Gerhard Forster

Gerhard Förster (born December 28, 1933 in Dresden ; † September 10, 1983 ) was a German historian . He taught at the Military History Institute of the GDR in Potsdam and worked primarily on German military policy and warfare before and during World War II . Among other things, he belonged to the collective of authors who developed the multi-volume overall presentation of Germany in World War II .

Life

After graduating from high school in 1952, Förster studied history and adult education at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig . He completed his studies in 1956 with the state examination and became a research assistant in the military history department at the Institute for German History at KMU Leipzig. With the transfer of the department to the Institute for History of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin , Förster worked there from 1960 to 1969 as a senior research assistant or research manager. He received his doctorate in 1964 in Leipzig under Ernst Engelberg and Felix-Heinrich Gentzen “On the role of the theory of the Blitzkrieg in fascist military science and the elaboration of its most important principles and methods from 1933 to 1939”.

From 1969 Förster was a research assistant at the German Institute for Military History in Potsdam . In June 1977 he received his PhD B on "The German-Soviet Front in the Strategy of the Fascist Leadership 1941 to 1945". He was appointed full professor in September 1978 and was deputy director of the Military History Institute of the GDR .

Förster had been a member of the SED since 1954 and was a member of the National People's Army , most recently in the rank of colonel . He was awarded the Gold and Silver Medal of Merit of the National People's Army and received the Friedrich Engels Prize of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR.

Fonts

and NG Pawlenko (ed.): The decision was made before Moscow and Stalingrad. 1st edition. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1960.
with Heinz Helmert and Helmut Schnitter : German imperialism during the Second World War and its military, economic and moral-political defeat. 1962.
with Heinz Helmert and Helmut Schnitter: The Second World War. Military history and chronicle. Verl. Encyclopedia, Leipzig 1962.
and Leo Stern (ed.): Contributions to the topic: "German imperialism during the second world war and its military, economic and moral-political defeat". 1st edition. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1962.
and Leo Stern: German Imperialism and the Second World War. Materials of the scientific conference of the Commission of Historians of the GDR and the USSR on the subject of "German Imperialism and the Second World War" from December 14th to 19th, 1959 in Berlin. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1962.
On the tasks of military history in researching the Second World War. In: Journal of Military History. 3, No. 4 1964, pp. 439-453.
with Olaf Groehler and Günter Paulus : On the relationship between war aims and war planning of fascist German imperialism. In: Journal of History: ZfG. 12, No. 6 1964, pp. 929-948.
with Helmut Otto and Helmut Schnitter: The Prussian-German General Staff 1870–1963. About its political role in history. 1st edition. Dietz, Berlin 1964.
- The Prussian-German General Staff 1640–1965. 2nd ext. u. revised Edition. Dietz, Berlin 1966.
On the failure of the strategic conception of the fascist leadership in World War II. In: Journal of Military History. 4, No. 1 1965, pp. 17-29.
Imperialist view of history in a West German conception of the history of the Second World War. In: Journal of Military History. 5, No. 3 1966, pp. 269-285.
Total War and Blitzkrieg. The theory of total war and the Blitzkrieg based on the military doctrine of fascist Germany on the eve of the Second World War. German military publisher, Berlin 1967.
with Wolfgang Wünsche : On the military-political and strategic-operational planning of the summer campaign of the fascist Wehrmacht in 1942. In: Journal for military history. 6, No. 6 1967, pp. 660-675.
with Wolfgang Wünsche: The summer offensive of the fascist Wehrmacht in 1942 (I). In: Journal of Military History. 7, No. 6 1968, pp. 692-706.
with Wolfgang Wünsche: The summer offensive of the fascist Wehrmacht in 1942 (II). In: Journal of Military History. 8, No. 2 1969, pp. 179-195.
with Olaf Groehler: The "Basic Orders" of the High Command of the Army of the Fascist Wehrmacht. In: Journal of Military History. 8, No. 5 1969, pp. 327-342.
with Wolfgang Bleyer , Karl Drechsler and Gerhart Hass : Germany from 1939 to 1945 (Germany during the Second World War). German Verl. Der Wissenschaft, Berlin 1969.
Naval warfare without perspective. In: German naval calendar. 1970, pp. 22-37.
and Olaf Groehler: The Second World War. Documents. Military publishing house, Berlin 1972.
with Heinz Helmert and Helmut Schnitter: The Second World War. Military historical summary. 1st edition. Military ext. of the GDR, Berlin 1972.
with Erhard Moritz and Helmut Otto: Brief outline of military history from the beginnings of the history of the German people up to 1945. 1st edition. Military ext. of the GDR, Berlin 1974.
and Richard Lakowski: 1945. The year of the final defeat of the fascist Wehrmacht; Documents. 1st edition. Military ext. d. GDR, Berlin 1975.
and Helmut Otto: To research the military history of the German people from their beginnings to the end of the Second World War. In: Evolution and Revolution in World History. 2, pp. 731-748 (1976).
and Nikolaus Paulus: Outline of the history of the armored weapon. 1st edition. Military ext. d. GDR, Berlin 1977.
with Peter Hoch and Reinhold Müller: Uniforms of European armies. 1st edition. Military publisher of Dt. Democrat. Republic, Berlin 1978, ISBN 9783327002957 .
as editor: Carl von Clausewitz : Selected military writings. 1st edition. Military ext. the Dt. Democratic Republic, Berlin 1980.
Carl von Clausewitz. Life picture of a patriotic military and progressive military theorist. 1st edition. Military ext. the Dt. Democrat. Republic, Berlin 1983.
as ed. with Christa Gudzent: August Neidhardt von Gneisenau : Selected military writings. 1st edition. Military ext. of the GDR, Berlin 1984.

literature

Lothar Mertens : Lexicon of the GDR historians. Biographies and bibliographies on the historians from the German Democratic Republic. Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-11673-X .

personal data
SURNAME	Forster, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German historian
DATE OF BIRTH	December 28, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dresden
DATE OF DEATH	September 10, 1983