Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
WWII HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE EASTERN FRONT IN THE ATLANTIC
“The war between Germany and Russia is not a war between he two states or two armies, but between two ideologies–namely, the National Socialist and the Bolshevist ideology. The Red Army must be looked upon not as a soldier in the sense of the word applying to our western opponents, but as an ideological enemy. He must be regarded as the archenemy of National Socialism and must be treated accordingly”
General Reinecke of OKW , on Hitler’s “Commisar Order”.
Benjamin Schwarz reviews the latest historical scholarship of the frozen meatgrinder called the Eastern Front, in ” Stalin’s Gift” in The Atlantic.
Historian Norman Davies is dead wrong on Soviet participation in Hitler’s defeat “tarnishing” the war. Ok, I’m understating. Frankly he’s a borderline idiot. What would he have prefered ? A Nazi empire from the Azores to the Urals ? The U.S. carpet bombing Europe with atom bombs in 1946? What ?
A great historiographic review that added a number of books to my reading list.
( Yes, hideous subscription wall. Yes, shortsighted on the editor’s part, I realize. Get a subscription, you cheap bastards, and you won’t be inconvenienced)
