Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, And War In The ... -

: Bartov concludes that ideology was the primary force that kept the German army fighting effectively long after the war was clearly lost.

: Through propaganda and indoctrination, soldiers came to view the war as a crusade of "Western civilization" against "subhuman" Bolsheviks and Jews. Critical Takeaways for Readers Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the ...

: The book uses personal letters and diaries to show that average soldiers, not just elite SS units, were deeply involved in war crimes . : Bartov concludes that ideology was the primary

: Traditional military cohesion usually relies on small groups of comrades. On the Eastern Front, high casualty rates constantly broke these groups , leaving Nazi ideology as the primary remaining bond for the soldiers. : Traditional military cohesion usually relies on small

: Many soldiers had grown up in the Hitler Youth , making them pre-conditioned to accept the regime's genocidal worldview.

: The Wehrmacht maintained order through draconian punishments, executing approximately 15,000 of its own soldiers for minor infractions. This internal brutality mirrored and encouraged the external atrocities committed against civilians.