Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, History

This dissertation investigates the worldview of German frontline soldiers during the Eastern Front conflict of the Second World War. It argues that Nazi era propaganda's creation of a racial and ideological “Other” in the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the attitude of the military in the East. These ideological imaginations of the enemy were often transformed by the realities at the front through the experiences of common enlisted men. While the Nazis constructed a racially and politically charged image of the enemy to justify a war of conquest, the German soldiers fighting in the East developed their own views of an expanding imperial landscape. An identity transformation amongst German combatants took place during the Eastern Front campaign for many reasons, including the effects of Nazi dogma, a foreign environment and local populace, the strains of combat, changing war circumstances, and genocidal policies. This project utilizes the wartime writings of Hitler's ordinary men to provide a partial reconstruction of their mentality, revealing their beliefs, fears, and perceptions of the Soviet enemy.

Committee: Larry Wilcox (Committee Chair); Beth Griech-Polelle (Committee Co-Chair); Roberto Padilla (Committee Member); Robert McCollough (Committee Member) Subjects: European Studies; History; Holocaust Studies; Military History