Explaining Suicide in the Imperial German Army

As social science evolved during the second half of the nineteenth century, the phenomenon of suicide received significant attention from sociologists. The issue of the frequency of suicides in the Imperial German armed forces proved highly sensitive. Official sources sought to minimize evidence of the mistreatment of soldiers in their presentation of suicide data, while critics of militarism, especially in the Social Democratic Party, used suicides in the military to expose what they regarded as systemic abuse. The issue became a case study in the potential politicization of social science findings and the polarization of public discourse in Imperial Germany.