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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Were there any war movies made during WW2 that were well regarded by front-line American soldiers?
I've read in a few places that American soldiers during WWII (meaning men who had actually seen combat, not rear echelon troops) preferred light comedy or romance movies to the sanitized propaganda in ...
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What were the post World War 2 effects on Germany?
What were the impacts of WW2 on Germany? Obviously the war meant that a lot of resources were spent and that the youth population was significantly reduced. How did this affect Germany's post war ...
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What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
I've read somewhere that the ratio of Soviet to German casualties on the Eastern front was 1.4 for the whole war. But what about data for different stages of the war? (this ratio wasn't constant after ...
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Is there any footage and/or photos of Germans surrendering towns and cities in the Western Front?
I heard that unlike the surrender ceremonies in the Eastern front, those on the western front were arranged to be solemn, festive and pompous, especially when the cities were conceded without fighting....
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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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Was there actually a project by the Nazis to create supernatural monsters/weapons? [closed]
In many American sci-fi/fantasy fictional works, there's a trope about Nazis creating/attempting to create/use supernatural weapons/monsters (examples Hellboy movie, Indian Jones movie etc.) What, if ...
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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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How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII
I've been watching classic cartoon shorts from Disney and Warner Brothers. So many devoted time to encouraging Americans to buy war bonds.
Did money collected from war bonds amount to a significant ...
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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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Best books on the politics behind WWII [closed]
What are the best books on the politics leading up to and during World War 2?
Thanks
Edit: Just wanted to add that I just realized that reading biographies of the people involved with the politics ...
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What were the original casualty projections for Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
I remember hearing several times that the bombs dropped on Japan were a lot deadlier than expected. What were the original projections for casualties for both and how much less than the actual ...
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What was Finland's position in World War Two? [closed]
What was Finland's position in World War Two? Apparently, they were fighting against the Soviet Union, but not as Nazi Germany's ally. Are there reasons for this, and were they actually on Germany's ...
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Why weren't aircraft carriers utilized during D-day?
Why were aircraft carriers not used during and following D-Day? They could have added a great deal of range to the air support operations.
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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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Did Stalin want to restore the Russian Empire's borders?
On one hand, it seems so because the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact defined the border between the two spheres of influence to be the border of the Russian Empire before WWI. On the other hand, the USSR ...
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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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Are there any records that indicate a submarine vs submarine battle?
I am aware of only one which is the U-864 was sunk by the HMS Venturer but that was when both were being submerged -- according to wikipedia. Is that accurate? Which battles did happen between two (...
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Why wasn't the Republic of Ireland invaded (by either side) in WW2?
Ireland was neutral in WW2, however it was never invaded (by either side). How come? Why wasn't Ireland invaded by the UK to prevent the Germans invading? Why didn't germany invade ireland? It would ...
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Historically accurate WW2 simulation [closed]
Does anyone of a good and historically accurate large scale WW2 simulation? This could be either a computer or board game.
Note: I am not sure if this should be on topic, of instead of downvoting if ...
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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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How frequently were homing pigeons used in the World Wars?
It seems that the strategic weight of specially bred pigeons is much higher than I thought at first, based on the number of pigeons used and the effort to stop them. (In WW2 Germans even trained ...
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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 ...
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What is this military patch with the silhouette of a pegasus on it?
I found this patch among my grandfather's things. I know it's a military patch of some sort because it was with his war memorabilia. He served in the European theater during WWII, if that helps at ...
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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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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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Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
During World War 2, Hitler was fighting a war with Great Britain and her colonies, but while fighting that war, he attacked the Soviet Union even though they had a non-aggression pact. Everyone knows ...
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Why did Hitler declare war on the USA?
Since there had not been any offensives launched by either side against the other, why declare war just because Japan had attacked the USA?
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Where was the pre-war (ww2) border between Poland and Germany?
I am interested in mapping the pre-war (WWII) border between Poland and Germany.
Is there any data available in a public resource? Can anyone describe waypoints along the border in terms of modern ...
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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 ...
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How many troops died on D-day?
How many troops (allied and axis) died at Normandy beach on June 6th, 1944? I've searched all over the internet, but can't find an accurate number.
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Why did Chamberlain act to appease Hitler leading up to the outbreak of World War 2?
There are accounts that British Prime Minister Chamberlain sought to appease Hitler because he just didn't want Britain involved in a war at that time. Others also argue that Chamberlain was naive and ...
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German Government branches during World War 2
During World War 2, what government branches, if any, existed in Germany? I've always heard about the Third Reich and Hitler, but I never heard about the rest of the government.
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