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Books > Humanities > History > European history
Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and events
on the Eastern Front that same year were pivotal to the history of
World War II. It was during this year that the radicalization of
Nazi policy -- through both an all-encompassing approach to warfare
and the application of genocidal practices -- became most obvious.
Germany's military aggression and overtly ideological conduct,
culminating in genocide against Soviet Jewry and the decimation of
the Soviet population through planned starvation and brutal
antipartisan policies, distinguished Operation Barbarossa-the code
name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union-from all previous
military campaigns in modern European history. This collection of
essays, written by young scholars of seven different nationalities,
provides readers with the most current interpretations of Germany's
military, economic, racial, and diplomatic policies in 1941. With
its breadth and its thematic focus on total war, genocide, and
radicalization, this volume fills a considerable gap in
English-language literature on Germany's war of annihilation
against the Soviet Union and the radicalization of World War II
during this critical year. Alex J. Kay is the author of
Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic
Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union,
1940-1941 and is an independent contractor for the Ludwig Boltzmann
Institute for Research on War Consequences. Jeff Rutherford is
assistant professor of history at Wheeling Jesuit University, where
he teaches modern European history. David Stahel is the author of
Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East and Kiev
1941: Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East.
First published in 1918, this book is a record of observations and
evidence compiled by the then US Consul in Queenstown, Eire. A rare
study from first-hand accounts. Contains detailed testimonies of
survivors from over fifty vessels attacked and often sunk by German
submarines during the Great War.A vivid and accurate picture of the
tactics and motives of German submarine warfare is provided in the
first part of the book. The second part concentrate son the attack
and sinking of RMS Lusitania. The sinking of the Lusitania remains
a controversial topic with the loss of 1,198 lives on 7May 1915
This fourth edition of the classic text on the Weimar Republic
begins with Germany's defeat in 1918 and the revolutionary
disturbances which followed the collapse of Wilhelm II's Empire. It
describes the strengths and weaknesses of the new regime, and the
stresses created by the economic difficulties of the 1920s. Adolf
Hitler's career is traced from its early beginnings in Munich, and
the nature of his movement is assessed. This edition, updated
throughout and considerably expanded, takes full account of the
last decade of research, including recent debates on the nature of
the German revolution of 1918-19, the relationship between
political upheavals and economic crises, and the question of
whether there really was an alternative to the Third Reich in
January 1933. The chronological table and extensive bibliography
add to the book's value as both an introduction to Weimar and a
stimulus to further study.
On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
flew back to London from his meeting in Munich with German
Chancellor Adolf Hitler. As he disembarked from the aircraft, he
held aloft a piece of paper, which contained the promise that
Britain and Germany would never go to war with one another again.
He had returned bringing "Peace with honour--Peace for our time."
Drawing on a wealth of archival material, acclaimed historian David
Faber delivers a sweeping reassessment of the extraordinary events
of 1938, tracing the key incidents leading up to the Munich
Conference and its immediate aftermath: Lord Halifax's ill-fated
meeting with Hitler; Chamberlain's secret discussions with
Mussolini; and the Berlin scandal that rocked Hitler's regime. He
takes us to Vienna, to the Sudentenland, and to Prague. In Berlin,
we witness Hitler inexorably preparing for war, even in the face of
opposition from his own generals; in London, we watch as
Chamberlain makes one supreme effort after another to appease
Hitler.
Resonating with an insider's feel for the political infighting
Faber uncovers, "Munich, 1938 "transports us to the war rooms and
bunkers, revealing the covert negotiations and" "scandals upon
which the world's fate would rest. It is modern history writing at
its best.""
The Reign of Charles V is an important new study of one of the most important rulers in world history. As the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain during the mid-1500s, Charles V ruled the first truly global empire and was the greatest of all the Habsburg Emperors. He reigned during one of the most important ages in the history of Europe and America and was responsible for, among other things, the conquests of Mexico and Peru and the consequent European influence on Latin America, the waning of the Renaissance, the religious transformation of Europe by the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, and the establishment of a Habsburg empire in Eastern Europe.William Maltby's engaging new study not only looks at the emperor as a person, but also examines such important critical issues as his policies and their consequences. Concise and readable, The Reign of Charles V provides an indispensable introduction to an era that changed the world.
The building of human towers (castells) is a centuries-old
competitive practice where hundreds of men, women, and children
gather in Catalan squares to create breathtaking edifices through a
feat of collective athleticism. The result is a great spectacle of
suffering and overcoming, tension and release. Catalonia's Human
Towers is an ethnographic look at the thriving castells
practice—a symbol of Catalan cultural heritage and identity amid
debates around autonomy versus subsummation by the Spanish state.
While the main function of building castells is to grow community
through a low-cost, intergenerational, and inclusive leisure
activity, Mariann Vaczi reveals that this unique sport also
provides a social base, image, and vocabulary for the
pro-independence movement. Highlighting the intersection of
folklore, performance, and self-determination, Catalonia's Human
Towers captures the subtle and unconscious processes by which the
body becomes politicized and ideology becomes embodied, with all
the risks and precarities of collective constructions.
This is a rare chance to re-discover a contemporary account of a
military conflict which took place a Century ago. The Agony of
Belgium, written in 1914 by Frank Fox, a war correspondent,
recounts events that the modern European mind would probably wish
to forget. The bravery and resilience of the relatively new and
untested Belgian Army, following the rejection of the German
Ultimatum by the King, deserves a wider audience. Throughout this
account the courageous and noble qualities of King Albert in the
dark days come to the fore. Whether at the Front as an active
Commander-in-Chief; with his people during Zeppelin raids and
artillery bombardments at Antwerp; declining refuge in France after
the retreat from Ostend; or rallying his troops for rearguard
actions his conduct was of the finest. His account of the
"frightfulness" of the events in Louvain against the civilian
population- including women and children- and the sacking of
cultural treasures was not at first believed by Officials in
Antwerp. However his reporting of Zeppelin raid shelped to arouse
public opinion in the United States.Fox provides vivid descriptions
of a terrible, and little known, conflict.
`I was on a train, and a German soldier began shouting at me and poking me in the ribs with his machine gun. I just thought that was it, the game was up . . .' Downed airman Bob Frost faced danger at every turn as he was smuggled out of France and over the Pyrenees. Prisoner of war Len Harley went on the run in Italy, surviving months in hiding and then a hazardous climb over the Abruzzo mountains with German troops hot on his heels. These are just some of the stories told in heart-stopping detail as Monty Halls takes us along the freedom trails out of occupied Europe, from the immense French escape lines to lesser-known routes in Italy and Slovenia. Escaping Hitler features spies and traitors, extraordinary heroism from those who ran the escape routes and offered shelter to escapees, and great feats of endurance. The SAS in Operation Galia fought for forty days behind enemy lines in Italy and then, exhausted and pursued by the enemy, exfiltrated across the Apennine mountains. And in Slovenia Australian POW Ralph Churches and British Les Laws orchestrated the largest successful Allied escape of the entire war. Mixing new research, interviews with survivors and his own experience of walking the trails, Monty brings the past to life in this dramatic and gripping slice of military history.
At the time of its founding, few predicted that the Fifth Republic
would survive. It is a regime whose obituary has been written
several times over, but which stubbornly refuses to die. Adopting a
chronological framework, this up-to-date study examines how the
regime emerged out of the chaos of the Algerian crisis, how its
political evolution has been very different from that envisaged by
de Gaulle, and why it has endured. Nicholas Atkin explains the
success of the Fifth Republic but likewise illustrates the
underlying problems within it. As the 2002 presidential elections
have shown, although there is little prospect of regime change,
liberal democracy is not in a particularly healthy state. While the
political narrative takes centre stage, Atkin also explores the key
social, economic and international developments which have shaped
the modern history of France and affected its standing both in
Europe and the rest of the world.
The importance of the Italian front in the First World War is often
overlooked. Nor is it realised that British troops fought in Italy.
The Forgotten Front demonstrates Italy's vital contribution to the
Allied effort, including Lloyd George's plan to secure overall
victory by an offensive on this front. Although his grand scheme
was frustrated, British troops were committed to the theatre and
played a real part in holding the Italian line and in the final
victory of 1918. George H. Cassar, in an account that is original,
scholarly and readable, covers both the strategic considerations
and the actual fighting.
Faced by stalemate on the Western Front, Lloyd George argued
strongly in 1917 for a joint Allied campaign in Italy to defeat
Austria-Hungary. Knocking Germany's principal ally out of the war
would lead in turn to the collapse of Germany itself. While his
plan had real attractions, it also begged many questions. These
allowed Haig and Robertson to join the French high command to
thwarting it. The disastrous Italian defeat at Caporetto in October
1917 led, however, to the deployment of a British corps in Italy
under Sir Herbert Plumer, which bolstered the Italians at a
critical juncture. Subsequently led by the Earl of Cavan, British
troops fought gallantly at the battle of Asiago in February to
March 1918 and contributed significantly to the final defeat of
Austria-Hungary at Vittorio Veneto in October.
This book provides a fresh introduction to the political history of
late medieval France duing the turbulent period of the "Hundred
Years' War," taking into account the social, economic and religious
contexts. Graeme Small considers not just the monarchy but also
prelates, noble networks and the emerging municipalities in this
new analysis.
Journeys Through The Twentieth Century, Stories From One Family is
a fascinating study of memory and identity, spanning almost two
centuries, using the unique archive of one extended Jewish family.
Journeys Through The Twentieth Century, Stories From One Family is
a fascinating study of memory and identity, spanning almost two
centuries, using the unique archive of one extended Jewish family.
Did St. Mary Magdalene, one of Christianity's most enigmatic
figures, really visit Provence, as a local tradition claims? Joseph
Berenger's famous paper, which is here published in English for the
first time, learnedly evaluates the pertinent literary and
archaeological evidence which was available to the author in 1925.
This volume also includes an English translation of the 1893 study
by Louis Duchesne, a fierce critic of the tradition, which partly
inspired Berenger's article. Despite their age, these two papers
still form a useful starting-point for anyone interested in
attempting an objective assessment of this intriguing tradition.
The story of Napoleon and Betsy Balcombe is an unusual and
fascinating tale. A fallen Emperor who once controlled most of
Europe makes friends with an impudent, pretty and spirited young
English girl, just about the celebrate her thirteenth birthday.
Betsy produced a book full of interest, but notwithstanding that
the book wanders backwards and forward chronologically, the general
tenor of the relationship between this young girl and Napoleon is
beyond question, and it was of an unusual and extremely friendly
nature. Napoleon's fall from an unprecedented position of power to
humiliating confinement must have been an impossible burden to have
lived with, and yet, despite this - or possibly because of it -
Napoleon befriended this child and held genuine affection for her.
Despite the naivety, the warmth of the friendship between the
ex-emperor and little 'Mees' Balcombe shines through, and her text
is well-worth providing in this new edition. Napoleon was at the
Briars for eight weeks, but the family were very close to the
community at Longwood, some two miles further up hill and inland,
and visited weekly, sometimes more often.It was here, as Betsy
matured and grew more responsible, that the friendship developed,
to the extent that she assisted Napoleon with his attempts at
English. She was daring as well as impudent and with an
irrepressible sense of humour she unlocked the inner child in
Napoleon that led to the famous friendship. He found her boldness
amusing and occasionally alarming. It must have been a welcome
diversion from his darker thoughts.
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