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Mark T. Kettler

@marktkettler

Historian of modern Central and Eastern Europe. I study German imperialism and colonialism to analyze the relationship of ethnic minorities to the modern state. marktkettler.com

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29.07.2025
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Latest posts by Mark T. Kettler @marktkettler

We should require all AI generated text to be printed in Comic sans!

If you don’t take your writing seriously, I want to know immediately!

10.03.2026 17:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Broken Ground: Building Germany’s Occupation of Poland in the First World War Published in First World War Studies (Ahead of Print, 2026)

In "Broken Ground: Building Germany's Occupation of Poland in the First World War", Andrew Kless offers critical reading for historians of German war aims, occupation, or the war in general.

Read my full review for First World War Studies.

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/WRJRH...

04.03.2026 17:01 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This was a well-crafted and important piece of scholarship. I strongly recommend it for scholars of military occupation, German imperialism, and the First World War. Schluß.

10.03.2026 15:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Kless's account thus reinforces our increasingly textured understanding of German imperial policy during the First World War, agreeing with Jesse Kauffman's interpretation in "Elusive Alliance". 9/

10.03.2026 15:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The Polenpolitik that emerged under the leadership of Interior Secretary Clemens von DelbrΓΌck increasingly approached the occupied civilian population as potentially friendly. The Civil Administration sought to revive local mining, forestry, and industry. 8/

10.03.2026 15:11 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

D) Kless’s account has significant implications. Germany’s occupation policy during the first year of the war was rapidly improvised. It did not enact the systematic plunder of occupied territory nor did it pursue a colonial or Germanizing project. 7/

10.03.2026 15:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

But the resolution to these disputes left important questions unanswered, structural problems unresolved. 6/

10.03.2026 15:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

C) The Civil Administration and imperial government, Kless argues, won important early victories in these debates. Prussian interests were subordinated to imperial priorities. Military leaders did not manage to assert unqualified access to Polish food and resources. 5/

10.03.2026 15:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The imperial government also constantly battled back an overambitious Prussian government, which correctly understood that Polish settlement would influence their own nationalities policy in Prussia’s eastern provinces. 4/

10.03.2026 15:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The occupation government, for example, struggled to rein in military foraging and requisitions. These siphoned food and other resources from local economies already battered by the war and contributed to widespread hunger in the spring of 1915. 3/

10.03.2026 15:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

B) As a result, the Civil administration which emerged, Kless points out, did not reflect a coherent set of priorities. It was torn between competing factional interests, often contradictory priorities, and jurisdictional disputes. 2/

10.03.2026 15:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Kless makes several important interventions.

A) Germany did not arrive in Russian Poland with any clear war aims, much less a coherent occupation strategy. Decisions were improvised on the ground, on a shoe-string, with an administration cobbled together from bits and bobs. 1/

10.03.2026 15:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Broken Ground: Building Germany’s Occupation of Poland in the First World War Published in First World War Studies (Ahead of Print, 2026)

In "Broken Ground: Building Germany's Occupation of Poland in the First World War", Andrew Kless offers critical reading for historians of German war aims, occupation, or the war in general.

Read my full review for First World War Studies.

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/WRJRH...

04.03.2026 17:01 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

My school, a top research university, gives us access to an institutional AI bot, HopGPT. As an experiment, I just asked it for the most important *academic* works on WWII. It gave me a list of 8 books. The first was Churchill, followed by David Irving, then Primo Levi. We are so, so screwed

14.02.2026 19:51 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 2

Historians of Central and Eastern Europe! On this feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, consider submitting a proposal for "Encountering the European 'East'", our seminar at this year's GSA in Phoenix.

14.02.2026 19:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Deadline’s coming up! Proposals must be submitted to the GSA application portal by 18 February. Please circulate widely.

13.02.2026 22:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

ICYMI:πŸ“’πŸš¨CFP: "Encountering the European β€˜East’: Imagination and Practice." seminar for
@thegsa.bsky.social

We explore the contradictory ways in which Europeans imagined the β€˜East’, and how their encounters with these regions transformed interpretations and projects.
www.thegsa.org/blog/cfa-gsa...

05.02.2026 02:45 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
CfA: GSA Seminars 2026 | German Studies Association

πŸ“’ 🚨CFP: "Encountering the European β€˜East’: Imagination and Practice." a seminar for @thegsa.bsky.social

We explore the contradictory ways in which Europeans imagined the β€˜East’, and how their encounters with these regions transformed interpretations and projects.

www.thegsa.org/blog/cfa-gsa...

30.01.2026 19:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Oh man! we went back and forth on it! And i really wish we could have you in the seminar!

30.01.2026 21:49 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

John Deak, Jesse Kauffman, Gregor Thum, and I are convening the seminar.

30.01.2026 19:52 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We welcome variety of approaches, including research on commerce, cultural contact, state-led development, nation-building, and empire.

Proposals must be submitted to the GSA's OpenWater Submission Portal by 18 February.

Please circulate widely.

30.01.2026 19:52 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
CfA: GSA Seminars 2026 | German Studies Association

πŸ“’ 🚨CFP: "Encountering the European β€˜East’: Imagination and Practice." a seminar for @thegsa.bsky.social

We explore the contradictory ways in which Europeans imagined the β€˜East’, and how their encounters with these regions transformed interpretations and projects.

www.thegsa.org/blog/cfa-gsa...

30.01.2026 19:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
CfA: GSA Seminars 2026 | German Studies Association

πŸ“’ Now Open: #theGSA2026 Seminars

Applications are now open for participation in the GSA 2026 Seminars at our 50th annual conference in Phoenix, AZ!

πŸ“ Apply via the OpenWater submission portal
πŸ—“ Application deadline: February 18, 2026
πŸ‘‰ Seminar topics & full details: thegsa.org/blog/cfa-gsa...

28.01.2026 16:39 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
A Death of Despair in Wisborg – Senses of Cinema

On Christmas 2024, Robert Eggers released his adaptation of Nosferatu. What does this latest version of the Dracula story reveal about our dread and the evolving terrors of modernity?

www.sensesofcinema.com/2025/feature...

26.12.2025 11:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We lost something when we stopped adapting classic literature with Muppets. Where is Muppet β€œFrankenstein”, Muppet β€œPride & Prejudice”, Muppet β€œWar and Peace”?

29.11.2025 14:20 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Global History Colloquium: Matt Fitzpatrick (Flinders University) on

I'm giving a talk on Monday in Berlin for those around.
**** Global History Colloquium: Matt Fitzpatrick (Flinders University) on "The Diplomacy of Colonial Cruelty: German Samoa and the Treatment of Chinese Labourers" *** share.google/s7sxXYD6xJmm...

15.11.2025 14:10 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I will be teaching my grad seminar on nationalism next semester, and I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on works concerning nationalism and internationalism. I'm open to books or articles on any region/time period. Thanks! πŸ—ƒοΈ

09.11.2025 22:01 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just one more!

19.08.2025 13:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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These would later inspire the visual style of Fritz Murnau's 2-part epic, Die Niebelungen

19.08.2025 13:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Carl Otto Czeschka's magnificent illustrations for Die Niebelung.

19.08.2025 13:57 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0