World War II

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).

  • Warsaw under German rule

    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…

  • The Origins of the Second World War

    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…

  • War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War

    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…

  • Irving on Churchill

    World-class historian David Irving is no stranger to readers of the JHR. His address to the 1983 Intemational Revisionist Conference, which appeared in the Winter 1984 Journal of Historical Review (“On Contemporary History and Historiography”), was something of a primer on Irving's Revisionist historiographical method. It was spiced as well with tantalizing hints of new…

  • Orwell: The War Commentaries

    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,…

  • My Role in Berlin on July 20, 1944

    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)….

  • On the Treadmill to Pearl Harbor

    On the Treadmill to Pearl Harbor: The Memoirs of Admiral James O. Richardson (USN Retired), As Told to Vice Admiral George C. Dyer (USN Retired). Washington DC: Naval Historical Division, Deparhnent of the Navy, 1973, 471 pages. On the Treadmill to Pearl Harbor: The Memoirs of Admiral James O. Richardson (USN Retired), As Told to…

  • A Postwar View of the Greater East Asia War

    In striking contrast to the situation in North America and Europe, historical revisionism enjoys widespread support and even official sanction in Japan. The growing willingness of the Japanese to reassess their nation's role in the “Greater East Asia War” received worldwide attention during the so-called “textbook controversy” of 1962, when new Japanese high school history…

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