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 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 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 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…
By Reuben Clarence Lang ∙ December 1, 1986
Warschau unter deutscher Herrschaft [Warsaw under German rule] by Friedrich Gollert. Warsaw: Berg Verlag GmbH.,1942, 302 pp. On the occasion of the two years' existence of the General Government (GG), I was commissioned to render an account concerning the District of Warsaw. At that time (1941) I wrote Zwei Jahre Wiederaufbau im Distrikt Warschau (Two…
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 Georg Franz-Willing ∙ April 1, 1986
I. Historical Development from the Nineteenth Century to the First World War In 1955, the Indian diplomat and historian K. M. Panikkar, a longtime friend and collaborator of Pandit Nehru, the Indian prime minister, published a book entitled Asia and Western Dominance 1498-1945. He shows Western dominance of Asia as beginning with the Portuguese Vasco…
By Jack Wikoff ∙ December 1, 1986
War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War by John W. Dower. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986, xii, 399 pp., illustrated, $22.50, ISBN 0-394-50030-X. Following the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the American people reacted violently with fear and anger at the suddenly ominous power of the Japanese nation. The forms this…
By Charles Lutton ∙ December 1, 1984
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley “Bomber” Harris died on 5 April of this year, at the age of 91. As Air Officer Commanding in Chief Bomber Command from February 1942 until the end of the Second World War, he was in charge of Britain’s massive “area bombing” campaign directed against German cities. At least half a…
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