Revision as of 02:06, 20 April 2018

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Requests for arbitration

Request name	Motions	Initiated	Votes
German war effort of 1939–45		20 April 2018	0/0/0

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German war effort of 1939–45

Initiated by K.e.coffman (talk) at 00:13, 20 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Involved parties

K.e.coffman (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), filing party
LargelyRecyclable (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Confirmation that all parties are aware of the request

diff of notification LargelyRecyclable

Confirmation that other steps in dispute resolution have been tried

Sample attempts to resolve the disputes include:

Statement by K.e.coffman

My op-ed in the Bugle, WP:MILHIST's newsletter, summarises my findings on the subject of Wikipedia's mythmaking when it comes to the German war effort of 1939-45:

Wikipedia:WikiProject_Military_history/News/April_2018/Review_essay

I believe there is evidence to suggest that contributions by LargelyRecyclable's (LR for short) are promoting the myth of the clean Wehrmacht. Quoting from the essay:

An apologist worldview akin to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, it posits that if it weren’t for Hitler’s inept leadership, difficult terrain and weather conditions on the Eastern front, and Allied material superiority, the German army would have emerged victorious. This outlook borders on historical revisionism and whitewashing: accomplishments are celebrated while crimes and ideological alignment with the regime are minimised, in contrast to the contemporary historiography of the war.

For example, in the Erich Hoepner article, LR consistently removed information on the crimes committed by units under Hoepner's command:

11:09, 13 March 2018, with edit summary "Lead is a mess". Removed the mention of the Commissar Order that directed Wehrmacht troops to murder Red Army political officers immediately upon capture, contravening the accepted laws of war. The cooperation with the Einsatzgruppen, the mobile SS death squads that operated in the areas of Wehrmacht command, was also removed.
An edit targeting related content for removal: 09:50, 21 February 2018. Also removed the 2 May 1941 order by Hoepner instructing his troops that the war must be "conducted with unprecedented severity".
Another attempt to remove the 1941 order: 08:43, 17 February 2018, edit summary: "Totally lacking a reference (...)". ?, because the reference was provided. Etc. etc.

The only explanation offered in the course of these reverts was that "the connection is synthesis" (in edit summary), with these comments on 21 February 2018:

To simply lump in Hoepner with broad brush is not biographically relevant nor appropriate for Wikipedia. [1] (...) Both articles fail on the same merits. [2]

This does not pass the smell test. Side note: LR introduced this language into the article: "(...) Hoepner's troops came within sight of the Kremlin during Operation Typhoon" ([3]). 'Within sight of the Kremlin’ is a popular post-war legend. Ironically, the phrase appears verbatim in the 1953 publication The German General Staff: Its History and Structure 1657-1945 by Walter Görlitz: GBooks. Compare with David Stahel's Battle for Moscow (2013): GBooks.

Should the case be accepted, I can present additional examples. I've attempted to discuss on LR's Talk page, where he provided a non-justification for his reverts, while not engaging on the matter of the dispute around the Hoepner & Leeb articles: Talk:LargelyRecyclable#Landwerh, Fedorowicz, etc..

I find such airbrushing and mythologising based on biased or dated sources, and/or misrepresenting reliable sources, to be inconsistent with Wikipedia's goals. Reverts without justification and avoiding meaningful discussions are also problematic. I'm not sure what the Committee's actions should be, but a topic ban may be one of the possible remedies. More generally, I'm looking for the implementation of a system of discretionary sanctions for related articles.

I have consulted several historians who specialise in military history and the Holocaust, to validate my perceptions of these disputes. I received three attributed statements that I can email to the Committee to help you evaluate the case. Since some of the evidence is private, I would like to see ArbCom accept this request.

Statement by LargelyRecyclable

Well, this is bold.

Coffman and I (and many others) have had expansive content disputes on the proper scope and tone of material across a wide variety of articles, generally revolving around the Second World War. And that's largely, up to this point, the extent. I don't know what "smell tests" are, who his secret experts who apparently have forensically examined my edits for the odor of mythologizing are, or what high crime I've committed that would warrant his recommendation of a topic ban in front of the ArbCom. I've generally found Coffman to be polite, sober, intelligent, and always ready to engage in discussion, even if some exchanges could be described as terse and he's been somewhat overzealous in the correction of systemic biases in German-related WWII articles, both real and imagined. Additionally, we've had success in coming to resolution in content disputes in the past, both between just us and as a larger conversation, in places like Karl Strecker and Panzer ace, respectively. This is why I'm so surprised by this attempt to banish someone who disagrees with much of his approach to the topic with this medium, a medium that far outpaces the usual graduated steps to resolve whatever anguish he seems to be suffering.

This comes at a time in which I'm exceptionally busy in life and am not consistently making many contributions. I'll assume the best intentions on his behalf and just chalk it up to poor timing. My follow through on edits is not always great, as my time here is fit into the small windows of opportunity my life allows. I can grant that this could give the impression of disconnection or disregard to the general cycle of discussion, which could explain at least a small portion of this. I do my best to concede issues raised in such periods of inactivity instead of dragging them out and unreasonably force others to conform to my schedule. Again, see Strecker. I've never been involved in an ArbCom case before and I have zero desire to be involved in one now. This request seems neither necessary or wise, unless some of Coffman's "other examples" teased at in exchange for acceptance of the request will bear more light. Should the case be accepted I'll do what I can to participate to its conclusion and provide the most complete picture of the circumstances I can. LargelyRecyclable (talk) 01:51, 20 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I have to amend the above. I've reviewed Coffman's Signpost draft and it's incredibly disturbing. The framework he's using to push his paradigm has potentially significant consequence for Wikipedia as a whole. This may, in fact, be something that the ArbCom wants to accept, although the context should likely be much broader than just his displeasure with my disagreeing with him at times. I would caution Coffman that this particular route has substantial implications for WP:OUT and the possible reexamination of off-Wiki material concerning the coordination of editing and other activist activities previously removed by DGG at Coffman's request. LargelyRecyclable (talk) 02:06, 20 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by {Non-party}

Other editors are free to make relevant comments on this request as necessary. Comments here should address why or why not the Committee should accept the case request or provide additional information.

German war effort of 1939–45: Clerk notes

This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).

German war effort of 1939–45: Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter <0/0/0>

Vote key: (Accept/decline/recuse)

@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 This comes at a time in which I'm exceptionally busy in life and am not consistently making many contributions. I'll assume the best intentions on his behalf and just chalk it up to poor timing. My follow through on edits is not always great, as my time here is fit into the small windows of opportunity my life allows. I can grant that this could give the impression of disconnection or disregard to the general cycle of discussion, which could explain at least a small portion of this. I do my best to concede issues raised in such periods of inactivity instead of dragging them out and unreasonably force others to conform to my schedule. Again, see Strecker.  I've never been involved in an ArbCom case before and I have zero desire to be involved in one now. This request seems neither necessary or wise, unless some of Coffman's "other examples" teased at in exchange for acceptance of the request will bear more light. Should the case be accepted I'll do what I can to participate to its conclusion and provide the most complete picture of the circumstances I can. [[User:LargelyRecyclable|LargelyRecyclable]] ([[User talk:LargelyRecyclable|talk]]) 01:51, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
+I have to amend the above. I've reviewed Coffman's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:K.e.coffman/Signpost_Opinion Signpost] draft and it's incredibly disturbing. The framework he's using to push his paradigm has potentially significant consequence for Wikipedia as a whole. This may, in fact, be something that the ArbCom wants to accept, although the context should likely be much broader than just his displeasure with my disagreeing with him at times. I would caution Coffman that this particular route has substantial implications for [[WP:OUT]] and the possible reexamination of off-Wiki material concerning the coordination of editing and other activist activities previously removed by [[User:DGG|DGG]] at Coffman's request. [[User:LargelyRecyclable|LargelyRecyclable]] ([[User talk:LargelyRecyclable|talk]]) 02:06, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
 === Statement by {Non-party} ===