Hangulatjelentések a Don-kanyarból. Hit, önbizalom és motiváció változása a keleti fronton harcoló 10/I. tüzérosztálynál.

Abstract

In the great narrative of World War II, the individual soldiers become obscured. Behind the summarizing and almost statistical figures, there are unfairly marginalized individuals who bore the collision of large spheres of interest. Therefore, it is important to examine military events from other angles than just the wide-angle optics of leading events. In my study, I seek to explore the problems of battalion 10/I commanded to the Eastern Front in 1942, which might have affected their level of ambition. For this, I use mood reports and relevant logs recorded by the battalion commander. Of these, I group the revealed ideas based on subject matter, and then attempt to draw conclusions based on the relationships between them. My main aim is to determine the mental state of the subordinates and the factors that influence them from the perspective of the sub-commander. This is interesting because in an autocratically organized, hierarchically structured violence organization, one-man leaders are responsible for everything they have done or failed to do. Paradoxically, it is in the interest of a commander to flatter them in the eyes of senior executives, so that this can issue a positive “certificate” of themselves, too. The study contributes to the expansion of knowledge regarding the military history of the 2nd Army of Hungary, and it also helps the development of the knowledge of today’s military leaders, making it easier for them to understand the moral changes taking place in the subunits.