Questions related to aspects of World War II (1939-1945 AD). An international conflict whose major participants were the fascist countries of Germany, Italy, and Japan engaged against the allied nations of the UK, France, USSR, and the USA. The conflict began with the German invasion of Poland and ...
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Did WWII Delay Indian Independence?
During WWII, Gandhi said that Indians should adopt a compromising attitude towards the British due to the stresses of war. Did this prolong the (near) inactivity of the Indian National Movement? Or ...
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57 views
How successful were Einsatzkommando Tunis and how much was Rommel complicit?
This Einsatzkommando was headed by SS officer Walter Rauff and according to his wikipedia article it had great effect on the local Jewish population. An example is given, a quote from a German TV ...
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1answer
62 views
where can I find digitised versions of Japanese war documents in original Japanese?
I was wondering where can I find digitised versions of Japanese war documents in original Japanese?
I can read Japanese but I cannot seem to find any primary sources that relate to the Japanese army ...
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1answer
193 views
Did Erwin König Exist?
Erwin König Was a sniper supposedly killed by Vasily Zaytsev in the Battle of Stalingrad. The diary of Vasily Zaytsev mentions killing Erwin Konig, and there is a sniper scope in Russia, but there is ...
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233 views
Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
Why in WW1 or WW2 or ever nobody invaded Switzerland? All other countries was in some wars. How Switzerland do it and should we learn from them?
I hear that many people with power have money in swiss ...
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231 views
Could you help me identify this photograph that was taken shortly after World War 2?
Could you help me identify this photograph?
All I know is that it was taken shortly after World War 2.
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3answers
109 views
Was Japan really part of the Axis?
I recall in history class learning that the Japanese could have attacked the USSR in the 1940s and potentially split Stalin's forces - which presumably would have been more useful for the Nazis than ...
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1answer
139 views
Was the battle of Stalingrad “unique” in the annals of history?
I'm referring to the fact that BOTH sides ordered their troops to fight for the city "to the last man and last round." (Hitler). The Soviet Union's General Vasili Chuikov echoed this by saying "We ...
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219 views
What was the maximum percent of the Soviet territory that was under Nazi control?
What was the percent of the Soviet territory that was under Nazi control at maximum extent?
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258 views
How do functionalists explain the fact that Holocaust continued until the very end of the war?
While I haven't read Goldhagen or scholars with a similar viewpoint directly, I frequently encounter the following argument that seems very Goldhagenite to me: "The Germans tried to murder Jews up ...
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2answers
151 views
How besieged was Leningrad after Operation Iskra?
Wikipedia's timeline for the siege of Leningrad is a little puzzling. It has:
12–30 January 1943: Operation Iskra penetrates the siege by opening a
land corridor along the coast of Lake Ladoga into ...
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2answers
94 views
What was the civil weapons legislation under Hitler?
Was possession of weapons prohibited, encouraged, allowed to members of some organizations, or what?
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1answer
267 views
What rank is S. SGT in the Army Air Force during WW2?
I am looking over my Grandfather's DD214 (Military Discharge Paperwork) from WW2. His grade says "S. SGT" I am trying to figure out his rank conclusively. Nowhere on the DD214 does it display an E-5 ...
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1answer
86 views
GDP per capita during WWII?
Perhaps this is difficult to measure and maybe not even a good metric for anything meaningful, but what was the GDP and GDP/capita for nations around the world immediately before World War II? ...
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59 views
Resistance in 1938 Czechoslovakia
I wonder if someone might help me. I'm writing a novel. My protagonist is a dual national (English born, German parents) bio chemist contracted to work for Freiburg University 1938. At the time ...
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0answers
158 views
Did Hitler not intend a major war while invading Poland?
A J P Taylor in his book "The Origins of the Second World War" writes,
"Hitler never intended a major war and at most was prepared for only a
limited war against Poland."
"In 1938-39, the ...
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0answers
65 views
What role did the Ancient Samurai heritage play on Modern Japan during WW2?
Some of the policies adopted by the WW2 japanese army , seem to be along the lines of the ancient samurai code of Bushido. Policies such as extreme loyalty to the emperor , honor unto death and ...
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4k views
Number of bullets used in WW2
I have wondered if there are any estimates on the number of bullets used in World War 2. I have thought about the question but cannot even get a plausible attack strategy.
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2answers
654 views
Were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary? [closed]
The United States bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Before the Japanese could surrender, they bombed Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The two bombs killed over 200,000 people, most of them civilians.
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2answers
130 views
Was there more than one way for anti-aircraft fire to shoot down a dive bomber in World War II
I read somewhere that there were two "best" times for anti-aircraft to shoot down a dive bomber (of World War II vintage). One was when the plane was going into the dive. The other was when the plane ...
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2answers
202 views
Did either of the World Wars involve South or Central America?
Were any South or Central American nations besides Brazil involved (not necessarily officially) in either of the World Wars? If any were, I'd appreciate information on their degree of involvement.
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1answer
330 views
How was Munich Captured in WWII?
How was Munich captured in WWII and how much time did it take?
For example was it on a scale of three days?
This question is because in one of the war-time German films one character hypotizes that ...
4
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1answer
136 views
Where was the Japanese surrender signed on Okinawa in June 1945?
On the 21st of June, Japanese defences on the southern fringe of Okinawa collapsed. The following day General Mitsuru Ushijima and chief of staff Isamu Chō committed suicide. Colonel Yahara was denied ...
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209 views
Was “Death Traps” by Belton Y. Cooper historically accurate?
Was the WW2 memoir "Death Traps" by Belton Cooper historically accurate?
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252 views
What was the argument for the Japanese pursuing the Northern Expansion Doctrine during WWII?
The Northern Expansion Doctrine was the idea that Japan should pursue its imperialist objectives through Siberia, which was diametrically opposed by the Southern Expansion Doctrine which was the idea ...
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1answer
72 views
Did the Germans use a “Verdun”-like strategy at Stalingrad?
In February 1916, the Germans might have captured the fortress of Verdun (France), quickly through an all-out assault. Instead, the German General Falkenhayn initially elected to make an artillery ...
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2answers
280 views
World Wars and economic crises?
I don't recall where I heard in an interview or read in an article that there is a causation between economic crises and the two world wars, is there is historical truth in that?
For the second war ...
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1answer
305 views
When did the Luftwaffe lose air-superiority over the Reich?
To me one of the many crucial stages of WWII was when the Luftwaffe were no longer able to mount serious resistance to the Allied bombing raids. While the effect of the raids if often debated, it ...
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1answer
170 views
What are the scholarly opinions on the idea of the “European Civil War”?
On Wikipedia, I ran into an article talking about World War I to World War II and some of the adjacent wars before WWI as being a "European Civil War" or a "Second Thirty Years War". What is the ...
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1answer
110 views
Was the “Mot Pulk” formation simply a propaganda ploy?
The "Mot Pulk" was a motorized formation used by the Germans during World War II.
Based on when it was introduced (after heavy defeats in the USSR) and the vague descriptions that I've found, it ...
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4answers
298 views
Were there reasons for Japan to go to war with US aside from US owning Philippines?
Right after the Spanish-American War in 1898, the US acquired the Philippines from Spain. At that time, local leaders desired Philippines independence. The Philippines-American War was fought around ...
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3answers
198 views
Stalingrad - the German perspective?
I'm quite interested in Stalingrad and have started reading a bit regarding the battle itself and have seen that weather had played quite a significant factor in halting the German advance. (Reading ...
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3answers
183 views
Is this true that the Soviet Army soldiers had no helmets in the beginning of WW2?
Is this true that the Soviet Army was so poorly equipped by the WW2 that soldiers had no helmets?
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1answer
544 views
Difference between V-5 and V-12 Navy programs during WWII
I was curious if there was a difference between the V-5 and V-12 Navy programs during World War II. I have found a lot of information on V-12 program specifically ...
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2answers
308 views
Is there any research explicitly contradicting facts in Suvorov's “Icebreaker” book series claiming that Stalin intended to attack Hitler in 1941?
Viktor Suvorov is a somewhat famous ex-GRU spy who defected and wrote a series of books.
The most (in)famous and sensational were a series of books on World War II, starting with "Icebreaker", which ...
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1answer
137 views
How was Australia able to start to demobilize in 1944?
Frank Welsh's mammoth history of Australia, Great Southern Land notes that
From June 1944 ... the Australian government began demobilising its soldiers.
Welsh doesn't go into detail but I'm ...
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1answer
63 views
Did the Germans lose the U-Boat war in World war II because of a shortage of quality, rather than quantity?
In the "Battle of the Atlantic," the Germans lost almost 800 of their 1200 submarines (nearly two-thirds) sinking 3,500 Allied merchant ships and 175 warships. ...
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3answers
134 views
Does Japan have the right to have its own army or navy?
After WW2 as I know Japan capitulated and was disarmed. And as I know Japan was not able to have its own army, and its boundary should be protected by the United States. So, does Japan have the right ...
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3answers
159 views
Was the death toll in the atomic bombing of Japanese territory greater than was expected by the US?
It is known that the US tried to justify their atomic bombing of Japanese cities by claiming they were aimed at military targets such as a plant and a bridge. Yet the bombs destroyed much more than ...
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1answer
77 views
Were some Yugoslav “nationalities” more pro-Axis/Allied than others during World War II
"Yugo" (South) slavia, is actually a motley collection (mixed bag in the American idiom) of groups such as the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Dalmations, Macedonians, Bosnians, and others.
During World War ...
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2answers
136 views
UK involvement in Yugoslavia during WW2
What was the role and the level of involvement of the United Kingdom in Yugoslavia during the World War II ?
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119 views
When did the allies start evacuating from the Dunkirk mole during the Dunkirk evacuation?
I have two dates in mind, 22 May 1940 and and 27 May 1940. It makes more sense that they started evacuating from the mole the 22 of may but I've also heard the 27 from BBC.
The 22 of May was the date ...
3
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1answer
49 views
What does the forward “Bullnose” of a Bailey Bridge that is under construction look like?
I read an excellent book titled "First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France, Belgium, and Germany". In it, they describe some of the many functions that are performed by a ...
3
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1answer
159 views
Is there a written history on the Sonderkommando Elbe?
I was watching a program called Dogfights where they were talking about the Sonderkommando Elbe and their tactic of ramming Messerschmitt Bf 109's into American bombers is a sort of suicide attack. ...
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1answer
78 views
The original Lord Haw Haw's life in exile (Ireland)
I am writing a bio-graphy about my great uncle "Capt Tom Smith" who fought in WW1,WW2 and the Spanish Civil War
During recent interviews the name Norman Baillie Stewart (wiki link) keeps cropping up ...
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2answers
230 views
What explanations have been given as to why the Jews were not killed in Italy?
Jews were mass murdered in Germany during World War II. Why did the same thing not happen in Italy?
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2answers
207 views
Was “Blitzkrieg” at least partly intended for trapping the Jews?
I encountered a point of view that the German tactic of "Blitzkrieg", besides purely military purpose to achieve victory as quick as possible, was in fact designed to trap the Jews so that they could ...
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3answers
249 views
Is it true that the soldiers returned from WW2 either didn't marry or kept themselves from families?
Could anyone provide any supporting evidence to indicate that this may have been true? It would be especially helpful if this information could indicate whether this might have been due to mental and ...
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1answer
123 views
How historically accurate Life is Beautiful is when it comes to Jewish extermination?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Beautiful
It is portrayed, in the movie, how that protagonist jew is sent to extermination camp in Italy.
I thought jews in Italy are not usually sent to ...
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5answers
226 views
Can we classify holocaust as Hitler's war time strategic mistake?
Can we classify the Holocaust as one of Hitler's war time strategic mistake?
