Soldiers, commissars, and chaplains : civil-military relations since Cromwell / Dale R. Herspring.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herspring, Dale R. (Dale Roy)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Military chaplains--History.

Military chaplains.

Morale.

Armed Forces--Social services.

Armed Forces.

Civil supremacy over the military.

History.

Civil-military relations.

Political participation.

Communist countries--Armed Forces--Political activity.

Communist countries.

Civil-military relations--History.

Civil supremacy over the military--History.

Sociology, Military.

Physical Description:

xvi, 247 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, [2001]

Summary:

This innovative study offers the first-ever comparison of the military roles played by commissars, political officers, and chaplains in military settings ranging from the armies of Cromwell, the Jacobins, the Nazis, the Soviets, and the United States. Despite the stark differences in the political systems of the countries of these disparate armed forces, Dale R. Herspring argues that there are certain critical functions that must be fulfilled in every military, regardless of its ideological orientation. Most vital are motivation, morale boosting, and political socialization. In addition, Herspring's comparative historical analysis decisively demonstrates that the roles of commissars, political officers, and chaplains alike have evolved in ways that are crucial yet rarely understood either by policymakers or scholars.

Contents:

Part I The Framework for Comparison

1 Chaplains in the American Military 17

2 Chaplains in Cromwell's New Model Army 55

3 Political Commissars in the French Revolution 79

4 Commissars in the Red Army 103

5 National Leadership Officers in the Wehrmacht 125

6 Political Officers in the Soviet Military 161

7 Political Officers in the East German Army 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0742511057

0742511065

OCLC:

45708134