History Commons^™

Was Jesus Christ Born A Jew Or Not? Luther And Protestant Anti-Judaism In Nazi Germany, Darian Sullivan

All Theses

Martin Luther’s role as the founder of German Protestantism placed him in a position where he was the hero for two opposing factions that formed within the German Evangelical Church in the wake of the Nazi party’s rise to power in 1933. The two factions were the pro-Nazi German Christians and the anti-Nazi Confessing Church. The two sides appealed to different aspects of Luther’s theology to defend their beliefs. Martin Luther’s theology, particularly his anti-Judaic beliefs was a crucial issue for the divided Protestant Church. Luther’s writings are crucial for determining how influential he was for both groups.

I Was Looking For God: A Study Of Wehrmacht Personnel And Their Personal Relationships With Religion, Christopher Bishop

Master's Theses

The Wehrmacht was Germany’s fighting force in the field during World War II. Its brutality and discriminatory practices rivaled that of the Nazi paramilitary and police units dispatched alongside them in newly conquered areas during this conflict. Coming from a society that was not at all unfamiliar with Christianity, some within the Wehrmacht related to Christianity in some form and attempted to use it to either justify actions or make sense of the world around them.

While considerable scholarship exists on the Nazi Party’s relationship to Christianity as a convenient propaganda tool for both soldier and civilian alike, the historiography …

The Wehrmacht Experience In World War Ii, Tyler Masterson

Theses

German soldiers who were in the Wehrmacht during World War II faced many different experiences from the beginning of the war when it seemed they were in control to later parts of the war were they were being driven back by the Allies. Along with the different experiences from different times of the war, they also faced different experiences when it came to what front they were fighting on. Fronts and theaters that stretch from North Africa and the Mediterranean Campaign to Eastern Europe and Russia to Western Europe. When it comes to the troops that were fighting in the …

Unsere Neue Heimat: German National Identity In The Pages Of The Südwest Newspaper, 1910–1914, Patrick Sullivan

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In recent decades, historians have increasingly recognized the significance of German colonialism. Though short-lived in relation to other European overseas empires (created in 1884 and dissolved in 1919), the German colonial empire had a substantial historical impact. Historians have drawn particular attention to colonialism’s influence on national identity within the Deutsches Reich. To many Germans in the recently formed nation-state (founded in 1871), the foreign possessions represented Germany’s status as a world power and a mission to spread German culture across much of the globe. The colonial settler press was an especially important institution to such imperialist modes of thought. …

Otto Strasser, The Nazi Party, And The Politics Of Opposition, James Francis Hughes Ii

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

What do we know about Otto Strasser? He and his brother Gregor were highly influential in the early years of the Nazi party; therefore, what should we consider when looking back? To fully understand the individual, we must investigate and analyze: Strasser's post-Nazi Party life, his post-Nazi political aspirations, and the apparent whitewashing of his past as a Nazi. The latter of which most individuals gleaned solely from the fact that he, himself, an ardent National Socialist, was, nonetheless, an opponent of Adolf Hitler. By analyzing Strasser's assertions in his numerous books, articles, and chapters, and comparing them with the …

Zerschlagen: German Unification And Divided Identity, Harrison Quinn

Honors Theses

The Unification of East and West Germany ended one of the Cold War’s longest divides, but only on paper. After decades under a unified German state, former East Germans face lower standards of living, economic opportunities, and access to national utilities compared to their Western counterparts. This inequality stems from the bifurcated German identity, which remains largely unaddressed amid German state ambitions for a central role in international institutions. The failure to properly acknowledge East German identity and the suppression thereof demonstrates the failure of Unification to unite the German nation. Political ambitions outweighed a true reconciliation of German nationhood, …