What were the reasons for World War II? Of course, Hitler attacked Poland. On the other hand, when Stalin invaded Poland and then attacked Finland a few months later, nobody declared war on the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Hitler tried to negotiate a settlement. So what were the reasons for World War II? The Versailles “Peace Treaty” had created so many injustices in Europe that it bore within itself the seeds of a new war. One ought not neglect the colonial arms race in the Pacific between the newcomer Japan and the old European colonial powers…
By Adolf Hitler ∙ June 22, 1941
On the morning of June 22, 1941, Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels announced to the world the startling news that German forces, together with Finnish and Romanian troops, had struck against the vast Soviet Union. On German radio he read Adolf Hitler’s historic proclamation justifying the attack. Among other things, he said that Stalin had massed…
By Daniel W. Michaels ∙ October 20, 1999
wwii/prelude/USSRThe Journal of Historical Review, vol. 18, no. 3 (May/June), pp. 40-45New Evidence on the 1941 ‘Barbarossa’ Attack: Why Hitler Attacked Soviet Russia When He DidDaniel W. Michaels Stalins Falle: Er wollte den Krieg (“Stalin’s Trap: He Wanted War”), by Adolf von Thadden. Rosenheim: Kultur und Zeitgeschichte/Archiv der Zeit, 1996. (Available from: Postfach 1180, 32352…
By Joseph Sobran ∙ August 1, 1998
Joseph Sobran is a nationally-syndicated columnist, lecturer, author, and editor of the monthly newsletter Sobran's (P.O. Box 1383, Vienna, VA 22183). This essay is reprinted from the August 1998 issue of Sobran's. Steven Spielberg's “Saving Private Ryan” is the most powerful movie I've seen in years. The opening sequence, already famous, shows the D-Day invasion…
By Daniel W. Michaels ∙ October 1, 1998
Poslednyaya Respublika (“The Last Republic”), by Viktor Suvorov (Vladimir Rezun). Moscow: TKO ACT, 1996. 470 pages. Hardcover. Photographs. For several years now, a former Soviet military intelligence officer named Vladimir Rezun has provoked heated discussion in Russia for his startling view that Hitler attacked Soviet Russia in June 1941 just as Stalin was preparing to…
By Daniel W. Michaels ∙ November 1, 1995
Der Tag M (“M Day”), by Viktor Suvorov (Vladimir B. Rezun). Translated from the Russian by Hans Jaeger. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1995. Hardcover. 356 pages. Photos. Source references. Bibliography. Index. Daniel W. Michaels is a Columbia University graduate (Phi Beta Kappa, 1954), a Fulbright exchange student to Germany (1957), and recently retired from the US Department…
By Joseph Bishop ∙ November 1, 1997
Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?, by Viktor Suvorov (Vladimir Rezun). London: Hamish Hamilton, 1990. Hardcover. Maps. Photos. Source references. Index. Joseph Bishop studied history and German at a South African university. Currently employed in a professional field, he resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and three children. It sometimes happens that…
By John Weir ∙ November 1, 1997
Scapegoats: A Defense of Kimmel and Short at Pearl Harbor, by Edward L. Beach. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995. Hardcover. 225 pages. Eleven photographs. Bibliographical references essay. Index. John Weir is a computer programer/analyst who lives with his wife and three children in a suburb of Kansas City. Born in Missouri in 1958, he received…
By John Mueller ∙ December 6, 1991
John Mueller is a professor of political science at the University of Rochester, and the author of Retreat From Doomsday (Basic Books, 1989). This essay, reprinted from the Los Angeles Times, Dec. 6, 1991, is adapted from an article in International Security journal. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor half a century ago is usually…
By James Joseph Martin ∙ January 1, 1981
James J. Martin graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1942 and received his M.A. (1945) and Ph.D. (1949) degrees in history from the University of Michigan. His teaching career has spanned 25 years and involved residence at educational institutions from coast to coast. Dr. Martin's books have included the 1964 two-volume classic, American…
By Mark Weber ∙ May 1, 1997
On January 20, 1997, Bill Clinton began his second term as President with a swearing-in ceremony at the White House followed by an inaugural address. During the first few minutes of this speech, Clinton briefly surveyed the history of the past ten decades: What a century it has been. America became the world’s mightiest industrial…
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