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Re: Germany awards first bravery medal since WW2
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Originally Posted by Stapo
Apart from that I'm don't fully agree with Thorhammer's view about the Bundeswehr, military tradition and so on.
I've always seen/expierenced the Bundeswehr as the democratic Wehrmacht 2.0. It was build up by excellent WW2 fighters, it's parliamentary commissioners for the armed forces had been WW2 commanders/soldiers till the late 80's and of course the true basics have been "German".
The thing that is changing now is the slowly decline of the political/social WW2-guilt/peace-4-ever sentiment by older generations and so of course a more open approach is emerging.
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Which is why I said it had a nearly complete break.  While the Bundeswehr did use former members of the Wehrmacht to rebuild the German military in terms of tactics and organization, as far as history and tradition is concerned (as far as the average soldier goes) there was a total break. Again, in the decade following WW2 the reasoning was obvious. Units did not carry on the lineage or traditions of pre-WW2 German military units. While this may not appear as that big of a deal, I can assure you that in the minds of an average soldier it means a great deal. A good example of this is the Brit regiments/battalions or the regiments/battalions of the US Marines. Memebers of those units can look back through the world wars and centuries prior for inspiration from men who wore the same uniform as them; men who fought under the same colors. Such connections go along way to implanting a sense of belonging, tradition and honor in a soldier/Marine. The Bundeswehr doesn't have that ability, and any connections are strictly informal and unofficial. That has been experience with members and units of the Bundeswehr I have worked with.
All that being said, I agree that this attitude is changing. Not only within the German military but also in Germany as a whole. That is a good thing.
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