What remains of war? German postwar histories from the perspective of gender studies - An introduction

Wars do not end with victory, armistice, capitulation or peace treaties, but live on--not least in changing gender relations and perceptions. All the contributions to this volume concern themselves with the consequences of war, and what this tells us about perceptions of masculinity and the relationship between men and their 'Fatherland'. Within this framework, the differences and similarities between the Wars of Liberation, the Franco-Prussian War, the First and Second World War are discussed, as is the decoupling after the Second World War of a German idea of masculinity from that of being a defender of the 'Fatherland'. Key changes include the shift in focus from 'sacrifice' to 'victim', and shifts in how war is imagined, visualised and instrumentalised. Finally, consideration is given to the question of whether these transformations are peculiar to Germany.