Casualties and Civil-Military Relations
The German Polity between Learning and Indifference
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2340445 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerhard Kümmel (Bundeswehr Institute of Social Research (SOWI), P.O. Box 1142, 15344 Strausberg, Germany), Nina Leonhard (Bundeswehr Institute of Social Research (SOWI) in Strausberg, Germany) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 513-535 |
| Publication date | 2005-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Armed Forces & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0095327x0503100404 |
| OpenAlex | W2039696145 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 7 |
The issues of casualties and presumed casualty aversion in democratic societies were of marginal importance in the German debate about civil-military relations in the 1990s. Although these issues were ever present, they were never studied in detail. This article analyzes the reactions to German casualties by the political and military elites and by the press. It focuses on a number of recent cases of German soldiers who were killed in out-of-area missions. Our findings indicate that German society seems to be less casualty averse than is widely assumed. Two explanations for this are put forward: First, that Germany appears to have undergone a substantial learning process and seems ready to accept casualties for the 'right' cause. Second, German society has become indifferent to military matters. Further research is needed to specify the extent to which these two hypotheses apply to different segments of German society
Democracy · German · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · History · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Military History and Strategy
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,44 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |