Robert M. Citino (born June 19, 1958) is an American military historian and the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the National WWII Museum. He is an authority on modern German military history, with an emphasis on

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the German influence upon modern operational doctrine. Citino received recognition for his works from the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

, the

Society for Military History The Society for Military History is a United States–based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes naval history, air power history, and studies of technol ...

, and the

New York Military Affairs Symposium The New York Military Affairs Symposium (NYMAS), is an independent, not for profit, not-for-profit educational body dedicated to the preservation and furthering of military history in New York City. The membership includes scholars, active and ...

. The '' Historically Speaking'' journal described him as "one of the most perceptive military historians writing today".

Early life and education

Citino was born and grew up in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio. His father was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

veteran of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

who served in the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...

as a

combat medic A combat medic is responsible for providing emergency medicine, emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illnes ...

and gave Citino a copy of '' Guadalcanal Diary'' by Richard Tregaskis.National WWII Museum
Robert M. Citino, PhD, joins Museum as Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian After graduating ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' with his Bachelor of Arts in history from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1978, he earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1980 and 1984. Citino is fluent in German, having first learned it as an undergraduate, and is a prolific reader of early 20th-century German military literature.

Career

Citino has held academic postings at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

, Lake Erie College,

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded ...

, and the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

. He is a fellow of the Barsanti Military History Center, a trustee of the

, and a consultant for the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

staff. He has also appeared as a consultant on the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

. He currently chairs the Historical Advisory Subcommittee of the

Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. The DA is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is organized. It is led ...

Wehrmacht history

Throughout his career Citino has advocated changing the current nomenclature of German military tactics. Although he uses the word ''

Blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...

'' on the cover of his books, he has always espoused the view that it should be called by its proper German military term, ''Bewegungskrieg'', or

manoeuvre warfare Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare, is a military strategy which emphasizes movement, initiative and surprise to achieve a position of advantage. Maneuver seeks to inflict losses indirectly by envelopment, encirclement and disruption, while ...

. Citino has taught courses on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and American military history, including

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, and the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. On March 15, 2013, Citino was awarded the 2013 Distinguished Book Award by the

for his work ''The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943''. The book explores German losses in key campaigns in 1943—losses which would eventually lead to an erosion of the German military's strategic advantage. It is his second Distinguished Book Award; he previously received one in 2004 for his book ''Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm.'' Citino was a visiting professor at the

in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the 2013–14 academic school year.

Awards

*1993: Distinguished Teaching Award, Eastern Michigan University *Winner of the 2004 Paul M. Birdsall Prize for Best Book in Strategic Studies,

for ''Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare'' *Winner of the 2005 Distinguished Book Award,

for ''Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare'' *Winner of the 2012 Arthur Goodzeit Award

for ''The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943'' *Winner of the 2013 Distinguished Book Award,

for ''The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943'' *2021: Samuel Eliot Morison Prize

Works

*Citino (1991). ''Germany and the Union of South Africa in the Nazi Period.'' Greenwood Press. *Citino (1994). ''Armored Forces: History and Sourcebook.'' Greenwood Press. *Citino (1999). ''The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920–1939.'' Lynne Rienner; Stackpole Books (paperback, 2008) *Citino (2000). ''Was the Reputation of the Wehrmacht for Military Superiority Deserved?'' In ''History in Dispute'' 4, ''World War II, 1939–1945'' Detroit: St. James Press. *Citino (2001). ''The Weimar Roots of German Military Planning.'' In ''Military Planning and the Origins of the Second World War in Europe.'' edited by B.J.C. McKercher and Roch Legault. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. *Citino (2002). ''Quest for Decisive Victory: From Stalemate to Blitzkrieg in Europe, 1899–1940.'' University Press of Kansas. *Citino (2004). ''Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare.'' University Press of Kansas. *Citino (2005). ''The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich.'' University Press of Kansas. *Citino (2007). ''The Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942.'' University Press of Kansas. *Citino (2007). ''Military Histories Past and Present: A Reintroduction.'' American Historical Review volume 112, number 4. *Citino (2012). ''The Wehrmacht Retreats: The Campaigns of 1943.'' University Press of Kansas. *Citino (2017). ''The Wehrmacht's Last Stand: The German Campaigns of 1944–1945.'' University Press of Kansas.

Notes

Sources

External links

"Death of the Wehrmacht"
– 2009 article by Citino at Historynet.com
Fritz on Citino, 'Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942'
– Review by the historian Stephen G. Fritz on

H-Net __NOTOC__ H-Net ("Humanities & Social Sciences Online") is an interdisciplinary forum for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. It is best known for hosting electronic mailing lists organized by academic disciplines; according to the or ...

'Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942'
– Review by Richard L. Dinardo of Marine Corps Command and Staff College
Interview with Professor Robert Citino
via WW2History.com, a web site by the historian

Laurence Rees Laurence Rees (born 1957) is an English historian. He is a BAFTA winning historical documentary filmmaker and a British Book Award winning author of several books about Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and the atrocities committed, especially by them, d ...

Videos

* *, via the official channel of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center *, via the official channel of

The National WWII Museum The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The ...

; session by Citino and the historian Jonathan Parshall at the 2013 International Conference on World War II *, via the official channel of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center *, via the official channel of the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Citino, Robert M. 1958 births Living people Historians of Nazism American military historians American male non-fiction writers Writers from Cleveland Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Historians from Ohio