Head of Historical Analysis

Professor Matthias Strohn, M.St. (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon), FRHistS is the Head of the Historical Analysis Programme at the CHACR. He is also Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Buckingham, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of War Studies at the University of Fortune.

Matthias was educated at the universities of Münster (Germany) and Oxford. He holds a Master’s degree and a Doctorate from Oxford, and he was also awarded a level 7 degree in Strategic Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute. Matthias is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Prior to joining the CHACR, he worked in the War Studies Department at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and he also held a lectureship in Modern History at Oxford.

Matthias is an expert in the history of war in the 20th century, with special interest in the World Wars, the inter-war period, command and leadership, the development of doctrine, and the application of military history in today’s military context. He has written and edited more than 20 books and numerous articles, and his works were chosen as the core readings for Operation Reflect, the British Army’s commemoration of the First World War. Matthias is a frequent commentator on military history and current military affairs, and he has appeared on a wide range of media, ranging from TV documentaries and news channels to Europe’s largest tabloid newspaper. He is also a keen battlefield studies guide, and he has led military and civilian groups all over Europe, from Madrid to Stalingrad.

Matthias holds the rank of Oberst d. R. (Colonel) in the German Army, and he is the head of the German military delegation in the UK (R). An artillery officer by background, he served as a member of the military attaché corps with deployments to Madrid, Paris and London. He also served as desk officer in the Political Department of the German Ministry of Defence, and as the Directing Staff Officer for military history and strategy at the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College. He deployed to Iraq (with the British Army) and Afghanistan (with the German Bundeswehr and the British Army). He received his initial staff officer training at the German staff college, and he also represented the German Army as an international student at the Advanced Command and Staff Course (R) at the British Staff College (as the second German Army officer ever selected). He continues to support and advise the German Command and Staff College, in particular the flagship general staff officer course, as an expert in Professional Military Education. For his services to the German military and Anglo-German defence relations he was awarded the highest German military (non-combat) decoration, the Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Gold.