Defense ideas from abroad

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Defense ideas from abroad

Area of ​​Expertise military
language German
Headquarters Berlin
First edition 1931
attitude 1939
ZDB 162658-9
Edition of the "Defense Thoughts of Foreign Countries" from 1934

The Defense Thoughts of Foreign Countries was a monthly military magazine that appeared in the German Reich from 1931 to 1939 .

From 1925 the Reichswehr Ministry published the magazine “ War and Military Organizational Thoughts and Messages from Abroad ” as a “private print” . Initially, the issues appeared irregularly in up to 24 issues a year. A reorganization did not take place until 1931: From this point on, the magazine was called “Wehrgedanken des Auslands” and appeared monthly. The last edition was the one from August 1939, before the publication was discontinued with the beginning of the Second World War (1939–1945).

With the publication of this and similar magazines, the leadership of the Reichswehr pursued the "strengthening of the German armed forces" . Due to the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty (June 28, 1919), the German armed forces were not allowed to have modern weapons systems. In order to nevertheless prepare for the "war of the future" and to sensitize both officer corps and the public to it, the progressive military ideas of foreign military should be made known and discussed.

In addition to articles on general information about foreign armed forces, the content of the "Defense Thoughts of Foreign Countries" consisted primarily of translations of basic military articles or their summarized reproduction. In some cases, these reports were printed in other specialist journals (e.g. “ Militär-Wochenblatt ” or “ Wissen und Wehr ”). The works of leading military theorists such as John Frederick Charles Fuller , Basil Liddell Hart , Giulio Douhet and Charles de Gaulle were made known in the German Empire. In total, contemporary military literature from more than 15 countries was discussed, with a focus on the United Kingdom , France and the United States . The selected articles were broadly based. In addition to the theories on air warfare , the war economy and command structures, the focus was also on military training for young people, questions on conscription and chemical warfare .

literature

  • Ernst Willi Hansen: "Modern War" in the shadow of Versailles - The "Defense Thoughts of Foreign Countries" and the Reichswehr , in: ders. / Gerhard Schreiber / Bernd Wegener (ed.): Political change, organized violence and national security , Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1995, pp. 193-210. (= Contributions to Military History , Vol. 50) ISBN 3-486-56063-8
  • Helmut Schnitter: Military affairs and military journalism in the history of civil military affairs in Germany , Deutscher Militärverlag , Berlin (East) 1967.

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