Questions tagged [world-war-two]
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, China, the USSR, and the USA. The conflict began with the German invasion of Poland and formally ended with the American victory over Japan.
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Have historians considered whether World War 2 would have occurred if the Green revolution occurred a decade or two earlier?
Many Germans, even before World War I, believed that Germany needed to occupy Lebensraum or living space in other countries to achieve resource security. Also in the early 1900's scientists around ...
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Does this WWII photo show a double-track railway?
Recently I found a Bellingcat article titled Solving World War II Photo Mysteries With Open Source Techniques. They close the article by saying:
There are still many more images in the IBCC archives ...
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What exactly was the position of ‘Party Minister’ assigned to Martin Bormann in Hitler’s will?
In Hitler’s last will and testament, he assigns all the different offices and functions prior to that held by him and the members of his cabinet to new office-holders-Dönitz became Reichpresident, ...
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Did Allied bombers return from enemy airspace with undropped bombs?
First episode of new TV series "Masters of the Air" depicts the U.S. 100th Bomb Group’s first combat mission to bomb U-boat pens in Bremen on June 25, 1943. Historical sources I can find ...
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Which four countries were the Teutonic coalition?
I'm reading the Memoirs of the Second World War and just came across the expression "Teutonic Coalition." Is Sir Winston Churchill referring to the Axis? Who are these members? Here's the ...
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The Crown, and social attitudes in nightclubs during WW2 in London?
In The Crown Season 6 episode 8, the depiction of a basement nightclub in the Ritz Hotel in London seems highly inaccurate.
In Matthew Sweet's West End Front the bar beneath the Ritz is described as a ...
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How did Royal Navy tactics change after the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales?
On 10th December 1941, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales, and escorting battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk near Malaysia by a force of Imperial Japanese bombers. This was a powerful ...
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Where can I find WW2 fuel consumption data for the key participants?
Does anyone know where I can find military fuel consumption data by the key countries involved in World War II? It would be highly appreciated if you could advise on the well-organized database.
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What uniform is in this picture? and when the unit would have been active?
I believe it belongs to the Caribbean Regiment (British Islands), but I heard most of the records no longer exist. I also think they fought during WWII, but I’m not sure the person in uniform would ...
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What proportion of UK civilians killed in the first and second world wars were women and children?
I recently learnt that the number of UK civilians killed in the first world war is around 2,000. This seems surprisingly low but understandable when we realize that the UK wasn't subject to a land ...
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Is there evidence that Mauthausen Concentration Camp commander Franz Ziereis’s son shot prisoners of the camp?
In the Spanish film the photographer of Mauthausen there is a scene of a party held to celebrate the birthday of the son of Mauthausen Concentration Camp commander (Franz Ziereis).
In the scene the ...
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What does CBI mean in block 36 of discharge form WD AGO Form 53-55?
I have recently received a copy of my uncle's WWII discharge form (WD AGO Form 53-55) and cannot find a source that defines the destination acronym of "CBI" listed in Block 36.
Does anyone ...
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Why weren’t resettled Germans compensated for their confiscated land in Prussian Pomerania after WWII?
My great-aunt and her two children were expelled from their family farm in the Prussian Province of Pomerania, at Rummelsburg (now known as Miastko), near Wernershof (now Gołębsko). They were given no ...
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How do I locate information on a B-17 shot down over Poland?
A friend's father was a nose gunner in a B-17 during WWII. In 1945, he was shot down near Poznan, Poland, survived the crash and was captured by the Soviets. My friend provided the following ...
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Are there data/sources on the usage of Swiss German before/after WWII?
Today remarkably across German-speaking countries Switzerland keeps a very high level of usage of dialects other than Standard High German (SHG). Although non SHG-dialects are also commonplace in ...
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Factcheck: Did Australia request 200.000 17 year old girls from Germany in 1946?
This text was written in a newspaper published in Bodø, Norway on the 2nd of August 1946. It translates to approximately:
"Girls as war compensation.
Australia is among the countries that have ...
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What is this kind of supply package called?
81 hundred pounds of ammunition, or other supplies.
The landing craft contains a package which the narrator describes as '81 hundred pounds of ammunition'. What is this kind of package called? It ...
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Was there a separate vote on the Bulgarian demand for Western Thrace at the Paris Conference of 1946?
Although Bulgaria had withdrawn their troops from Greece in order to get an armistice in Oct 1944, Bulgaria reiterated their demand for Western Thrace (that its troops had vacated in '44) at the Paris ...
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Was possession of a radio forbidden in Greece in 1930s?
In the 2016 British TV series The Durrells which is based on a true story, the British family moves to the Greek island of Corfu.
In the last episode just months before the start of World War II a ...
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When did the Allied war aims change?
At which point exactly did the aims of the allied powers in the Second World War change from what they were initially to the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and the other members of the Axis? ...
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Could healthy young men avoid Wehrmacht conscription before 1939?
The path for men in Nazi Germany seemed to be being part of the Hitlerjugend until the age of eighteen, then serving in the Reichsarbeitsdienst for six months, and then doing two years in the ...
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What is my Grandpa's collar insignia?
This is a photograph of my grandpa, Douglas Howard. At his retirement, I believe he was a Major in the Devon and Dorset, but my info is vague. This was a photo he gave to his future wife, and my ...
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Who denounced Alexander Schmorell?
Alexander Schmorell was a member of the anti nazi movement The White Rose. In his entry in Wikipedia it is stated that he was caught by the Gestapo after being recognized by an old girlfriend while ...
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Who was an English spy in France in WW2 who escaped the Gestapo by listening to the 'little voice in his head' telling him "Leave Now!"
In a magazine article I read about an English spy in WW2. At one point he was in an apartment when the 'little voice in his head' told him "Leave Now!". He got up and walked out the door ...
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Did France send people from other countries to fight first during WWII?
I am from Poland. This past weekend, I talked with my mother-in-law, who was born in 1935 in France. In 1939, right before World War II broke out, she and her family went back to Poland. I was shocked ...
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Were there any female soldiers in the Soviet army who partook in the mass rapes in Eastern Germany?
Were there female Soviet soldiers that partook in the mass rapes in Eastern Germany?
The only source I found on any reaction of female soldiers on the mass rapes was in a testimony of a veteran:
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Would the USSR have invaded Poland in WW2 if the Germans had not crossed into previously-agreed Soviet sphere of influence?
On Quora, I read the following opinion by user Ahmad:
During the war against Poland however, the Germans crossed over into the region that had been granted to the Soviet Union as part of the Molotov–...
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What nationality are the soldiers in these WW2 pictures?
These pictures were taken in the immediate post-war, 1945 or 1946 I guess, somewhere in central Europe (Austria, Czech Republic or Poland). I have blurred the faces because the pictures come from a ...
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During World War II, did the Luftwaffe try to bomb 10 Downing Street?
If Luftwaffe did, in fact, attempt to bomb 10 Downing Street, why was it unsuccessful?
I know that Britain in general, and London in particular, had an air raid defense system and strict blackout ...
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What do we know of the conditions the "prominents" were kept in in Nazi concentration camps?
Blum, former prime minister of France was allowed to marry in the camp in which he was imprisoned and this is an example of not merely better food and shelter to improve chances of survival by ...
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Why were the workers opposed to Hitler becoming the chancellor of Germany near the end of the Weimar republic?
I just started reading " The rise and fall of the third Reich " by Shirer and came across paragraph stating a hundred thousand workers opposed Hitler becoming the chancellor. If Hitler was ...
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What is the earliest documented characterization of Hitler as "dictator" in Canada's public record?
When did Canadians first label Adolf Hitler as a "dictator" ?
The CBC Article Rise of Hitler documents that former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King visited Germany's Chancellor Adolf ...
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Are these Polish WWI or WW2 uniforms? And any idea on the shorter gentleman's military decoration (cross?) on left shoulder?
Can anyone identify these uniforms and the military decoration that looks like an x or a cross on the shorter gentleman?
The shorter gentleman is my great-grandfather. The only information I have is ...
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Is this excerpt from an AI-generated answer re Portugal in WWII based on any real events?
In this question re. Lisbon in WWII, an AI-generated answer (now deleted) contained the following text:
One of the notable aspects of the German embassy in Lisbon was its involvement in the so-called ...
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Was there a German embassy open in 1941 Lisbon?
I'm researching Lisbon, 1941, for a historical novel. I've searched for info on the web already, and so far found nothing specific.
I need to know if there was a German embassy: thus, other than ...
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Did Stalin prevent the partitioning of Bulgaria by the western Allies after WW2?
In connection with an ongoing debate about the fate of the Soviet Army monument in Sofia, Bulgaria, one of the arguments that defenders of the monument put forth is that -- in spite of the 45+ year ...
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If WW2 trench warfare really was a poor use of outdated tactics then what what would have been more appropriate tactics to employ? [closed]
I'm no historian, but I've heard many times claims that WW2 trench warfare lead to mass death with no real progress because commanders were trying to keep using WW1 tactics despite WW2 technology (...
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Did Nazi propaganda really claim that England imposed the war on Germany?
There's a photo circulating online (examples 1,2) allegedly of a congress of the National Socialist Party of Germany (i.e. a Nazi congress) that took place at the Sportpalast in Berlin in late 1942 or ...
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Were U.S. ships attacked in Tokyo Bay?
I remember my father, who was there, telling me that around the time of the Japanese surrender at the close of WW2 there were night-time attacks by anti-surrender imperialists on several U.S. ships in ...
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How can I find my father’s regiment number on his honorable discharge papers?
I’m trying to understand my dad’s army discharge papers (WD AGO form 53-55). How do I know what regiment he served in? Some people think he may have served under Patton because the places he went ...
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How did US, and the Western world's people react when USSR suddenly became an ally during WWII?
Before the USSR's participation in WWII with the West, it had a non-aggression pact with Germany, invaded Poland, and is basically the super-villain of the Red Scare. But suddenly, after USSR became ...
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Did Nazi propaganda about the USSR change after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact?
I'm well-aware that Soviet propaganda completely changed its orientation after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, starting a much more positive portrayal of the Nazis in many aspects up until the German ...
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How did the allies address the economic debts of axis nations following world war 2?
How were the economic debts of axis nations addressed after World War 2? I am particularly interested in:
Plans that were agreed upon to address debt and reconstruction of Germany and Japan.
How ...
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In the US Army in WWII how long did it typically take for a promotion from private to PFC?
In early 1943 how long might it take for an US Army inductee to be promoted from private to PFC? What were the requirements?
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Who of the British military had access to the ULTRA messages of the Enigma in September 1944?
Access to the decrypted messages of the German Enigma, called ULTRA, was very limited. Everyone working for Bletchley Park (BP) or in contact with BP had to sign a life-long secrecy act with stiff ...
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Was there the potential for additional alternate supply routes to China toward the end of World War II?
For most of the war, the Allies airlifted a trickle of supplies to China from Assam (India) to Kuming (China) over the (Himalayan) "Hump", enough to keep China in the war. In the winter of ...
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Were there concrete plans, 40-41, for Japan to attack Singapore/Indonesia, while avoiding a fight with the US?
(I am writing this from memory, so please forgive inaccuracies in my citations.)
In Shattered Sword I found this mention-in-passing that roughly said:
"While not thinking that a war with the US ...
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Why did Mussolini say that people are not really free if they don't have access to the ocean?
On the 10th of June 1940, Benito Mussolini announced his war declaration to the Italian people, and he said (video, at 6:10):
Noi impugnamo le armi per risolvere, dopo il problema risolto delle ...
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Where can I find a picture or physical description of the A3 scramble telephone system?
Who has a picture or physical description of the A3 scramble telephone system, which was used for speech privacy by Roosevelt and Churchill between 1940 and 1943. The system was most likely located ...
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How can I open the binding on this WW2 era Navy log?
I'd like to digitally archive this book (ww2 navy log). The pages were written before being bound in the book so it has to be taken apart to photograph the pages. Has anyone seen a book like this and ...