This study traces the role of East Germany’s military (NVA) in the country’s unification with West Germany. Utilizing interviews with and questionnaires from NVA officers, Herspring aims to unravel the puzzle of the NVA’s decision against using force to save the political system it was sworn to serve. The author also examines the integration of a select minority of officers and NCOs into the Bundeswehr. Illuminating the problems encountered by the Bundeswehr as it incorporated these individuals, Herspring constructs an ideal type of officer in one of the most politicised and tightly controlled of all communist militaries.