__NOTOC__ Wilhelm Deist (1931–2003) was a German historian and author who specialised in the European history of 19th and 20th with an emphasis on the history of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Deist was senior historian at the Military History Research Office (MGFA) and honorary professor at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...

. Deist was a widely published author and a chief editor of the seminal series ''

Germany and the Second World War ''Germany and the Second World War'' (german: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg) is a 12,000-page, 13-volume work published by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), that has taken academics from the military history centre of the German ...

'' from the MGFA. Deist's research focused on the history of the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

s. He had a long career at the MGFA, where he succeeded Manfred Messerschmidt as chief historian and oversaw ''Germany and the Second World War''. Under Deist's direction, the series continued to emphasise multi-disciplinary approach to the war, integrating political, societal and economic research, in addition to providing the classic operational history. According to the historian and journalist

Sven Felix Kellerhoff Sven Felix Kellerhoff (born 1971) is a German historian, journalist and author who specialises in the history of the Nazi era. Education and career Kellerhoff was born in 1971 in Stuttgart, Germany. He was educated at the Free University of Berli ...

, the completed series shows that this goal has been met: of the 87 contributions, 44 are dealing with operations in a narrow sense, the others with their precursors and consequences. Deist was a founding member the Military History Working Group, a professional association of German military historians. From 1995 to 2002, he was the chairman of the association, and from 2002 to 2003, its honorary chairman. In 2006, the association established the Wilhelm Deist Prize for Military History in his honour.Wilhelm Deist
'' Military History Working Group''

Works

In English

*''The Wehrmacht and German rearmament'',

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...

, 1981, *''

, Volume I: The Build-up of German Aggression'', with Manfred Messerschmidt, Hans-Erich Volkmann and

Wolfram Wette Wolfram Wette (born 11 November 1940) is a German military historian and peace researcher. He is an author or editor of over 40 books on the history of Nazi Germany, including the seminal '' Germany and the Second World War'' series from the ...

*''The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II's Role in Imperial Germany'', with

Annika Mombauer Annika Mombauer (born 1967) is a historian best known for her work on General Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. She is a Senior Lecturer in Modern European History in the History Department at the Open University in Great Britain, and Associate Dean ...

(as editor),

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 2003

In German

*''Militär und Innenpolitik im Weltkrieg 1914–1918'' (Quellen zur Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien, Zweite Reihe: Militär und Politik, Volume 1), Düsseldorf 1970 *''Flottenpolitik und Flottenpropaganda: Das Nachrichtenbureau des Reichsmarineamtes 1897–1914'' (Beitrage zur Militar- und Kriegsgeschichte), , 1976, *''Militär, Staat und Gesellschaft. Studien zur preußisch-deutschen Militärgeschichte'', Munich, 1991.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deist, Wilhelm 1931 births 2003 deaths German military historians Historians of World War II Historians of World War I German male non-fiction writers Military History Research Office (Germany) personnel 20th-century German historians