Matthias Strohn was educated at the Universities of Münster, Germany, and Oxford where he obtained a Masters degree and a Doctorate. He teaches military history to British army officer cadets and officers at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He currently holds the rank of Captain in the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) reserve and is attached to the German staff college where he lectures on military history to international staff and German general staff officers.
Introduction and definitions; Part I. The Foundations of Defensive Warfare
in the Inter-War Period: 1. Defence doctrine before the First World War; 2.
The lessons of the First World War; 3. Military planning in the aftermath
of the First World War; Part II. The Seeckt Era: Years of Ignorance: 4.
Hans von Seeckt and the rebirth of the offensive; 5. The manual Führung und
Gefecht der verbundenen Waffen and the conduct of the defensive battle;
Part III. Adapting to Reality 1923-33: 6. Military thought after the
occupation of the Ruhr; 7. Civil-military co-operation; 8. The manual
Truppenführung and the increased importance of defence; Part IV. Defensive
Warfare in the Third Reich 1933-9: 9. Political ideology versus military
reality: defensive warfare 1933-6; 10. The rebirth of offensive warfare
1936-9; Conclusion: the defensive battle in the Second World War and
beyond.
