Website profile

Dr Matthias
Strohn
MSt (Oxon)
Appointment: Senior Lecturer, Department of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Contact Details
Department of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 4PQ
Tel. +44 (0)1276 412385
Principal research interests
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Military History of the inter-war period 1918 to 1939
The German Army in the First World War (especially Western Front)
The German Army in the Third Reich and in the Second World War
The development of doctrine and military thought; how armies learn
Principal Publications
BOOKS
The German Army and the Defence of the Reich: Military Doctrine and the Conduct of the
Defensive Battle 1918-1939, Cambridge 2010
Ed., The First World War Companion, Oxford 2013
Et al., eds., The Great Adventure Ends: New Zealand and France on the Western Front
Christchurch 2013
CHAPTERS/ARTICLES IN EDITED COLLECTIONS
‘German Tactical Doctrine and the Defensive Battle on the Western Front’, in Matthias Strohn, ed.,
The First World War Companion, Oxford 2013
‘Defending Le Quesnoy’, in Matthias Strohn, et al., eds The Great Adventure Ends: New Zealand
and France on the Western Front in 1918, Christchurch 2013
‘”Der Erste Weltkrieg”- Grossbritannien und die globale Dimension des Siebenjährigen Krieges, in
Thorsten Loch, et al., eds, Wie Friedrich “der Grosse” wurde. Eine kleine Geschichte des
Siebenjährigen Krieges 1756 bis 1763, Freiburg 2012
‘”A Learning Organization”? Die britische Armee und ihre Lehren aus den CounterinsurgencyEinsätzen in Afghanistan und im Irak’, in Bernhard Chiari, ed. Auftrag Auslandseinsatz. Neueste
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Militärgeschichte an der Schnittstelle von Geschichtswissenschaft, Politik, Öffentlichkeit und
Streitkräften, Freiburg 2012
‘The German Army in the Inter-War Years, in Herman Amersfoort, Wim Klinkert, eds., Small
Powers in the Age of Total War, 1900-1940, Leiden 2011
‘Moderne Kriege? Vom Kabinettskrieg zum Volkskrieg’, in Thorsten Loch, Lars Zacharias, eds.,
Wie die Siegessäule nach Berlin kam. Eine kleine Geschichte der Reichseinigungskriege 1864 bis
1871, Freiburg 2011
Moderne Kriege - Preußen als Lehrmeister John Bulls?’, in Thorsten Loch, Lars Zacharias, eds.,
Wie die Siegessäule nach Berlin kam. Eine kleine Geschichte der Reichseinigungskriege 1864 bis
1871, Freiburg 2011
‘Von “Imperial Policing” zu “Low Intensity Operations”: Britische Counterinsurgency-Klassiker und
ihre programmatische Aktualität', in Martin Sebaldt, Sebastian Strassner, eds., Aufstand und
Demokratie. Counterinsurgency als normative und praktische Herausforderung, Wiesbaden 2011
Entries to the Encyclopedia of War, ed. by Gordon Martel, Oxford 2010
’Les Jeunes Turcs allemands entre les guerres mondiales. Seeckt, Stülpnagel, Blomberg, Fritsch,
Beck: de la constitution de la Reichswehr à la guerre’, in Francois Cochet, ed., 1930-1935: De
Gaulle et les Jeunes Turcs dans les armées occidentales (1930-1945). Une génération de la
réflexion à l’action, Paris 2008
‘Hans von Seeckt and his Vision of a ´Modern Army’’, in War in History, vol. 12, no. 3 (2005)
OTHER PUBLISHED WORK
Various short articles and book reviews in The Wish Stream (the journal of the Royal Military
Academy Sandhurst), War in History, Diplomacy & Statecraft, Francia, and Sehepunkte
Media experience
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Consultant, The liberation of Paris in colour, The History Channel
Consultant, 37 Days, (The July Crisis 1914), produced for BBC2
On-screen interviewee, The liberation of Paris in colour, The History Channel
Radio interviewee, The British Army in Iraq, BFBS Radio
Battlefield Study expertise
Dr. Strohn has extensive experience in planning and delivering battlefield tours and staff rides for
military and civilian audiences. He has taken groups to Berlin, the Isonzo, Kursk, Moscow,
Normandy, Pas de Calais, the Somme, Verdun, Waterloo, Wolgograd, and Ypres
Dr. Strohn was one of the architects of the highly successful RMAS Exercise ‘Normandy Scholar’
(battlefield study/leadership and command exercise) and he is responsible for the coordination of
the exercise.
Dr Strohn holds a commission in the German Army. As a reserve officer he was attached to
German Staff College for 4 years as the Military History Staff Officer. Since 2012 he has been in
the Military Attaché Reserve and in this position he has served on the defence attaché staffs in
Madrid and London
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Dr Strohn has deployed several times to Iraq (with the British Army) and to Afghanistan (with both
the German and the British Armies)
Academic Advisor to the German Embassy London for the commemorations of the First World War
Editor of the War Studies section of the Wishstream – The Journal of the Sandhurst Foundation
Education
2002-2007 Oxford University, DPhil in Modern European History (supervisor Prof Sir Hew
Strachan) DPhil thesis title The Germany on the Defensive: The Army’s Conduct of the Defensive
Battle 1918-1938
2001-2002 Oxford University, Master of Studies in Modern European History
1998-2001 Westphälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany, studied Modern History,
Political Science, English and Applied Cultural Studies
Languages (apart from English)
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German, native speaker
French
Italian, basic level
Spanish, basic level
Latin
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