Memory management and psychological coping strategies

Political Science -- International Relations

Analysis of Collective Memory in the Postwar German Army: A Case Study

Mark Osiel's discussion and analysis of the dynamics concerning the identification and determination of history as perceived by the German army through collective memory. The case study, entitled, Collective Memory in the Postwar German Army, discusses the conflict that occurred when German authorities have had a hard time determining how history is to be illustrated and remembered in the military institution, particularly events that are related to Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army's participation in the massacre and murder of millions of Jews. The case study specifically looks into the receptiveness of the military institution regarding the issue of the "July 20 plot," wherein the German military "sought to preserve professional independence from political manipulation by civilian leadership" by severing their ties with and turning against Hitler (693).

The conflict presented in the case study portrays the July 20 plot in two ways/perspectives: the traditionalists and conservatives. For the traditionalists the military should "refrain from honoring even ordinary soldiers, innocent of atrocities who obediently and unquestioningly served the Nazi state in aggressive wars." The conservatives, on the other hand, provides a counter-position to the traditionalists, asserting that military officers and soldiers who have actively and knowingly participated or not with the Nazi's activities and "had served honorably at the front" should be honored simply from the virtue that they "took another path of obedience out of honest conviction" (693).

Determining the right position to take in the conflict is vital, mainly because adopting the right and truthful position would enable the Germans, especially the military institution, to regain once again their identity as an institution in the country through a constructive commemoration of the past, be this past portrays the military institution in a positive or negative light. Furthermore, a more important implication of adopting a constructive and truthful memory of the country's war history is essential to the development of respect among the German army's soldiers and officers. This is because a positive and constructive collective memory, a reflection of "good soldierly traditions of political thought and responsibility," leads to collective respect and obedience of soldiers to their officers, a necessary value from the military institution. In effect, commemorating the memory of the July 20 plot will result to the celebration of "freedom in obedience' and moral autonomy from superior orders" (695). Thus, to preserve the military tradition of unconditional obedience and loyalty to the military, German soldiers are (ideally) encouraged to adopt the conservative stance concerning the July 20 plot, honoring soldiers who have and have not participated in the Nazi war crimes.