Loch, Thorsten Deutsche Generale 1945 bis 1990

Profession - Career - Origin. The history of the German-German generals is more than a stringing together of individual biographies. Rather, the analysis of the personnel body of the respective military elite offers insights into the basic structures of the German military. This reveals an essential part of military thinking and answers the question of Americanisation, Sovietisation or the modernisation of German military traditions. The author compares the profession, career and origins of generals in East and West Germany. He asks about the processes and decisions for filling key social and military positions. His starting point is the consideration of the military as a profession and thus from the perspective of war. Thorsten Loch draws on a wide range of sources to create a picture of German generals that sharpens the view of the fundamental differences in military thinking in East and West and provides surprising insights into military elite formation.

Thorsten Loch:
Born in 1975, joined the Bundeswehr in 1995. He has been a research assistant at the Military History Research Office/Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Armed Forces for many years, and is a lecturer at the University of Potsdam and Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg. In 2006, he completed his doctorate on a contemporary historical topic and published several works on German military history of the 19th and 20th centuries. The father of three children currently serves in the Federal Ministry of Defence.