World War Research Articles

An Analysis of Japan’s Diplomacy towards Israel since Shinzo Abe Era: Based on the Theoretical Framework of Neoclassical Realism

Neoclassical realism theory holds that a nation’s foreign policy is the result of international systemic stimuli intervened by domestic variables. It provides a suitable theoretical framework for analysing the changes of Japan’s foreign policy towards Israel. For a long time after World War II, the relations between Japan and Israel remained cold mainly under the system constraints and its contradictions with domestic variables. However, since Abe’s second term in power, Japan has significantly strengthened its diplomatic relations with Israel. The changes both in the Middle East regional system and the global system have stimulated the adjustment of Japan’s policy while the domestic variables have responded to systemic stimuli actively. Japan’s strengthening of relations with Israel is reflected in several aspects, including high-level political visits, innovative industrial cooperation, and people-to-people cultural diplomacy. On the whole, Japan’s development of relations with Israel serves the interests of both countries and has had a certain impact on the international system. However, there are obvious limitations to Japan’s intensifying diplomacy with Israel.

“The delights of intellectual vagrancy, of the improvised chase after a fleeting allusion”: Edith Wharton’s A Son at the Front

Abstract A Son at the Front was an underrated novel at the time of publication and consigned to the margins of World War I literature for many years. A number of contemporary reviewers failed to appreciate the depth of the novel, particularly with regard to Wharton’s complex use of allusions, and faulted it for being out of touch with modern fiction and being published at the wrong time. The years covered by the narrative had been consigned to history and events that had overtaken the period of American neutrality for those who sought retreat into isolationism. Memorialization of those who had fought and died in the war was, however, very much an ongoing process, particularly in the public erection of monuments among participant countries, and they have remained to this day the sites for public ceremonies of commemoration. This article focuses on Wharton’s reference to a knight’s effigy, Luca Signorelli, and a painting of the Inquisition attributed to Juan de Borgoña, to the Christian iconography of medieval and early Renaissance art, as a way of understanding how her novel probed the contestation over how to memorialize the death of soldiers in World War I amid a polarized response to American involvement.

To the 140th anniversary of Mikhail Vasilevich Chernorutsky (1884–1957)

The article is dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the outstanding native clinician, member of the therapeutic school of S. P. Botkin, Academician M. V. Chernorutsky. It traces the life way of Mikhail Vladimirovich from his first steps to formation as an outstanding scientist, teacher and clinician, which years of life fell on a period of difficult trials for the country, covering revolutionary events, the First and Second World Wars. The social and professional activities of M. V. Chernorutsky during the siege of Leningrad, the deprivations of which he shared with the residents of the city, are outlined in detail. The scientific achievements of Mikhail Vladimirovich are examined in detail: the doctrine of constitutional types, the study of nutritional dystrophy and ways of its correction in besieged Leningrad, the creation of the Leningrad rheumatological school. The enormous contribution of M.V. Chernorutsky contributed to the development of the Leningrad society of therapists, and the department of hospital therapy, which he headed for more than 30 years, trained outstanding and bright native clinicians, such as Professor P.K. Bulatov and corresponding member RAS G.B. Fedoseev.

“Licensed” and “underground” religious revival in postwar northern Soviet Kazakhstan

The patriotic fervour surrounding the "Great Patriotic War," amplified by Soviet propaganda, led to concessions for some religious groups, though still constrained by Soviet anti-religious legislation, while others were excluded entirely. This paper argues that ethno-religious groups that aligned with the Soviet narrative, which mythologised the war effort, were able to engage in limited religious activities. In contrast, communities excluded from this narrative were compelled to maintain their religious traditions clandestinely for a prolonged period. These excluded groups were also deprived of any centralised religious organisations or church structures. Consequently, unlike in Central and Eastern Europe, the struggle for religious freedoms in this context did not follow the typical church vs. state model, but rather a citizens vs. state dynamic. This phenomenon is particularly evident in northern Kazakhstan, where the deportation of various nationalities resulted in the coexistence of ethno-religious groups with vastly different statuses.

Beneath Heavy Pines in World War II Louisiana: The Japanese American Internment Experience at Camp Livingston by Hayley Johnson and Sarah Simms (review)

Beneath Heavy Pines in World War II Louisiana: The Japanese American Internment Experience at Camp Livingston by Hayley Johnson and Sarah Simms (review)

Etruscologia e ideologia nel XX secolo

Etruscology developed in the 20th century as a scientific discipline thanks to and against the ideologies of its time. In Italy, between Unification and the March on Rome, Etruscan studies were encouraged by an exacerbated nationalism. Once Unity was achieved, the Italians had to be made, considering the Etruscans the precursors of Rome and the ancestors of the Italians. Then, from 1922 until the end of World War II, Fascism favoured the structuring of Etruscology thanks to the Istituto di Studi Etruschi, which gave the discipline international visibility, but Fascism also oriented a whole series of Italian studies towards the idea of the autochthony of the Etruscans, against that of a heteroctony, promoted by Nazi Germany to identify the Etruscans as oriental individuals of an inferior race. Only slowly did Etruscologists shed the values associated with fascism and turn towards liberalism or communism to renew their conception of the origin, society and art of the Etruscans.

Nowhere to Go

This article examines epidemics and disease prevention within the War Relocation Authority camps for Japanese Americans during World War II. Although scholars and activists have noted the limits and inadequacies of medical care within the camps, little attention has been given to the actions of camp administrators in curtailing outbreaks of deadly diseases such as polio and tuberculosis, including universal vaccination requirements and the use of quarantine orders. Disease in the camps resulted in cases of social isolation and ostracization and further exacerbated the stresses of life among the confined. Meanwhile, this article explores the use of the camps as sites of scientific study. Administrators and anthropologists documented cases of camp epidemics and published their results in journals on public health.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE EASTERN INDIAN FRINGES: THE CASE OF TRIPURA

From the dawn of human civilization, the history of mankind has recorded multiple events of conflicts, battles & wars. But it has never witnessed something destructive & devasting like World War II (1939 -1945). This global conflict between Allied & Axis powers lasted for 2191 days, involving as many as 110 million armed soldiers from 72 nations. At least 50 million people lost their lives in this great war among them 28 million were innocent civilians. Major cities across Europe and Asia, including Berlin, London, Warsaw, Tokyo, and Hiroshima, were extensively bombed and reduced to rubble. In the initial stage, the war was only confined to European nations though their colonies in Asia & Africa were indirectly affected severely. But with time, the African colonies caught fire from this war and in later stages, it spread all over Asia. India, being a British colony at that time was pushed into the war by its colonial masters who looked over the will of Indian masses. The British Government exploited India's valuable resources and labour force for the War preparations. The heat of the war also reached Tripura, a small princely state under the British Suzerainty. The involvement of Japan in the Second World War and its hasty advancement on the eastern front changed the whole scenario of the war from the Indian perspective. The fall of Burma at the hands of the Japanese brought the war to the very door of India. As a result, Tripura and the northeastern region fell under the direct threat of the Japanese offensive. In this paper, I have attempted to sketch a picture of Princely Tripura of that time concerning the Second World War. Here I have discussed extensively about the threat of Japanese invasion, economic strains, military organizations, war preparations, and other administrative activities in the state, all centred around the Second World War. In the middle of the war, the Congress-led ‘Augst movement’ or ‘Quite India movement’ increased difficulties for the trouble-torn British Raj. The turmoil created all over the country by the ‘Quite India Movement’ also impacted the state of Tripura. Here I also tried to track down the events related to the ‘Quite India Movement’ in Tripura during the war and how the ruling class of princely Tripura met those challenges. In a nutshell, through this paper, an attempt has been made to shed light on the relevant events, that took place in princely Tripura during the Second World War and analyse different events & developments related to it from various socio-economic and political aspects. Nevertheless, this paper is a small initiative for the history enthusiast to enhance the understanding of the role of Tripura in a global phenomenon like World War II and to reconstruct the events in a systematic way to conduct further study. KEYWORDS: Allied power, Axis power, Tripura, British suzerainty, Northeastern India, Invasion, Burma.

“War is destructive, but it reconstructs anew…:” Refugee Education and State Consolidation in Imperial Austria during the First World War

Abstract This article explores aspects of the organization of refugee education in imperial Austria during the First World War. Authorities in charge of refugees’ control and their eventual assistance interpreted access to education in two ways. First, it was an avenue of relief through schooling, aimed to counter the effects of uprootedness and, thus, safeguard some continuity in refugee children’s lives. Second, it was a way to ensure the making of productive and loyal citizens. In this context, this article looks at various policies regarding organization of schooling for displaced children. Moreover, it analyzes the ways language entered the realm of the refugee-focused classroom. Officials used schooling in refugee students’ vernacular to relieve the effects of their displacement and to reinforce ethnonational classifications of imperial subjects. At the same time, education through refugee children’s growing exposure to German language courses became a measure of a gradual inculcation of an imperial consciousness. Furthermore, it was a civilizing dimension of displacement management and, in this way, it became an avenue to consolidate a war-feeble state.

Cattle Circulation, Beef Market Control Strategies, and African Agropastoralists in Southern Mozambique, 1900s–30s

Abstract Focusing on the first decades of the twentieth century but acknowledging longer-term patterns of circulation, this paper discusses how cattle, historically occupying important meanings and roles in the lives of African agropastoralists, was commodified and marketed in southern Mozambique just as Lourenço Marques became the new capital of Mozambique. Highlighting the relations that consolidated between the capital and surrounding cattle-rich areas in a period marked by cattle disease but also the First World War and the Great Depression, the paper looks at the role of different agents and bodies involved in the emerging beef market. Ultimately, the paper shows how African agropastoralists, the main cattle producers in the region, resisted these conditions and tried to engage with markets on their own terms, even in the face of their dwindling control over the different factors that influenced the size and quality of their herds.

Непряма благотворительная помощь американских и российских организаций и частных лиц в пользу России в годы Первой мировой войны

In the article has been attempted to consider the history of distant relief from the American and Russian organizations and individuals in favor of Russian disadvantaged children and orphans, sick and wounded Russian soldiers during the World War I. At the moment, in the Russian and American historiography, humanitarian cooperation between Russia and the United States is presented very fragmentally and haphazardly, and this topic has not received the deserved attention of researchers at all. Consequently, the author has identified the following purpose of this article – to summarize and expand the available material about the American and Russian relief and humanitarian assistance, to identify the features, forms and instruments of its activities, as well as to draw a general conclusion about the scale and benefits of the aforementioned assistance to Russia during the European war. The article was written on the basis of materials from the American and Russian periodicals, published documents and archive sources stored in the funds of The Russian State Historical Archive, the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Archive of the Navy. As a result, the author concluded that this assistance was of a national coverage and was expressed by both temporary and permanent American relief organizations. Russian organizations, which were under the auspices of Russian diplomatic authorities in the United States, set goal to collect funds through various entertainment events. Nevertheless, these donations took a small part in solving the problem of shortage of sanitary property. In general, both sides engaged in charitable activities not only out of a sense of compassion and a sincere desire to provide all possible assistance, but also within the framework of public diplomacy aimed at creating a favorable image of their country and stimulating friendly relations between Russia and the United States.

Первая мировая. Екатеринбургский комитет Красного Креста в тылу и на фронте

On May 16, 2024, the Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Russian Red Cross turned 147 years old, whose main goal has always been to prevent and alleviate the suffering of people in various situations, both at the front and in the rear, selflessly and sparing no effort in responding to any challenges of the time. This publication presents materials revealing the activities of the Yekaterinburg Committee of the Russian Red Cross Society during the First World War (1914–1918). During the war, both at the front and in the rear, the Yekaterinburg Committee of the Red Cross held many events to assist various groups of the population affected by the hostilities: opening hospitals for the wounded, raising funds for their maintenance, providing humanitarian assistance to families of soldiers and forced refugees. One of the most important directions in the work of the Yekaterinburg Committee of the Red Cross was the mass training of nurses.Ural medical workers, who were members of the Russian Red Cross Society, went to the front, among whom were German Sokratovich Myshkin, Claudia Andreevna Myshkina-Beloborodova, Vasily Konstantinovich Shamarin, Valentina Nikolaevna Diomidovskaya, Dmitry Vasilyevich Hirin and others. Of particular interest is the work of the Ural doctor K. A. Beloborodova in the floating typhoid hospital of the Russian Red Cross "Petrograd".

Пoмощь военнопленным региональных отделений Российского общеcтва Красного Креста в августе 1914 — октябре 1917 гг. (на примере Красноярска Енисейской губернии)

The article is devoted to such an area of activity of the regional branches of the Russian Society of the Red Cross during the First World War as providing assistance to Russian prisoners of war. Materials from the city of Krasnoyarsk, Yenisei province, show that this work was primarily carried out by women’s committees. The scale of assistance did not correspond to the real needs of prisoners, and was reduced throughout the war due to unfavorable changes in the economy. The capabilities of the regional branches of the society were further reduced after February 1917 due to a shortage of material resources.Historical experience shows that public initiative is not enough to protect fellow prisoners of war. An active role of the state is needed, implementing measures in various fields, including diplomatic and economic, in order to improve the material and living conditions, food supplies, and medical care for prisoners of war. Without such government intervention, prisoners in enemy countries are an extremely vulnerable group of people, subject to violence and arbitrariness.

Engendering Literary History: Jean-Paul Sartre’s What Is Literature?

Immediately after the Second World War, Jean-Paul Sartre offered a history of literature as part of his project to launch a new era of literary activity guided by his concept of littérature engagée or committed literature. This article examines Sartre’s approach to the construction of literary history, highlighting his use of periodisation, a thematics of shifting relationships between writers and readers, and frequent deployment of gendered rhetoric to support his arguments. It shows that Sartre repeatedly used gendered tropes that worked to associate women, females and/or femininity with characteristics generally devalued in European and other Western societies, such as passivity, ignorance and indecision. It is argued that the touchstone to which Sartre continually referred in formulating his literary history was Julien Benda’s La Trahison des Clercs (Treason of the Intellectuals). The argument to be developed takes broad inspiration from the work of Hayden White on the analysis of historical texts, and follows his injunction that historians and readers of history need to become more conscious of how histories are made.

Legends and Truth About World War I

Legends and Truth About World War I

Who are the people of Cyprus? The national identity building process in Cyprus from the late 19th to the early 20th century

Abstract This article offers a nuanced examination of the complex identity dynamics among the Christian and Muslim communities in Cyprus during the late 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the aftermath of British administration replacing Ottoman rule in 1878. The article draws attention to the profound impact of this historical transition on the identity formation processes of both communities. Despite the shared wartime experience of the First World War, the Christian and Muslim communities in Cyprus failed to construct a cohesive identity rooted in their common geographical space. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of ambivalence, the article explores the complex process by which Cypriot communities sought to align their identity with larger nations, namely Greece and Turkey, rather than grounding it in their local context. The article contends that the genesis of their ambivalence can be traced back to 1878 when British administration replaced Ottoman rule on the island.

The Politics of Memory and Its Limits in Conflict with Oral Tradition: The Interwar Period in the Imagination of the West Belarusian Population

Abstract Often overlooked on the world stage, the Republic of Belarus harbours a complex historical narrative interwoven with its national identity and political landscape. While the country is known for widely representing the cult of the Great Patriotic War and its importance to the local historical imagination, this article focuses on a less explored era: the interwar period. The study examines the coexistence of state-sponsored historical narratives and local oral traditions in attempts to shed light on the complicated relationship between personal memories and official discourses. By applying a multidisciplinary approach that includes anthropology, history and political science, this study sheds light on the dynamics that shape Belarusian historical consciousness. The research focuses on how the state narrative intersects with and excludes personal memories from the broader discourse in order to illuminate the limits of state authority in shaping collective memory.

Что думали в Ватикане о религиозном возрождении на оккупированной территории СССР в 1942 г.

The publication introduces documents characterising the Vatican’s perception of religious processes in the occupied territories of the USSR that took place in 1941-1942. The main of them – “Memorandum on the Religious Situation in Russia” - was drawn up in the General Curia of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) and sent to the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in May 1942. It presents a sketch of the information available to the Vatican about religious sentiments in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union. On the basis of this information, it is concluded that the anti-religious policy of the Soviet authorities had collapsed and that since the turn of the 1930s and 1940s there had been a religious revival in the USSR, witnessed by Catholic chaplains who had entered its territory at the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. From the point of view of the author of the note, this provides a unique chance for the unfolding of a Catholic mission in Soviet Russia. The author puts forward specific proposals necessary, in his opinion, for the deployment of this mission. In particular, he proposes the creation of a special body to supervise missionary activity, as well as the involvement of lay people in mission.

Expressions and Forms of Exile in Vintilă Horia

One of the most fascinating representatives of the Romanian exile, even though he is less famous when compared to his great contemporaries Mircea Eliade, Eugène Ionesco or E.M. Cioran, Vintilă Horia represents an interesting example of artistic capacity to empathize with the protagonists of his own work. All his great novels (The Knight of Resignation, A Tomb in the Sky or God Was Born in Exile) include the recurrent image of tragic exiles unexpectedly confronted with the harsh reality of uprooting and forced to come to terms with the new world they reach, sometimes after a challenging or dangerous journey. The Latin poet Ovid in God Was Born in Exile (Dieu est né en exil, 1960) is perhaps Horia’s most remarkable character, the protagonist’s exile to Tomis representing an expression of the author’s own painful exile after World War II, when he was forced to leave Romania for good. Ovid’s exile and then his journeys stand for a complex process of initiation, completed only when the poet also has the revelation of his future possible symbolic rebirth and foresees his way to spiritual redemption. [Article copies available for a fee from The Transformative Studies Institute. E-mail address: journal@transformativestudies.org Website: http://www.transformativestudies.org ©2024 by The Transformative Studies Institute. All rights reserved.]

The Effects of War-Related Stress on Human Development: Differences in Body Proportions of Polish Women Born Before and During World War II.

This study aims to explore the lasting effects of stress experienced by pregnant women during World War II (WWII) on body and head measurements of their adult daughters. The research sample consists of 336 female university students born in Poland between 1925 and 1951. The data include body measurements and socioeconomic information (parental occupation and number of siblings) acquired from questionnaires collected between the 1950s and 1970s. Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney test and Analysis of Variance were used to analyze differences in body measurements between groups of women born before and during the war, as well as the possible influences of socioeconomic variables. The mean measurements of body height, symphysion height, and waist circumference were lower in women conceived and born during the war compared to those born in the pre-war period. In contrast, the mean measurements of biacromial (shoulder) width, trunk length, and three head dimensions were higher in women conceived and born during the war. Additionally, the number of siblings appeared to be a significant factor that may have influenced the body measurements of women in both groups. For instance, a higher number of living siblings, particularly sisters, was associated with reduced body dimensions, such as body height and waist circumference, while a greater number of deceased siblings was linked to an increase in certain body dimensions. The results suggest that war-related prenatal conditions may have influenced the postnatal growth and development of women conceived and born during the war. Notably, the direction of these changes varied, which indicates that the growth response to the war-related conditions was a complex adaptation, reflecting both positive and negative changes in different body parts, rather than a uniform pattern of growth suppression.