World War Research Articles

News, business and politics: Evita in Italy – newsreels and cinema in a shared post-war agenda

Eva Perón’s trip to Italy in the summer of 1947 has prompted this research about the development of links between the Italian and the Argentine film industries in the years immediately following the Second World War. Our work takes a historical approach to this topic through the analysis of different film types (movies, newsreels and documentaries), supported by other documents derived from periodical publications, such as newspapers and specialized magazines. It concludes that while at the time of Evita’s trip there was an economic agreement between both governments that consisted of shipping grains in exchange for encouraging the migration of skilled Italian workers who could carry out the economic plans devised by Perón, in the film industry, there was an attempt to attract top class Italian actors and directors in order to secure the growth of the budding Argentine film industry.

Deyatel'nost' pravoohranitel'nyh organov Rossijskoj imperii na territorii Kitajskoj respubliki (1912–1917 gg.)

The article discusses the activities of law enforcement agencies and special services of the Russian Empire - the headquarters of the Trans-Amur District of the Border Guard, the Shanghai residency of the Ministry of Finance and the gendarmerie and police department of the Chinese Eastern Railway on the territory of the Republic of China on the eve and during the First World War. It is concluded that an important component of the task of these units was to counter international criminal communities operating both in Russia and in China.

AT NEW CROSSROADS OF CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL SPACE AND GEOPOLITICS

The goals of creating a favorable political environment and political space for yourself and your partners in the international relations of the countries of the world, to be a leader in them, to practice free geopolitics are aspirations that have never become outdated. The consequences of the Second World War somewhat restrained such aspirations and somewhat strengthened the position of diplomacy and liberalism in international relations. Today, before a century has passed since those losses of mankind, this approach is again openly manifested as a strategy of strong states and large political entities to establish dominance at the global level, or to gain a complicated sphere of influence, breaking up and losing without such a possibility, crossing the borders of the region, territory, conscious agreement, diplomatic ethics.

Navigating Conflict

Situated strategically in the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores Islands emerged as pivotal theaters during World War I and World War II and profoundly shaped these global conflicts through its geographic significance and technological advancements. In this paper, the evolution of navigation techniques, routes, and the strategic importance of the Azores according to the changing nature of warfare was analyzed. Through an examination of historical narratives and technological progress, insights were made into how the islands developed into critical hubs for naval and air operations. Advancements in airport infrastructure, telecommunications, and harbor facilities transformed the Azores into essential nodes for transatlantic shipping, communication networks, and surveillance in the Atlantic theater. Navigational strategies, informed by technological innovations, optimized air routes and access to strategic bases which bolstered military capabilities in both conflicts. Through the exploration of the relationship between technological progress, evolving warfare dynamics, and geopolitical significance, the enduring impact of the Azores Islands on shaping global conflicts throughout history was revealed.

Prince Wan Waithayakon’s Attempt for Rapprochement with the People’s Republic of China at the 1955 Asian-African Conference at Bandung

Abstract After the end of the Second World War, newly emerging nations were being divided up geopolitically into ideological camps – the so-called “Free World” led by the United States and the ‘Communist Bloc’ under the leadership of the Soviet Union. At the same time, there was rising demands for self-determination by national leaders who did not wish to commit exclusively to either ideological camp, as they perceived this to be a form of neo-imperialism. A leading group within this third way of thinking was the Colombo Group. In the midst of this intense three-way struggle, post-war Thailand under the leadership of Premier Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram was heavily influenced by the US in the earliest stages of the Cold War. In the attempt to renegotiate and re-balance Thailand’s position in the heightened political tension of the region, the premier sent the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Wan Waithayakon, to represent Thailand at the Asia-Africa Conference – initiated through the cooperation of the Colombo Group earlier in May 1954 – in April 1955. At this conference Prince Wan exercised independent diplomacy by meeting and negotiating with the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in an attempt to re-balance Thailand’s relations with world powers in both the Free World and the Communist Bloc. This meeting would have significant ramifications for Thailand’s diplomacy throughout the Cold War and has impacted the kingdom’s relations with the People’s Republic of China up to the present day.

All Roads Lead to Rome? Pope Pius XII and Non-Confessional Internationalism During and After the Second World War (1944–1948)

Religion is the great absentee in the history of internationalism. Earlier studies have begun to highlight the critical role played by religious internationalism in the making of the modern world, but the relations between non-confessional internationalism and religious actors have, to date, been completely overlooked. This article explores the relationship between non-confessional internationalism and Catholicism, with the intention of enriching both the history of internationalism and that of Catholicism in the twentieth century. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between a number of non-confessional internationalist actors – from the Paneuropean Union and other world and European federalist movements to war refugees – and Pope Pius XII, between 1944 and 1948. Based on the recently opened Vatican archives, the following pages address three fundamental issues: (1) What did the Pope represent in the internationalist imagination? (2) Why did non-confessional internationalists seek contact with him? (3) How did the Pope respond to the requests for support that he received? As a whole, the requests for support examined in this paper clearly show the centrality of Pius XII in the imagination – and strategies – of non-confessional internationalism in the 1940s, including popular internationalism. Between 1944 and 1948, all roads really seemed to lead to Rome.

The Local Memory of Repression, and Who Fights

abstract: How does the local memory of past repression affect whether individuals fight for or rebel against the government perpetrator? The authors theorize how information about past repression is transmitted across generations to shape long-run patterns of loyalty and rebellion toward the state. To assess this argument, they study how the legacies of the 1845–49 Irish Potato Famine affected the decisions of subsequent generations of Irishmen to fight for or against Britain. Leveraging data on more than 150,000 Irish combatants, the authors show that individuals in places more severely affected by the Famine fought in the pro-British Irish Militia and the British military in World War I at lower rates. By contrast, those individuals rebelled against Britain at higher rates. Additional quantitative analysis provides evidence consistent with the theoretical argument: constituencies more severely affected by the Famine were more likely to vote for the pro-Irish, anti-British Sinn Féin Party. This article demonstrates how the local memory of past repression can play a crucial role in shaping long-run patterns of participation in conflict.

Women in Politics and the Public Sphere: Munich 1918/1919

Women have never been passive bystanders to the history being made around them and they have always found ways to contribute to shaping their world. Munich in 1918/1919 provides a useful site to examine women's experiences and roles due to the long-standing involvement of women in the peace movement and welfare work, as well as the foundation of the Bavarian Soviet Republic after the First World War. However, Munich in the early years of the Weimar Republic is most commonly associated with Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, an attempt by right-wing men to seize political power. Moreover, the 1918 revolution is also often told through the lens of male political figures. As a result, politics in the early twentieth century is easy to view as a male-dominated affair with women merely experiencing the effects of male political power. This era, particularly from the perspective of Munich, also becomes viewed through the lens of the rise of fascism, which obscures and distorts the alternative political visions many women held and worked towards. This article centres on women's experiences and roles in politics and the public sphere in revolutionary Munich to ask what opportunities the revolution and its immediate aftermath presented for women and how they were able to influence political decision-making despite huge barriers. Through an understanding of how their world was gendered, their role as political agents comes to the fore.

“Anarchy” against “Order”: French Elite Perception of the Conflict in Manchuria

Abstract The fall of the French empire in Asia is directly linked to the Second World War and France’s policy of appeasement that preceded it. The issue of France’s attitude to the invasion of Manchuria is important for understanding what French policy in East Asia was during the 1930s. For these reasons, this article intends to show the attitude of French political leaders and how, unable as they were to condemn the aggressor, Japan, it led to the policy of appeasement pursued by all French governments with regard to Japan during the rest of the decade. To do so, this article is based on the published diplomatic archives of the United States and the articles published by the newspaper Le Temps, the unofficial organ of the Third Republic.

Mark Twain’s Earworm

ABSTRACT Mark Twain’s obsession with and popularization of Isaac Bromley’s original horsecar jingle not only inspired an entire school of horsecar poems but also parodies of them that satirized political campaigns, public corruption, organized labor, vices such as gambling and alcoholism, the work of newspaper editors as well as admonitions to respect the law. During the Great War, parodies of the jingle commended the women knitting brigades on the home front. The parodies also led to the introduction of jingles in advertising. The original rhyme has survived in the public imagination for generations.

Hronika Velikoj Pobedy (1941–1945) 22 iyunya 1941 g. «Protivniku udalos' na otdel'nyh napravleniyah dostich' chastnogo uspekha…»

“Voprosy Istorii" history journal presents two documents within our Chronicle of the Great Victory (1941-1945). The first one is operational summary No. 01 on 22.06.1941 of the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Army General G.K. Zhukov. In it, he reported the position of the troops at 10:00 a.m. on the first day of the Great Patriotic War on the Northern, Northwestern, Western, Southwestern fronts and on the Soviet-Romanian border. The second one is operational summary No. 01 of the Chief of Staff of the 9th Army, Major General MV Zakharov, on the situation on the Soviet-Romanian border at 9 a.m. on June 22. The documents are contained in Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Sex differences in cognitive decline among middle-aged and older adults: a cohort study in Europe.

Previous studies on sex differences in cognitive decline provide inconsistent findings, with many European countries being underrepresented. We determined the association between sex and cognitive decline in a sample of Europeans and explored differences across birth cohorts and regions. Participants 50+ years old enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe had their cognition measured by tests of immediate recall, delayed recall and verbal fluency biennially up to 17years of follow-up (median 6, interquartile range 3-9years). We used linear mixed-effects models to assess the relationship between sex and the rate of cognitive decline, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. Of 66,670 participants (mean baseline age 63.5 ± standard deviation 9.4), 55% were female. Males and females had similar rates of decline in the whole sample in immediate recall (beta for interaction sex × time B = 0.002, 95% CI -0.001 to 0.006), delayed recall (B = 0.000, 95% CI -0.004 to 0.004), and verbal fluency (B = 0.008, 95% CI -0.005 to 0.020). Females born before World War II had a faster rate of decline in immediate recall and delayed recall compared to males, while females born during or after World War II had a slower rate of decline in immediate recall. Females in Central and Eastern Europe had a slower rate of cognitive decline in delayed recall compared to males. Our study does not provide strong evidence of sex differences in cognitive decline among older Europeans. However, we identified heterogeneity across birth cohorts and regions.

Jan Łukasiewicz and His German Ally. A History of Łukasiewicz-Scholz Cooperation and Friendship

Abstract The article presents interpersonal relations and mutual influences between German logician Heinrich Scholz and Polish scholars, first of all Jan Łukasiewicz. The background for presenting these relationships consists of reflections on the development of logic in Poland and various conceptions of how to apply logic to philosophical issues. Firstly, Jan Łukasiewicz’s program of logicisation of philosophy and his search for allies is presented. Secondly, the forms of cooperation between Łukasiewicz and Scholz, as well as contacts between the latter and other Polish scholars are sketched. Finally, forms of Scholz’s help to Polish friends during the tumultuous period of World War II are examined. The article provides also some reflections on the approach to logic in various European centers of analytic philosophy and historical comments on the continuity of philosophical and logical schools.

Constructing decolonisation: the Greenland case and the birth of integration as decolonisation in the United Nations, 1946–1954

How did it become possible for Denmark to integrate Greenland into the colonial metropole during anti-colonial post-Second World War multilateral diplomacy on decolonisation? Scholarship on the evolution of international society generally equates post-war political decolonisation with the universalisation of sovereign independence. This leaves unaddressed that a quarter of colonial territories did not emerge as sovereign states in post-war political decolonisation. Through multi-archival research, this articles starts to address this conundrum by tracing the emergence of integration into the colonial metropole as a route to political decolonisation in early multilateral diplomacy within the United Nations and how this option was first applied to Greenland. Entering the diplomatic engine room, I demonstrate the generative impact of Danish diplomatic practices and the constitutive importance of a discourse of Danish colonial exceptionalism to explain the legal emergence of decolonisation as integration by 1952 and Denmark’s ability to employ this option in the United Nations by 1954. The implications of the paper for scholarship on the evolution of international society go beyond uncovering the emergence of integration as a legal option in political decolonisation. Through its attention to everyday discursive negotiation and diplomatic practice, the article nuances extant scholarship by demonstrating that early post-war multilateral diplomacy was less a quick propagation of universal sovereignty than a contentious, ongoing, negotiation over the meaning and application of self-determination.

Von … bis, from… to: The Arc of Anthony Vidler's Architecture

Abstract Architectural historians often manifest a strong design impulse in their writing. This essay traces the theoretical arc traversing Anthony Vidler's individual essays and book projects as the parabolic imprint of his historiographic design. Based on unpublished manuscripts of the architectural historian's preliminary book outlines, drafts, and reading notes on authors such as Émile Zola, Sigmund Freud, and Georges Bataille, the article follows the route from Vidler's early research on utopia, Claude Nicholas Ledoux, and ideas of the French Enlightenment to his later books on “the architectural uncanny” and modern spatial psychopathologies in “warped space,” foregrounding the continuity of Vidler's “historical project” from the Enlightenment to the histories of twentieth-century architectural modernism. The article closes with an overview of Vidler's two latest book projects (currently unpublished), “Architecture After the Rain,” an autobiographically driven reevaluation of architectural modernism in Britain after World War II, and “Second Best Utopia,” a compilation of essays on “Utopics” from Plato to Fredric Jameson that argues for the abiding relevance of utopian ideas in the present.

Exploring the Paradox of Hope and Ambivalence in Short-lived Japanese Colonialism in Indonesia

Unlike the European colonial powers that sought long-term political control and resource exploitation, Japan's colonial ambitions in Southeast Asia primarily emerged during the period of World War II driven by its imperial expansionist goals. The unique nature of Japan's colonial history in Southeast Asia deserves further in-depth research and analysis. This paper explores Japan's colonial policies, highlighting the exploitative nature of its colonial economy and its imperialistic character. While Japan portrayed itself as a liberator and unifier of Asia, opposing Western imperialism, its colonial rule in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, often involved varying degrees of exploitation, coercion, and brutal repression. Furthermore, this paper argues for an understanding of the complex role that this colonial process played in shaping Indonesia's development trajectory. The analysis explores the impact of Japanese colonialism on Indonesia from various angles, including national consciousness, economy, and cultural dissemination. Additionally, it examines the intricate interactions between Japanese colonial authorities and the Indonesian government, people, and democratic activists, which eventually fueled the independence movement in Indonesia.

The foreign policy of the United States of America towards Iran in the period from 1953 to 1974.

The article examines the foreign policy of the United States of America in the Greater Middle East region, which acquired strategic importance after the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The subject of the study is the American-Iranian relations of 1953-1974, within the framework of which the Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi consistently built cooperation with D. Eisenhower, J. Kennedy, L. Johnson and R. Nikson. Despite the fact that their approaches to the implementation of American foreign policy in the Greater Middle East underwent significant changes, the desire to maintain influence in the country, consolidate control over cheap Iranian energy resources and prevent the return of Soviet influence on Iran remained the main directions of American activity. The methodological basis of the research is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency. The following methods were used in the work: historical-comparative, historical-typological and historical-systemic methods. The reviewed diplomatic documents of the United States of America "Foreign Relations of the United States" allow us to establish that the influence of the oil factor on American-Iranian relations in 1953-1974 remained high, despite changes in the approaches of the presidents to the implementation of foreign policy in the region. The return of Iranian oil to the global market allowed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to initiate the start of the "white revolution", supported by the United States, among others. Huge oil revenues allowed Iran in a short time not only to realize its claims in the region, but also to become an important ally of the United States, responsible for regional security during the presidency of R. Nixon. The work illustrates the changing role of the United States of America and Iran in the Greater Middle East, due, among other things, to the influence of the oil factor.

Military Study Abroad as Thailand’s Foreign Policy Between the 1930s–1940s

Abstract The need to modernize the armed forces motivated the Thai government to send a large number of soldiers to Europe to learn military during the absolute monarchy. Sending soldiers to study abroad, on the other hand, had become a part of national diplomacy seeking to balance power between the powerhouse states. After the Revolution of 1932, the new government likewise made an effort to preserve its stability by dismissing many royalist soldiers. As a result, it demanded many sophisticated soldiers, who relied on the new government. Hence, many soldiers had dispatched to observe and study military tactics abroad. On the one hand, the anti-imperialist policy forced the Thai government to favore the Japanese Empire and to rely on its support; many Thai cadets and soldiers were sent to study in Japan. On the other hand, the Japanese diplomacy, Pan-Asianism, made it very evident that Japan demanded to expand its influence over Asia, including Thailand. So, the Thai government seeking to achive a balance of power among the influences of strong countries decided to send numerous soldiers, including the sons of Phibunsongkhram, to study military tactics in Europe and the United States. This pursuit of a balance of power received a positive response from European nations and the US, who were also concerned about Japan’s influence over their colonies in Asia. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Second World War shattered Thailand’s hopes of attaining a balance of power among the powerful countries.

God and State Above All

Abstract This article explores how politically active Polish women starting in the late nineteenth century until the start of World War II viewed themselves and their duties vis-a-vis the Polish nation. It traces the women's movement in Poland from the first calls for women's right to work, to their eventual enfranchisement under a newly independent Polish state in 1918. Challenges to women's equality took many forms: men from both sides of the political spectrum viewed women's entry into the salaried workforce and the public sphere as largely undesirable and deployed a variety of arguments to reinforce traditional gender hierarchy. Yet many educated Polish women, even from conservative, Catholic perspectives, viewed their engagement in the public sphere as necessary work for the good of the Polish nation. This article uses letters, political pamphlets, and published works to explore how modern Polish women attempted to strike a balance between breaking and preserving traditional notions of gender in order to secure new rights for themselves in a volatile political atmosphere. While Polish women's groups differed on their vision of the ideal Polish state, they generally agreed that women's roles as mothers provided the moral legitimacy required to act in the public sphere. They successfully carved a space for themselves in the new Polish state of 1918 but remained marginalized in a separate and unequal status in the interwar period.

My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story by George Takei (review)

My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story by George Takei (review)