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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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 ...
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What are they wearing over their shoulders?
What is the Tsar wearing over his shoulder? I believe this has been worn by armies since the 18th century up to around WW2. I scanned through this article but to no end: https://www.rbth.com/arts/2015/...
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Where can I find Japanese oil production figures through WWII?
I am searching for scientific or statistical sources for data on petroleum production in Japan from 1920 till 1945. I had found some statistics in League of Nations Statistical Bulletins, but there is ...
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Why did NSDAP hate communism (socialism), despite having socialism within the party? [closed]
Why did Germany during the era of NSDAP have a different point of view on socialism? It was not like the socialism that formed communism in the Soviet Union. I believe that Germany's fight against the ...
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Why did Germany decide not to restore the Hohenzollern dynasty to the throne of a German Empire after the defeat of Hitler in World War Two?
During World War Two, Hitler removed the Hohenzollern princes from serving in the German Army after he saw the outpouring of grief and sympathy from the German public upon the death of one of the ...
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How were Mercy Dogs of WWI and WWII trained to know which soldier is from their side and which one isn't?
So, I have been reading about the Mercy Dogs of WWI and WWII. I was wondering, how did they actually train dogs to know which soldier belonged to their 'side', and which soldier belonged to the 'enemy ...
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Where did Carlson's Raiders get Boys anti-tank rifles in 1942 and why?
According to English Wikipedia, during the 1942 Raid on Makin Atoll (modern-day Butaritari, Kiribati) the Marine Raiders used Boys anti-tank rifles to attack the Japanese flying boats that attempted ...
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Did Nazi Germany ever actually make it illegal to practice Judaism?
While I appreciate that the Nazis tried to portray their anti-Semitism as based on racial, and not religious differences per se, and I understand that if one converted to Judaism, one would be ...
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How well were early WW2 naval tactics and strategy accounting for the importance of aircraft carriers? [closed]
I'm not an expert in WW2, but I've heard some conflicting claims about aircraft carriers and how they changed the nature of naval warfare. I know carriers entered wide use in WW2, but not how their ...
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What are the grenades and artillery cited in this testimony?
In the testimony of a Soviet officer of the raid on Tatsinskaya cited by Wikipedia, the Soviet officer speaks of two elements faced by Soviet tanks:
Enemy artillery
Germans "launching grenades [...
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Did the Luftwaffe tactically support Tobruk's capture in 1942?
In the comic AfrikaKorps, the capture of Tobruk in 1942 is highlighted as the consequence of tactical bombings of the Tobruk perimeter. The reasons of the defeat are given as:
Lack of antitank ...
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What was the true extent of German losses at Prokhorovka?
Recently I came accross what seemed to be a new thesis about the battle of Prokhorovka. I read the book Kursk of the German author and historian Roman Töppel, who explains alongside other "new ...
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Why did the United States drop a uranium bomb instead of a plutonium bomb on Hiroshima?
Why did the United States choose to use an untested uranium-fueled (Little Boy) bomb at Hiroshima instead of a plutonium-fueled (Fat Man) bomb, which had been successfully tested at Trinity? Surely ...
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After World War 2, why did European farmers switch from crop cultivation to grazing?
In George Marshall's speech announcing the Marshall Plan, he claims:
There is a phase of this matter which is both interesting and serious. The farmer has always produced the foodstuffs to exchange ...
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How could Stutthof's inmates reach Palmnicken?
There's a Palmnicken Massacre section in Polish article about Stutthof concentration camp (not available in English version). It says (translation mine):
The female prisoners of the sub-camps were ...
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What happened to the Soviet emissaries at the siege of Budapest?
Before the siege of Budapest, the Soviets sent two emissaries to the German to offer them a chance to surrender. According to one version of the story (recounted on the English Wikipedia, see the end ...
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What to do about historical Wikipedia articles contradicting each other in different languages? [closed]
There are several examples where two versions of the same Wikipedia page in different languages contradict each other. One concrete historical example, is this recount of how two Soviet emissaries ...
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How is "Jones series" used in the National Archives Office of Strategic Services records?
I was looking around on the National Archives' website in their World War II archives and came across Records of the Office of Strategic Services 1940-1946 (RG 226). One of the contents of the records ...
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Can you identify a location based on the traditional dress in a photo from WW2?
Could anyone assist us in identifying the possible location of this photo, based on the woman's dress? My grandfather is in the photo, which was taken during WW2. We know that he served in both the ...
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Why did the Red Army change uniforms in 1943?
In 1943, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Rabóče-krestʹjánskaja Krásnaja ármija, RKKA) of the Soviet Union decided to adopt shoulder boards instead of collar tabs for rank identification. This is ...
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