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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I am a liberal, a classical liberal. Classical liberalism is liberalism, but the current collectivists have captured that designation in the United States. In Europe they are glad enough to call themselves socialists. But no one in America wants to be called socialist and admit what they are.

Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, Perseverance

This may sound like a dumb question then, but are the regiments in the Bundeswehr that existed prior/during WW2, or are they all totally new post-war units?

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"I am no Martin Luther King or Ghandi motherfucker. I have no idea what those guys were talking about. You spit on my ass, I will knock you out. No motherfucking marching and singing in the street for me." - Jim Brown, NFL Hall-of-Famer and Cleveland Browns running back, 1957-1965

Totally new post-war units. For example, while there was a 10. Panzer Division during WW2, the 10. Panzer Division of the Bundeswehr does not share its lineage or its traditions.

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I am a liberal, a classical liberal. Classical liberalism is liberalism, but the current collectivists have captured that designation in the United States. In Europe they are glad enough to call themselves socialists. But no one in America wants to be called socialist and admit what they are.

Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, Perseverance

Hey Thor my friend,
I honestly understand why you have good reasons to believe that such tradtions are vital and important for average soldiers, especially given that you have served with the Marines and expierenced war/conflict.

It's logical and understandable, especially as your units highly honour their units history/tradition and due to it you've have been socialised/formed as a soldier in a such a unit tradition caring enviroment.

Anyway in my opinion it's almost just a "philosophical" (aka. useless) question, whether the approach of your military (or the Brits) is better, than the German one.

As an Ex-German soldier I've been socialised differently and I've never felt the lack of such an absolut cohorent unit tradition maintaining to be of any significance.

The things which had to be German, were (still) German and apart from that some nice little extras were still traditional as well; e.g I've sang the same songs like ww1/ww2 soldiers, were stationed in the same baracks (named after a ww2 general+decorated with a German ww2 soldier (-the szwastika) at the entrence), wore a similar unit badge, nco's/officers took pride in being a German soldiers and so on.

Anyway as I've served with a unit which was always attacked (by the extreme left)for it's close ties with the past/traditions and I can't speak for other Germans expierences.

(By the way Germans are highly "trained" to make sure that their nationalism/pride is not reckoned by others easily, so as a "fucking" foreigner/ or an overly "historical" correct acting German, you'll never know what Germans really think behind all the almost automatical applied political correctness self-filter).

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"Homo Homini Lupus"
Thomas Hobbes

I suppose of they are trained to hide their true feelings then they are indeed trained well. They certainly fooled me when I was working with them overseas. Then again, the unit I had contact with was not a combat arms unit. It was, if I recall correctly, a ABC (NBC for Americans) unit. I just didn't see the drive and pride I was used to in the Marines.

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I am a liberal, a classical liberal. Classical liberalism is liberalism, but the current collectivists have captured that designation in the United States. In Europe they are glad enough to call themselves socialists. But no one in America wants to be called socialist and admit what they are.

Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance, Perseverance

But there is also another, and more simple reason, why the Bundeswehr did not carry on many traditions, includig units, of the Reichswehr/ Wehrmacht. It was turned into a "citizens army" that drafted most of its soldiers from all walks of life while especially the Reichswehr regarded itself as an elite, and had become a "state in the state" that strongly contributed to the destabilisation of the Weimar Republic.
The founders of the Bundeswehr wanted to have some lessons learned, including building a "new" army ( which wasn't that new after all) , loyal to the democratic state, for example through compulsory military service and "political education".