Using German and previously closed or underutilized Soviet archives, this work brings to date the historiography of one of the most important aspects of twentieth-century international relations: the steps by which Germany and Soviet Russia would find common ground and establish a relationship whose impact would be felt throughout World War II.

Based on archival research in Germany, Great Britain, the USA and Canada, this study provides the first complete examination of the relationship between the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces High Command), and Anglo-American prisoners of war. German military policy is compared with reports of almost one thousand visits by Red Cross and Protecting Power inspectors to the camps, allowing the reader to judge how well the policies were actually put into practice, and what their impact was on the lives of the captured soldiers, sailors and airmen.

How does a state effectively mobilize its citizens for armed conflict? Why do citizens allow themselves to be placed in harm s way? The military relationship between the state and its citizens, in terms of rights and obligations, remains as important today as it did when Europe first moved from under the shadow of the Ancien Regime. Reform in Revolutionary Times explores the evolution of the civil-military relationship during one of the more unique periods of modern European history. Born through revolution during the First World War, the Soviet state was plunged immediately into a...