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Modern War Studies
Kesselring's Last Battle: War Crimes Trials and Cold War Politics, 1945-1960
In 1947 German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was tried and convicted of war crimes committed during World War II. He was held responsible for his troops having executed nearly 9,000 Italian citizens—women, children, elderly men—in retaliation for partisan attacks. His conviction, however, created a real dilemma for the United States and western Europe. While some sought the harshest punishments available for anyone who had participated in the war crimes of the Nazi regime, others believed that the repatriation of alleged war criminals would help secure the allegiance of a rearmed West Germany in the dangerous new Cold War against the Soviet Union.
Kerstin von Lingen's close analysis of the Kesselring case reveals for the first time how a network of veterans, lawyers, and German sympathizers in Britain and America achieved the commutation of Kesselring's death sentence and his eventual release—reinforcing German popular conceptions that he had been innocent all along and that the Wehrmacht had fought a "clean war" in Italy. Synthesizing the work of contemporary German and Italian historians with her own exhaustive archival research, she shows that Kesselring bore much greater guilt for civilian deaths than had been proven in court—and that the war on the southern front had been far from clean.
Von Lingen weaves together strands of the story as diverse as Winston Churchill's ability to mobilize support among British elites, Basil Liddell Hart's need to be recognized as an important military thinker, and the Cold War fears of the "Senators' Circle" in the United States. Through this rich narrative, she shows how international politics shaped the trial's proceedings and outcome—as well as the memory and meaning of the war for German citizens—and sheds new light on the complex interplay between the combatants' efforts to "master the past" and the threatening state of international relations in the early Cold War.
In analyzing the efforts to clear Kesselring's name, von Lingen shows that the case was about much more than the fate of one convicted individual; it also underscored the pressure to wrap up the war crimes issue—and German guilt—in order to get on with the business of bringing a rearmed Germany into the Western alliance. Kesselring's Last Battle sheds new light on the "politics of memory" by unraveling a twisted thread in postwar history as it shows how historical truth is sometimes sacrificed on the altar of expediency.
Kerstin von Lingen's close analysis of the Kesselring case reveals for the first time how a network of veterans, lawyers, and German sympathizers in Britain and America achieved the commutation of Kesselring's death sentence and his eventual release—reinforcing German popular conceptions that he had been innocent all along and that the Wehrmacht had fought a "clean war" in Italy. Synthesizing the work of contemporary German and Italian historians with her own exhaustive archival research, she shows that Kesselring bore much greater guilt for civilian deaths than had been proven in court—and that the war on the southern front had been far from clean.
Von Lingen weaves together strands of the story as diverse as Winston Churchill's ability to mobilize support among British elites, Basil Liddell Hart's need to be recognized as an important military thinker, and the Cold War fears of the "Senators' Circle" in the United States. Through this rich narrative, she shows how international politics shaped the trial's proceedings and outcome—as well as the memory and meaning of the war for German citizens—and sheds new light on the complex interplay between the combatants' efforts to "master the past" and the threatening state of international relations in the early Cold War.
In analyzing the efforts to clear Kesselring's name, von Lingen shows that the case was about much more than the fate of one convicted individual; it also underscored the pressure to wrap up the war crimes issue—and German guilt—in order to get on with the business of bringing a rearmed Germany into the Western alliance. Kesselring's Last Battle sheds new light on the "politics of memory" by unraveling a twisted thread in postwar history as it shows how historical truth is sometimes sacrificed on the altar of expediency.
462 pages, Hardcover
First published March 10, 2009
21 people want to read
About the author
Kerstin von Lingen
17 books1 followerProf. Dr. Kerstin von Lingen is a German military historian who specialises in the study of war crimes. She is best known for her works on Field Marshal Albert Kesselring and SS Obergruppenfuehrer Karl Wolff.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 30, 2025
I found this book quite intriguing. Arthur Kesselring ordered the illegal killing of 335 partisans in Italy during World War II. Kesselring is arraigned via Royal Warrant and stands trial in Italy after which, Kesselring is convicted of these crimes and sentenced to death.
Kesselring was a benefactor of two things, an excellent lawyer, Hans Dostler and a tempering mood of the British public by the ever solidifying Cold War. Kesselring being quite charming was able to win in the court of British public opinion while he completed his memoirs of the war. Kesselring’s charm was able to win over the likes of Winston Churchill and Harold Alexander to name a few which helped grease the wheels of commutation. The final straw being a cancer diagnosis in 1952. After commutation, Kesselring leads a muddling existence, being a leader of German Army war veterans organizations such as Der Stahlhelm. Death comes for Kesselring in 1960 and he is laid to rest with the likes of Sepp Dietrich looking on.
All in all a very compelling read. It makes the reader contemplate where Justice and politics intersects. How old enemies can become friends in the face of new enemies. It also makes one wonder in the pursuit of right, what right truly is, what is most advantageous for us and our friends, what is our duty, or what is the golden mean? In retrospect was the Soviet Union menacing enough to commute Kesselring’s sentence, or do we hold some higher moral obligation to the 335 that were killed indirectly by his hand?
Kesselring was a benefactor of two things, an excellent lawyer, Hans Dostler and a tempering mood of the British public by the ever solidifying Cold War. Kesselring being quite charming was able to win in the court of British public opinion while he completed his memoirs of the war. Kesselring’s charm was able to win over the likes of Winston Churchill and Harold Alexander to name a few which helped grease the wheels of commutation. The final straw being a cancer diagnosis in 1952. After commutation, Kesselring leads a muddling existence, being a leader of German Army war veterans organizations such as Der Stahlhelm. Death comes for Kesselring in 1960 and he is laid to rest with the likes of Sepp Dietrich looking on.
All in all a very compelling read. It makes the reader contemplate where Justice and politics intersects. How old enemies can become friends in the face of new enemies. It also makes one wonder in the pursuit of right, what right truly is, what is most advantageous for us and our friends, what is our duty, or what is the golden mean? In retrospect was the Soviet Union menacing enough to commute Kesselring’s sentence, or do we hold some higher moral obligation to the 335 that were killed indirectly by his hand?
December 12, 2025
[4.5 Stars]
Over a decade ago at this point, my undergraduate thesis advisor – when we were discussing what topic I’d be interested in writing about – told me that a great barometer for a topic’s interest for you would be “what book you would have wanted to write yourself.” I never really understood this, as both a writer and reader of history. Kesselring’s Last Battle is one of the rare history books that I am deeply, deeply sad I did not get to write myself.
Not because I care very much about military history – I do not. But because von Lingen truly does write a global history here, and masterfully weaves together not only the international context, but also the British, German and Italian views of every step of this saga. It is exactly the kind of legal history I love -- arguing and demonstrating that law is deeply intertwined with the political context in which it operates. It makes me feel kind of unworthy of the historical discipline. But onwards, I guess.
It is just insane and heart-wrenching that so many war criminals were released because of political expediency and Cold War realities. So much for law. So much for justice. Though here, too, von Lingen demonstrates that the law was not really on solid ground by this point. I suppose this is an area I could explore myself, though who on earth knows at this early point in my dissertation writing journey?
Over a decade ago at this point, my undergraduate thesis advisor – when we were discussing what topic I’d be interested in writing about – told me that a great barometer for a topic’s interest for you would be “what book you would have wanted to write yourself.” I never really understood this, as both a writer and reader of history. Kesselring’s Last Battle is one of the rare history books that I am deeply, deeply sad I did not get to write myself.
Not because I care very much about military history – I do not. But because von Lingen truly does write a global history here, and masterfully weaves together not only the international context, but also the British, German and Italian views of every step of this saga. It is exactly the kind of legal history I love -- arguing and demonstrating that law is deeply intertwined with the political context in which it operates. It makes me feel kind of unworthy of the historical discipline. But onwards, I guess.
It is just insane and heart-wrenching that so many war criminals were released because of political expediency and Cold War realities. So much for law. So much for justice. Though here, too, von Lingen demonstrates that the law was not really on solid ground by this point. I suppose this is an area I could explore myself, though who on earth knows at this early point in my dissertation writing journey?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews