Frames of Reference in war. Perceptions and interpretations by axis-power soldiers, 1939-1945

Funded by Gerda Henkel Stiftung

Sixty years after the capitulation of the Third Reich, the Second World War has been investigated from various scientific disciplines. Scholars of history, political sciences and social sciences have created a comprehensive and detailed body of work in order to reconstruct the prehistory, the dynamic and the impact of this unpreceeded catastrophe.

However, this literature focuses on the historical, military, political, and social circumstances and dynamics whereas the shared frames of references that inform the perceptions and interpretations of those who fought in the war are more or less neglected.

Historical analyses into the mentality of Italian and German soldiers that fought in the war may provide us with the knowledge to understand how these soldiers made sense of their experiences in the war or how they justified their commitment to the fascist and nationalistic regimes. Investigations into the mentalities of past periods raise severe methodological problems. The reconstruction of historical mindsets and mentalities is often hindered by the quality of sources, because letters, memoires, court records and interviews are often produced under specific conditions which cast doubt on the validity and representativeness of the material.

The presented study is based on interception protocols of German and Italian Soldiers that were imprisoned by the British forces. The source material consists of about 50.000 pages and covers the period from 1942 to 1945 and contains conversations between soldiers of different military ranks and points of use. This unique source material makes it possible to reconstruct the contemporary frames of references that informed the soldiers' perception and interpretation of the War.

The interdisciplinary study combines qualitative research methods from social psychology to detect and describe frames of reference with the detailed historical knowledge necessary to contextualize and locate them within the historical dynamics and the social and military topography.

The material allows for intergroup (German vs. Italian forces) and longitudinal comparisons of the frames of reference. The comparative study provides us with an insight into those psychosocial structures and processes that served as resources for processes of meaning making and justification, which informed their actions within the context of the War.