Home | Syllabus | Selected Lecture Outlines and Handouts| Web Readings | Film Series and Reviews | Examinations History 387: World War II

WEB READINGS

WEB READINGS 1:The Twenty Years Truce.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Precarious Peace I (From Raymond F. Betts, Europe in Retrospect)
• Primary Source Readings:
  • The Versailles Treaty: June 28, 1919
  • The Sèvres Treaty: August 10, 1920
  • The Lausanne Treaty: July 24, 1923
  • The Covenant of the League of Nations (Including Amendments adopted to December, 1924)
  • Kellogg-Briand Pact 1929

WEB READINGS 2: The Rise of the Dictators.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • Weimar Germany and the Rise of the Nazis
  • Interwar Italy
  • Stanley G. Payne on Italian Fascism
  • William H. DuBay, "Hitler in Vienna"
  • The Reichstag Fire
• Primary Source Readings:
  • A 1922 Description of the Fascists in Italy
  • A Pro-Fascist View of the March on Rome
  • Benito Mussolini, "What is Fascism?" (1932)
  • Weimar Republic, Elections
  • Adolf Hitler's First Antisemitic Writing (1919)
  • An Early Nazi Program: The 25 Points (1920)
  • A Hitler Speech from 4 May 1923
  • U.S. Diplomatic Dispatches on the Nazi Movement in Germany (1932)
  • Program of the National Socialist German Workers' Party
    • The Nazi State as Described by the Nuremberg Trials:
    • The Nazi Party The SS (Schutzstaffel)
    • The SA (Stürmabteilungen)
    • The Gestapo (Geheimstatzpolizei)
    • The General Staff

WEB READINGS 3: Diplomatic Overview of Europe in the 1930's..

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • A Brief History of the Maginot Line
  • André Maginot
  • The Development of the Maginot Line
  • Spanish Civil War
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Stanley Baldwin on Disarmament
  • Churchill on the Annexation of Austria
  • French Efforts to Purchase Warplanes in the United States in 1938
  • Haile Selassie's Address to the League of Nations on Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
  • Barcelona, 1936 from Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell
  • The Alliance of Germany, Japan, and Italy During World War II
  • Munich Pact September 29, 1938
  • Anti-Comintern Pact, 1936

WEB READINGS 4: The Invasion of Poland and the Phony War.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Polish Campaign of 1939
  • Fall Weiss-The Fall of Poland
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Germany's Invasion of Poland 9/1939
  • Great Britain's Response to Germany's Invasion of Poland
  • France's Response to Germany's Invasion of Poland
  • The Story of One Tragic September

WEB READINGS 5: Sitzkrieg and Blitzkrieg.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • "Phony War" in Western Europe.
  • The German Occupation of Denmark
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Mikhai Lukinov's Memoirs on the Soviet Occupation of Poland and the Winter War.
  • Arit Grachow's World War II Experiences in Norway

WEB READINGS 6: The Fall of France and Dunkirke.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • In the forest of Compiegne
  • Mers-el Kebir: Operation Catapult.
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Franco-German Armistice : June 25, 1940

WEB READINGS 7: The Battle of Britain.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • Operation Sea Lion
  • Discovery Channel "Battle of Britain"
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Memories of the Battle of Britain

WEB READINGS 8: Barbarossa:   The Invasion of Russia.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Battle of Moscow
  • The Battle of Leningrad
• Primary Source Readings:
  • The Axis Invasion of the U.S.S.R., according to the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial (pp. 327-334)
  • The Axis Invasion of the U.S.S.R., according to the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial (pp. 335-367)
  • A German Field Marshal Instructs the Wehrmacht on Its Role in the Soviet Union
  • The Memoirs of Daniil Zlatkin on the Russo-German Conflict in 1941.
  • Otto Willnauer's photo diary of the Russian Campaign 1941-1945.

WEB READINGS 9: The United States and the War in Europe.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Decision to Land United States Forces in Iceland, 1941
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Lend-Lease, March 11, 1941
  • Atlantic Charter

WEB READINGS 10: The Atlantic War.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • U.S. Navy Chronology of World War II, 1943
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Naval Operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean to March 1944
  •  

WEB READINGS 11: Japan in the 1930's.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • Interwar Japan
  • Interwar China
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Japanese Expansion in China--A Japanese View
  • Japanese Expansion in China--A Western View
  • Fourteen Years of Destruction-- How Mainland Chinese Experienced the War
  • Chinese Version of the Nanking Massacre
  • Mao Tse-Tung On Tactics Against Japanese Imperialism
  • Mao Tse-Tung on The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance to Japan
  • Mao Tse-Tung, "Win the Masses in Their Millions for the Anti-Japanese National United Front"
  • A Japanese View of the Flying Tigers

WEB READINGS 12: Pearl Harbor.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Japanese Documents on the Pearl Harbor Operation
  • Documents Relating to Pearl Harbor December 1941

WEB READINGS 13: Japanese Expansion after Pearl Harbor.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • U.S. Navy Chronology of World War II, 1942
  • The Coast Guard and the Pacific War
  • A Magnificent Fight: Marines in the Battle for Wake Island
  • Surrender of Bataan
  • New Mexico National Guard at Bataan
  • A Priceless Advantage: U.S. Navy Communications Intelligence and the Battles of Coral Sea, Midway, and the Aleutians
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Naval Operations in the Pacific to March 1944
  • Paul McKinley, Cruiser Scout: "The First Strike Back"

WEB READINGS 14: North Africa and the Desert War.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • El Alamein--The Battle
  • The Decision to Invade North Africa (Torch)
• Primary Source Readings:
  • An Australian Account of El Alamein
  •  
  • Naval Operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean to March 1944
  • George S. Patton on Desert Warfare, 1942

WEB READINGS 15: Sicily and the Struggle for the Italian Peninsula.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Sicily Campaign
  • The Naples-Foggia Campaign (Salerno)
  • Anzio
  • The 36th "Texas" Infantry Division
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Interview with an American Veteran of the Italian Campaign

WEB READINGS 16: The Russian Front.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Battle for Stalingrad
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Red Army Casualties, 1941-1945
  • Rapprochement between The Orthodox Church and Soviet Government During World War II
  • Ultimatum of Soviet HQ for the German forces encircled at Stalingrad. 8.01.43
  • Gennadi Shutz's Memoirs of the War on the Eastern front
  • Natalia Peshkova's Reminiscences as a Soviet Medic
  • The War Memories of Sergeant Major Yuri Koriakin

WEB READINGS 17: Air War Over Germany.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Strategic Bombing in Europe

WEB READINGS 18: The Invasion of Fortress Europe--D-Day and its Aftermath.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The First Hours of D-Day on Omaha Beach
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Plans for Operation "Overlord", May-June 1944
  • Nazi Defense Plans for "Fortress Europe"
  • U.S. Navy Seabees at Normandy
  • The Airborne at La Fiere Bridge
  • The Rangers on Omaha Beach

WEB READINGS 19: The Recovery of France, including the Battle of the Bulge.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Siege and Relief of Bastogne During the Battle of the Bulge
  • The Third Army in World War II
• Primary Source Readings:
  • George S. Patton's Speech to the Third U.S. Army
  • George S. Patton on Combat Armored Divisions
  • The Waal River Crossing during Operation Market Garden
  • Msgr. James H. O'Neill, "The True Story of The Patton Prayer"
  • George Patton, "Reflections and Suggestions or, in a Lighter Vein, Helpful Hints to Hopeful Heroes"
  • Dispatches from the Bulge
  • A German Account of Bastogne

WEB READINGS 20: The Fall of the Third Reich.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Decision To Halt at the Elbe
• Primary Source Readings:
  • The Surrender of Berlin, May 1945.

WEB READINGS 21: Occupation and Resistance.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • Underground Europe
  • Anti-Guerrilla Operations in the Balkans
  • The Partisan War in the Occupied Soviet Union
  • Rear Area Security in Russia: The Soviet Second Front Behind the German Lines4
  • Greek Resistance
  • The Warsaw Uprising
    
• Primary Source Readings:
  •  

WEB READINGS 22: The Holocaust.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  • The Wanasee Protocol

WEB READINGS 23: The U. S. Home Front.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  •  

WEB READINGS 24: The Pacific Naval/Amphibious War.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • Marine Raider Battalions in the Pacific Campaign, 1942-1944
  • Native Americans in World War II
  • Navajo Code Talkers in the U.S.M.C. in the Pacific Campaign
  • The Aleutian Islands Campaign
  • The Arizona National Guard in the Philippines Campaign, 1945
  • Makin Island Campaign
  • Marine Corps Amphibious Operations in the Pacific, 1943-1945
• Primary Source Readings:
  • A Marine Diary: My Experiences on Guadalcanal--September 1942
  • Paul McKinley, Cruiser Scout: "Tokyo Exptress"
  • Paul McKinley, Cruiser Scout: "At the Edge of Hell"
  • U. S. Report on the Third Battle of Savo Island
  • Japanese Account of the Third Battle of Savo Island
  • USN Intelligence Report on the Invasion of Attu in the Aleutians
  • A Memoir of the 101st Naval Construction Battalion
  • Paul McKinley, Cruiser Scout: "Guam"
  • Paul McKinley, Cruiser Scout: "The Last Days"
  • A Nisei on Corregidor

WEB READINGS 25: The Burma-Chinese Theatre .

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The U.S. Effort in China--The CBI Theatre
  • African-American Engineer Troops in the CBI Theatre
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Interview with an American Veteran of the CBI Theatre
  • Interview with an American Veteran of the CBI Theatre

WEB READINGS 26: The Assault on Japan.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • Luzon Versus Formosa
• Primary Source Readings:
  •  

WEB READINGS 27: The Air War over Japan.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Strategic Bombing in the Pacific

WEB READINGS 28: The Nuclear War--Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  • The Atomic Bombings of Japan: A 50-Year Retrospective
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Soviet Denunciation of the Pact with Japan, 29 April 1945
  • Soviet Declaration of War on Japan, 8 August 1945

WEB READINGS 29: The Implications of the War:   The War Crimes Trials .

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Nuremberg Trials on Balkan War Crimes

WEB READINGS 30: The Implications of the War:   The Cold War.

• Secondary Source Readings:
  •  
• Primary Source Readings:
  • Moscow Conference--October, 1943
  • The Tehran Conference, 28 November-1 December 1943
  • Soviet Sources on the Jewish Antifascist Committee
  • Soviet Sources on U.S.-U.S.S.R. Relations during World War II
  • The Yalta Conference, February 1945
  • The Berlin (Potsdam) Conference, July 17-August 2, 1945
  • Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill, 1946
  • George Kennan Views Soviet Post-War Foreign Policy, 1946
  • Soviet Sources on the Cold War
  • Truman Doctrine, 12 March 1947
  • North Atlantic Treaty 1949