Educating the new Soldier in Post-Fascist Germany: The Example of “The soldier’s Everyday Life” (1957)

The article deals with the role that the military should play as a socialization instance in the decades immediately after World War II. Even today, as the example of the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) shows, armies claim not only to train but also to educate their soldiers. The Bundeswehr as well as other military organisations, however, have only received little attention in research in the history of education. The case of the Bundeswehr is interesting with respect to issues and concepts of military education, socialization, and discipline because rearmament in the postwar West German context was in particular need of political justification. Above all, after 1955 it was necessary to recruit volunteer soldiers. To this end, the Bundeswehr resorted to films as well as other media. One such promotional film, entitled "The Soldier's Everyday Life," will be used to show how the idea of the new democratic armed forces was presented to the population.