On 8 May 1995, the British prime minister, John Major, referred to the end of World War II as the end of a thirty years’ war; in this, he was correct: both sides saw this war as an attempt to complete a task left undone at the close of the First World War – the show-down which ended European global domination. The Second World War was, however, the ultimate catastrophe of modern history, laying waste the heart and soul of Europe. Here you will find contributions about this conflict, its prelude, conduct, and personalities – excluding non-military Nazi personalities, which are covered under the entry “Third Reich Era.” Also covered are contributions dealing with war crimes (and lies about alleged war crimes) committed in the course of the conflict. This does not include the “Holocaust,” which has a separate entry (and is not a war crime in the strict sense).
By Dennis N. Smith ∙ July 1, 1988
Stalin's War: A Radical New Theory of the Origins of the Second World War, by Ernst Topitsch. Translated by A. and B.E. Taylor. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987, 160 pages, $19.95, ISBN: 0-312-0989-5. Can there be any real doubt who was the prime mover in the tumultuous events of 1933-1945? From the vast majority…
By Jack Wikoff ∙ April 1, 1988
Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies by Clayton R. Koppes and Gregory D. Black. New York: Free Press/Macmillan, 1987, x + 374 pages, illustrated, $22.50, ISBN 0-02-903550-3. Propaganda may be defined as the attempt to manipulate public opinion for the purpose of helping or injuring a particular…
By Peter H. Oppenheimer ∙ July 1, 1986
Operation Magic Fire (28 July 1936 – 29 March 1939) Hermann Göring proclaimed the existence of the reconstructed German Luftwaffe on 10 March 1935.[1] Within eighteen months, the new Luftwaffe embarked upon Operation Magic Fire, a program to assist the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. The war, which broke out in the summer of…
By Otto Ernst Remer ∙ April 1, 1988
My assignment to the guard regiment “Großdeutschland” in Berlin was actually a form of rest and recreation – my first leave from the front – after my many wounds and in recognition of my combat decorations, including the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and the Close Combat Badge in Silver (forty-eight days of close combat)….
By Jeff Riggenbach ∙ October 1, 1986
Orwell: The War Commentaries, Edited and with an introduction by W.J. West. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986, 253 pp., $18.95. George Orwell, too, had feet of clay. This will come as no surprise to some, of course. There are at least a few who know already, and a much smaller number who have long known,…
By Martin Merson ∙ July 1, 1988
When Percy Greaves died of cancer on 13 August 1984 – eleven days short of his 78th birthday – little did he know of the seeds he had planted. No man, to this writer's knowledge, has done more to inspire others to continue along the trail he blazed; a trail beginning with his service as…
By Robert A. Hall ∙ October 1, 1986
The noted Anglo-American humorist Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975) led, up to 1940, a life which was professionally very active and successful, but devoid of striking or soul-shaking experiences.[1] In that year, however, there occurred an event which changed the course of his life very drastically for the next six years, and cast a lasting, though…
By H. Keith Thompson ∙ April 1, 1988
Verschwörung und Verrat um Hitler: Urteil des Frontsoldaten. [Conspiracy and Betrayal around Hitler: A Combat Soldier’s Verdict] by Otto Ernst Remer, Brigadier General Retired [Generalmajor a.D.]. Preussisch Oldendorf, Federal Republic of Germany: Verlag K.W. Schlütz, KG, Third Printing, 1984, 336 pages, illustrated, 42.00 DM (about $20 U.S.), ISBN 3-87725-102/1. A few exciting hours after the…
By John P. Strang ∙ July 1, 1988
Keeper of Concentration Camps: Dillon S. Meyer and American Racism, by Richard Drinnon. Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1987, 339 pp., $24.95. ISBN 0-520-05793-7. With the exception of the few months in which Milton Eisenhower ran the program, Dillon S. Meyer, a typical New Deal bureaucrat, was the chief administrator of the WRA, the “War…
By Jeffrey Rogers Hummel ∙ October 1, 1986
I. Pre-Pearl Harbor The sad saga of civil liberties in the United States during the Second World War begins well before Pearl Harbor. The popular impression is that the Japanese surprise attack in December 1941 caught the U.S. government totally unaware. In an effort to counter this impression, countless Revisionist historians have raked over the…
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