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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900
Reverberations of Nazi Violence in Germany and Beyond explores the
complex and diverse reverberations of the Second World War after
1945. It focuses on the legacies that National Socialist violence
and genocide perpetrated in Europe continue to have in
German-speaking countries and communities, as well as among those
directly affected by occupation, terror and mass murder.
Furthermore it explores how those legacies are in turn shaped by
the present. The volume also considers conflicting, unexpected and
often dissonant interpretations and representations of these
events, made by those who were the witnesses, victims and
perpetrators at the time and also by different communities in the
generations that followed. The contributions, from a range of
disciplinary perspectives, enrich our understanding of the
complexity of the ways in which a disturbing past continues to
disrupt the present and how the past is in turn disturbed and
instrumentalized by a later present.
The United States during World War II was unprepared for one of
Germany's most destructive war efforts: a U-boat assault on Allied
ships in the Caribbean that sank about 400 tankers and merchant
ships, with few losses to the German submarine fleet. The Germans
had set up a network of spies and had the secret support of some
dictators, including the Dominican Republic's Rafael Trujillo,
supplying their U-boats with fuel.The Caribbean was of crucial
strategic importance to the Allies. Roughly 95 percent of the oil
sustaining the East Coast of the United States came from the
region, along with bauxite, required to manufacture airplanes. The
United States invested billions of dollars to build bases, landing
strips, roads, and other military infrastructure on the Puerto Rico
and secured a 99-year lease on all the British bases located in the
Caribbean. The United States also struck an agreement with neutral
Vichy France to keep the French Navy in the harbor of Martinique,
preventing it from being turned over to the Germans, in exchange
for a food supply for the island. Elsewhere, however, the German
blockade was taking a dire human toll. All of the islands
experienced a drastic food shortage. The US military buildup
created jobs and income, but locals were paid a third as much as
continental workers. The military also brought its segregationist
policies to the islands, creating further tensions and resentment.
The sacrifice of the Caribbean people was bitter, but their
participation in the war effort was also decisive: The U-boat
menace more or less disappeared from the region in late 1943,
thanks to their work building up the US military operation.
The mass of available data about World War II has never been as
large as it is now, yet it has become increasingly complicated to
interpret it in a meaningful way. Packed with cleverly designed
graphics, charts and diagrams, World War II: Infographics offers a
new approach by telling the story of the conflict visually.
Encompassing the conflict from its roots to its aftermath, more
than 50 themes are treated in great detail, ranging from the rise
of the Far Right in pre-war Europe and mass mobilization, to
evolving military tactics and technology and the financial and
human cost of the conflict. Throughout, the shifting balance of
power between the Axis and the Allies and the global nature of the
war and its devastation are made strikingly clear.
This eye-opening study gives a nuanced, provocative account of how
German soldiers in the Great War experienced and enacted
masculinity. Drawing on an array of relevant narratives and media,
it explores the ways that both heterosexual and homosexual soldiers
expressed emotion, understood romantic ideals, and approached
intimacy and sexuality.
This extraordinary book tells the story of a remarkable family
caught in Japan at the outbreak of the Second World War in the
Pacific. With letters, journal extracts and notes from Hamish
Brown's parents, as well as his own recollections, it brings the
era to life: not only life in the dying days of the British Empire,
but also the terrible reality of the invasion of Singapore into
which they escaped.
"Holocaust Remembrance Between the National and the Transnational"
provides a key study of the remembrance of the Jewish Catastrophe
and the Nazi-era past in the world arena. It uses a range of
primary documentation from the restitution conferences, speeches
and presentations made at the Stockholm International Forum of 2000
(SIF 2000), a global event and an attempt to mark a defining moment
in the inter-cultural construction of the political and
institutional memory of the Holocaust in the USA, Europe and
Israel. Containing oral history interviews with British delegates
to the conference and contemporary press reports, this book
explores the inter-relationships between global and national
Holocaust remembrances.The causes, consequences and 'cosmopolitan'
intellectual context for understanding the SIF 2000 are discussed
in great detail. Larissa Allwork examines this seminal moment in
efforts to globally promote the important, if ever controversial,
topics of Holocaust remembrance, worldwide Genocide prevention and
the commemoration of the Nazi past. Providing a balanced assessment
of the Stockholm Project, this book is an important study for those
interested in the remembrance of the Holocaust and the Third Reich,
as well as the recent global direction in memory studies.""
Composer and cultural official Nicolas Nabokov (1903-78) led an
unusual life even for a composer who was also a high-level
diplomat. Nabokov was for nearly three decades an outstanding and
far-sighted player in international cultural exchanges during the
Cold War, much admired by some of the most distinguished minds of
his century for the range of his interests and the breadth of his
vision. Nicolas Nabokov: A Life in Freedom and Music follows
Nabokov's life through its fascinating details: a privileged
Russian childhood before the Revolution; exile, first to Germany,
then to France; the beginnings of a promising musical career,
launched under the aegis of Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes with
Ode in 1928; his twelve-year "American exile" during which he
occupied several academic positions; his return to Europe after the
war to participate in the denazification of Germany; his
involvement in anti-Stalinist causes in the first years of the Cold
War; his participation in the Congress for Cultural Freedom; his
role as cultural adviser to the Mayor of Berlin and director of the
Berlin Festival in the early 1960s; the resumption of his American
academic and musical career in the late 1960s and 1970s. Nabokov is
unique not only in that he was involved on a high level in
international cultural politics, but also in that his life
intersected at all times with a vast array of people within, and
also well beyond, the confines of classical music. Drawing on a
vast array of primary sources, Vincent Giroud's first-ever
biography of Nabokov will be of interest readers interested in
twentieth-century music, Russian music, Russian emigration, and the
Cold War, particularly in its cultural aspects. Musicians and
musicologists interested in Nabokov as a composer, or in twentieth
century Russian composers in general, will find in the book
information not available anywhere else.
Most observers who follow nuclear history agree on one major aspect
regarding Israel's famous policy of nuclear ambiguity; mainly that
it is an exception. More specifically, it is largely accepted that
the 1969 Nixon-Meir understanding, which formally established
Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity and transformed it from an
undeclared Israeli strategy into a long-lasting undisclosed
bilateral agreement, was in fact a singularity, aimed at allowing
Washington to turn a blind eye to the existence of an Israeli
arsenal. According to conventional wisdom, this nuclear bargain was
a foreign policy exception on behalf of Washington, an exception
which reflected a relationship growing closer and warmer between
the superpower leading the free world and its small Cold War
associate. Contrary to the orthodox narrative, this research
demonstrates that this was not the case. The 1969 bargain was not,
in fact, an exception, but rather the first of three Cold War era
deals on nuclear tests brokered by Washington with its Cold War
associates, the other two being Pakistan and South Africa. These
two deals are not well known and until now were discussed and
explored in the literature in a very limited fashion. Bargaining on
Nuclear Tests places the role of nuclear tests by American
associates, as well as Washington's attempts to prevent and delay
them, at the heart of a new nuclear history narrative.
Evolution and Power: China's Struggle, Survival, and Success,
edited by Xiaobing Li and Xiansheng Tian, brings together scholars
from multiple disciplines to provide a comprehensive look at China
s rapid socio-economic transformation and the dramatic changes in
its political institution and culture. Investigating subjects such
as party history, leadership style, personality, political
movements, civil-military relations, intersection of politics and
law, and democratization, this volume situates current legitimacy
and constitutional debates in the context of both the country s
ideology, traditions, and the wider global community. The
contributors to this volume clarify key Chinese conceptual
frameworks to explain previous subjects that have been confusing or
neglected, offering case studies and policy analyses connected with
power struggles and political crises in China. A general pattern is
introduced and developed to illuminate contemporary problems with
government accountability, public opposition, and political
transparency. Evolution and Power provides essential scholarship on
China s political development and growth.
This book presents absorbing and critical expert perspectives on
the post-truth phenomenon that has infiltrated the U.S. political
system, media, and populace. Deception in politics is nothing new,
but the quantity of unsubstantiated statements in America today is
unprecedented. False notions, fake news, "alternative facts," and
opinions are being pitched from sources including the White House,
Congress, and the American population via Twitter, Facebook, and
online news sites as well as print, television, and radio. Such a
widespread spectacle instantly captures the attention of people
nationwide, but disagreement has the nation almost bordering on
civil war over the definition of "the truth" and what this book
calls "post-truth." In this text, C.G. Prado and expert
contributors present varied perspectives on post-truth, its
authoritarian implications for the nation, and how we can approach
information to differentiate between truth and post-truth. Speaking
to general readers, students, and scholars alike, chapters include
text on the historical and social events that initiated and
developed post-truth and why some people are more prone than others
to accept and perpetuate post-truth. They also discuss post-truth
as a threat to democracy. Analyzes Trump-administration-generated
mistruths in a discussion of post-truth America Presents varied
concerns, perspectives, and thought-provoking topics in clear,
accessible, and engaging words Explains the historical and social
circumstances that led to post-truth Details why some people are
more apt to embrace and spread post-truth Outlines actions to
defeat post-truth
America was made by the railroads. The opening of the Baltimore
& Ohio line--the first American railroad--in the 1830s sparked
a national revolution in the way that people lived thanks to the
speed and convenience of train travel. Promoted by visionaries and
built through heroic effort, the American railroad network was
bigger in every sense than Europe's, and facilitated everything
from long-distance travel to commuting and transporting goods to
waging war. It united far-flung parts of the country, boosted
economic development, and was the catalyst for America's rise to
world-power status.
Every American town, great or small, aspired to be connected to
a railroad and by the turn of the century, almost every American
lived within easy access of a station. By the early 1900s, the
United States was covered in a latticework of more than 200,000
miles of railroad track and a series of magisterial termini, all
built and controlled by the biggest corporations in the land. The
railroads dominated the American landscape for more than a hundred
years but by the middle of the twentieth century, the automobile,
the truck, and the airplane had eclipsed the railroads and the
nation started to forget them.
In "The Great Railroad Revolution," renowned railroad expert
Christian Wolmar tells the extraordinary story of the rise and the
fall of the greatest of all American endeavors, and argues that the
time has come for America to reclaim and celebrate its
often-overlooked rail heritage.
In the first five months of the Great War, one million men
volunteered to fight. Yet by the end of 1915, the British
government realized that conscription would be required. Why did so
many enlist, and conversely, why so few? Focusing on analyses of
widely felt emotions related to moral and domestic duty, "Juvenile
Nation" broaches these questions in new ways."Juvenile Nation"
examines how religious and secular youth groups, the juvenile
periodical press, and a burgeoning new group of child
psychologists, social workers and other 'experts' affected
society's perception of a new problem character, the 'adolescent'.
By what means should this character be turned into a 'fit' citizen?
Considering qualities such as loyalty, character, temperance,
manliness, fatherhood, and piety, Stephanie Olsen discusses the
idea of an 'informal education', focused on building character
through emotional control, and how this education was seen as key
to shaping the future citizenry of Britain and the Empire."Juvenile
Nation" recasts the militarism of the 1880s onwards as part of an
emotional outpouring based on association to family, to community
and to Christian cultural continuity. Significantly, the same
emotional responses explain why so many men turned away from active
militarism, with duty to family and community perhaps thought to
have been best carried out at home. By linking the historical study
of the emotions with an examination of the individual's place in
society, Olsen provides an important new insight on how a
generation of young men was formed.
This book details the evolution of General George Marshall's
relationship with the atomic bomb-including the Manhattan Project
and the use of atomic weapons on Japan-as it emerged as the
ultimate weapon of mass destruction. The atomic bomb is not only
the most powerful weapon ever used in the history of warfare: it is
also the most significant in terms of its long-term impact on U.S.
military power and policy, and as the reason behind the conflict
that raged for four decades without actually happening-the Cold
War. General George C. Marshall played an instrumental role in the
development and use of the atomic bomb in World War II as well as
in issues involving nuclear weapons in the post-World War II
period. This book tells the story of Marshall's experience with the
atomic bomb from his early skepticism of its effectiveness as a
weapon, to his oversight of its development and deployment against
Japan in World War II, to his recognition of the bomb as a weapon
of such dire consequence that it should never be used again.
Intended for a general audience as well as scholars with specific
knowledge about the subject matter, this book presents a cohesive
account of General Marshall's involvement with nuclear weapons and
atomic power as Army chief of staff during World War II and as
secretary of state and secretary of defense in the early years of
the Cold War. Marshall's involvement with the use of nuclear
weapons is set in the context of the Allies' efforts to force Japan
to surrender and the initiation of the Cold War. Readers will gain
insight into Marshall's quest for obtaining a Japanese surrender;
his views on the use of the atomic bomb on Japan versus the use of
conventional weapons, including fire bombing or poison gas; his
interactions with Roosevelt and Truman on nuclear issues; and
Marshall's diplomatic skillfulness in dealing with the issues
surrounding the control and use of nuclear weapons as secretary of
state and secretary of defense in the post-World War II era. These
included consideration of the use of the atomic bomb during the
Berlin crisis and the Korean war. Presents a clear and concise
narrative of Marshall's interactions with nuclear weapons, from his
appointment to President Roosevelt's advisory committee in 1941 to
his tenure as President Truman's secretary of defense in 1950
Documents Marshall's role in pulling together the financial,
material, and human resources required for the Manhattan Project as
well as his collaboration with Secretary of War Henry Stimson and
Manhattan Project leader General Leslie Groves to produce the
atomic bomb Derives an accurate account of Marshall's involvement
with nuclear weapons through official documents, his
correspondence, the opinions of his peers, and personal interviews
he granted later in his life
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