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 ...
35
votes
8answers
3k views
Why didn't Imperial Japan attack the Soviet Union during World War 2?
Japan and the Soviet Union shared a common border in Manchuria and the German invasion of the Soviet Union weakened the Soviets greatly. In view of the advantages to Japan in seeing the Soviet Union ...
4
votes
2answers
236 views
What is the basis of Russian criticism of Antony Beevor's work? [closed]
Some Russian sources make claims to the effect of "Beevor is revisionist and anti-Soviet propagandist".
What is the basis for this criticism?
For the antecedents of the question, see here.
52
votes
15answers
5k views
Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
This has always bothered me. Everyone knows that having to fight on two opposite fronts at once is bad... and it's also a well known fact that every European country which tried to invade Russia has ...
23
votes
3answers
922 views
Has Britain's 1940 invasion of Iceland been downplayed by historians?
On the face of it Operation Fork (Britain's invasion of Iceland in 1940) wasn't so terribly different from Germany's territorial landgrabs in 1939 and 1940.
Britain and her allies will have ...
8
votes
4answers
302 views
Why did the Germans fall behind the Americans in the development of the atomic bomb after an initial lead?
I actually know certain facts about this matter, but am seeking guidance in interpreting these facts into "theories."
1) Theory 1, Economic: The Americans spent something like $2 billion (in money of ...
8
votes
4answers
447 views
At the end of WWII, were nazis working on any other super weapon besides V-2?
At the end of WWII, were nazis working on anything else besides V-2? If so, what was it, how close was it to completion, and could it potentially turn the events around for them?
7
votes
3answers
255 views
Which city was attacked by Nazi-German war flights in India during WW2?
Nazi-Germany ran a bombing raid over India, in WW2. Which city was bombed, and what effect did it have? i.e how many casualties, or was transport closed down.
10
votes
1answer
160 views
Austria and Iron Curtain during Cold War
Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech from 1946 contains the following famous passage:
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain
has descended across the ...
7
votes
1answer
138 views
Did American policymakers seriously consider scaling down Lend Lease Aid to the Soviet Union after the battle of Kursk?
In 1941, Senator (and future President) Harry Truman famously said, "If we see that Germany is winning the war, we ought to help Russia; and if that Russia is winning, we ought to help Germany." ...
6
votes
0answers
69 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
166 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. ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Were there any attempts to assassinate Joseph Stalin?
Were there any attempts to assassinate Stalin? I haven't learned of any attempt to kill him, was he so brutal that no one tried to kill him?
11
votes
5answers
2k views
World War II - Have Historians Envisioned How The Axis Powers Might Have Won? [closed]
OK, so it's a "WWII What If" question, I have searched on here and cannot find an example of this being asked before, which I find surprising. Maybe my searching abilities aren't very good.
Anyhow, ...
9
votes
2answers
285 views
Did Churchill and Roosevelt know about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, or the following secret pacts between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union?
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany prior to, and during WWII. It seems that the actions of the two countries after the invasion of Poland ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
What was the most important cause of the Second World War?
What was the most important cause of the Second World War? Obviously there was the Treaty of Versailles which played a significant part; the War Guilt Clause, Reparations, Disarmament and territorial ...
6
votes
2answers
189 views
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 ...
4
votes
2answers
717 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.
...
3
votes
3answers
218 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
How come the British did not notify the Poles about the Molotov-Ribbentrop secret protocol?
I have just read this answer and would like to know if there is a known reason why the British did not inform the Poles. Or is the whole thing wrong?
