Tag Archives: World War II

Current Affairs, Memories & History

Putin’s attack on Ukraine echoes Hitler’s on Czechoslovakia – The Washington Post

The Nazi leader used similar tactics to dismember and devour Czechoslovakia before World War II

By Michael E. Ruane, Feb. 24, 2022, at 1:15 p.m. EST

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his army parade in Prague on March 15, 1939, the day of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Wehrmacht. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

By 1939, parts of Czechoslovakia had already been carved off and taken over by Nazi Germany, which claimed that millions of ethnic Germans were being persecuted there.

The previous September, European powers, seeking to avoid war, had acquiesced and done nothing.But six months later, German troops were massed on the Czech border, as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler railed and threatened the country with destruction.

On March 15, 1939, the sickly Czech president, Emil Hacha, was in Hitler’s study surrounded by the Führer’s henchmen.

A woman holds an image depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin as Adolf Hitler during a demonstration of Ukrainian citizens in front of the Russian embassy in Paris on Feb. 24. (Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

“Hitler was at his most intimidating,” historian Ian Kershaw wrote in his 2000 biography of the Nazi leader. “He launched into a violent tirade against the Czechs.” The Nazis needed to take over Czechoslovakia to protect Germany. Hacha must agree or his country would be immediately attacked and Prague, its capital, bombed.

Source: Putin’s attack on Ukraine echoes Hitler’s on Czechoslovakia – The Washington Post

Books & Reading, Memories & History, Politics

New Pearl Harbor book tells the Japanese side of events in fateful attack | Navy Times

By Todd South, Dec 7, 02:18 AM

The book “Pearl Harbor” by Takuma Melber was published in 2021. It provides a detailed account of the attack from the Japanese perspective. (Polity Publishing)

For 80 years the Imperial Japanese military attack on Pearl Harbor and wider assault throughout the Pacific theater that brought the United States into World War II has seen countless retellings, analyses and even its share of conspiracy theories.

That history has largely been told from a distinctly American perspective for a U.S. audience. But a book published this past year offers a blow-by-blow account, diving into previously untranslated primary source material, from the Japanese perspective.

Continue reading New Pearl Harbor book tells the Japanese side of events in fateful attack | Navy Times →
Current Affairs, Memories & History, Pleasures, Travel

Battleship N.C. turns 60, looks ahead to more decades in Wilmington | Wilmington StarNews

By John Staton, Wilmington StarNews, September 29, 2021

From article…

In 1961, the struggling, railroad-abandoned town of Wilmington, North Carolina, was a vastly different place than the growing, film-industry-saturated city we live in in 2021.

Charting all of the changes in the Port City over the past six decades would be a story unto itself. As steeped in history as Wilmington is, however, in that time there have been plenty of constants, and one has been the enduring presence of the Battleship North Carolina.

Since it first arrived, to much fanfare and more than 100,000 onlookers, on Oct. 2, 1961, the Battleship has been moored in its current spot on the west bank of the Cape Fear River across from downtown Wilmington.

It was dedicated on April 29, 1962, as a memorial to the more than 10,000 North Carolinians who died fighting in World War II. For the past 60 years, the 728-foot, de-commissioned Navy vessel has been not only a vital part of the downtown Wilmington skyline, but also its economy, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year, including nearly 200,000 since Oct. 1 of last year.

Source: Battleship N.C. turns 60, looks ahead to more decades in Wilmington

Books & Reading, Libraries, Memories & History

How Books Designed for Soldiers’ Pockets Changed Publishing Forever – Atlas Obscura

A biography of George Gershwin, in ASE format. Library of Congress
A biography of George Gershwin, in ASE format. Library of Congress

Prior to WWII, Americans didn’t think much of softcover books.
Source: How Books Designed for Soldiers’ Pockets Changed Publishing Forever – Atlas Obscura

Current Affairs, Libraries, Memories & History

Records Relating to D-Day | National Archives

D-Day, June 6, 1944, was part of the larger Operation Overlord and the first stages of the Battle of Normandy, France (also referred to as the Invasion of Normandy) during World War II. It was the culmination of the Allied powers strategy for the war and a multinational effort. The success of the D-Day invasion facilitated the opening of the Western Front of the War.

The National Archives (NARA) has in its holdings a multitude of records related to D-Day and its surrounding events. The records are held by various Archival units and are in many formats. This page provides a list of selected records to show the variety of information available as well as links to relevant resources.

Source: Records Relating to D-Day | National Archives

Current Affairs, Memories & History

How (Almost) Everyone Failed to Prepare for Pearl Harbor | History | Smithsonian

(Illustration by Cliff Alejandro; Source Material: Library of Congress)
(Illustration by Cliff Alejandro; Source Material: Library of Congress)

The high-stakes gamble and false assumptions that detonated Pearl Harbor 75 years ago

“The dawn watch had been as pacific as the ocean at their feet. Rousted by an alarm clock, Pvts. George E. Elliott Jr. and Joseph L. Lockard had awakened in their tent at 3:45 in the caressing warmth of an Oahu night and gotten their radar fired up and scanning 30 minutes later. Radar was still in its infancy, far from what it would become, but the privates could still spot things farther out than anyone ever had with mere binoculars or telescope.”

Source: How (Almost) Everyone Failed to Prepare for Pearl Harbor | History | Smithsonian