Stephen G. Fritz
B.A. 1971: University of Illinois
M.A. 1973:
University of Illinois
PhD 1980: University of Illinois
About Dr. Fritz
Stephen G. Fritz joined the faculty
of the Department of History at East Tennessee State University in the Fall
of 1984. His specialty is nineteenth and twentieth century European
History, with a focus on twentieth century Germany. His scholarship has
ranged from liberal politics in the late 1920’s Weimar Republic to the rise
of Nazism, from the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 in Germany to the origins
of the Holocaust. He is the author of a trilogy of well-received books,
published by the University Press of Kentucky, on various aspects of World
War II:
Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II
(1995) is a look at the individual German soldier, as reflected through
their letters and diaries. The personal documents of these soldiers paint a
richly textured portrait of the Landser that illustrates the
complexity and paradox of his daily life. Although clinging to a self-image
as a decent fellow, the German soldier nonetheless committed terrible crimes
in the name of National Socialism. With chapters on training, images of
combat, living conditions, combat stress, the personal sensations of war,
the bonds of comradeship, and ideology and motivation, Frontsoldaten
offers a sense of immediacy and intimacy, revealing war through the eyes of
these self-styled “little men.” It is a book not about war but about men at
war and their experiences.
Endkampf: Soldiers,
Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich (2004) examines the
predicament and outlook of American GI’s, German soldiers and officials, and
the civilian population caught in the arduous fighting during the waning
days of World War II. Endkampf is a gripping portrait of the
collapse of a society and how it affected those involved, whether they were
soldiers or civilians, victors or vanquished, perpetrators or victims.
Historians have accorded little mention to this period of violence and
terror, but it provides insight into the chaotic nature of life while the
Nazi regime was crumbling, as well as the turbulent period that followed the
end of the war.
Ostkrieg: Hitler’s War of Extermination in the
East (2011 – Winner of the inaugural U.S. Commission on Military
History's Brigadier General James L. Collins Jr. Book Prize in Military
History) bridges the gap in scholarship by incorporating historical research
from the last several decades into an accessible, comprehensive, and
coherent narrative. His analysis of the Russo-German War from a German
perspective covers all aspects of the eastern front, demonstrating the
interrelation of military events, economic policy, resource exploitation,
and racial policy that first motivated the invasion. This in-depth account
challenges accepted notions about World War II and promotes greater
understanding of a topic that has been neglected by historians.
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Areas of Academic Specialty:
- 19th and 20th Century Europe
- Modern Germany
- World War I
- World War II
- The Holocaust
- The ‘Coercive Utopias’
- The Cold War in Europe
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Course offerings in recent years
- Modern Europe
- History and Identity in 20th Century Europe
- Europe Since 1945
- Hitler and Nazi Germany
- World War I in Europe
- Modern Germany
- Europe in the WWII Era
- History of the Holocaust
- Images of War
- World War II in Europe
- Europe (1900-1953)
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