the process that legitimized the democratic and pluralistic post-war order in West Germany.

Jörg Echternkamp, ZMSBw, Potsdam, und Universität Halle-Wittenberg.