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EUROPE IN THE WORLD
THE LONG SHADOW OF 1939: THE MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP PACT AND THE POLITICS OF MEMORY IN EASTERN EUROPE
The ghosts of the Second World War still haunt Europe. As critical anniversaries have come and gone and the last surviving veterans pass away, the specter of the war’s origins continues to arouse passions across Eastern and Central Europe. The series of international spats that have resulted have been one factor among many in bringing the already fraught EU-Russian relationship to its coldest moment since 1991....
Vladimir Putin greets former leader of Poland Wojciech Jaruzelski, a guest at the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of victory in World War II at the Kremlin, Moscow. Kremlin.ru, Jaruzelski & Putin, CC BY 4.0.
hISTORY NEWS NETWORK
AMBITIOUS FOR WAR: HOW GERMAN-SOVIET COLLABORATION SET THE COURSE FOR WWII
In the early morning hours of June 22, 1941, the Soviet-German frontier exploded with the sounds of combat. It began with German artillery and airstrikes pounding Soviet border positions and annihilating nearly fifteen hundred Soviet aircraft in a matter of hours. Bombers struck Soviet bases as far away as Sevastopol and Kiev. Three million German soldiers soon crossed the border, marking the beginning of the largest invasion in human history. Never before in history had two adversaries spent so much time arming each other for war....
NOTRE DAME INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CENTER PODCAST
STUDENTS TALK SECURITY | A NEW FAUSTIAN BARGAIN?
In this episode of Students Talk Security, Charles Sedore, a Notre Dame senior, and Professor Ian Ona Johnson, Assistant Professor of Military History, discuss the history surrounding the German-Soviet Cooperation that occurred during the interwar period and the lessons learned about Russian foreign policy choices. From this historical discussion, the conversation looks to the future as a means of assessing what Russian foreign policy regarding China could look like.
MILITARY HISTORY NOW
PARTNERS IN ARMS - HOW YEARS OF SOVIET-GERMAN COOPERATION SET THE STAGE FOR WORLD WAR II
IN THE EARLY morning hours of Aug. 23, 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and his German counterpart Joachim Ribbentrop affixed their signatures to the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the U.S.S.R. American journalist Walter Lippmann would write that, “In all history it would be hard to find another conspiracy so terrible in its consequences, or to match its perfidy.”
ORIGINS: CURRENT EVENTS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
OPERATION BARBAROSSA
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov disembarked from his private train car in a somber Berlin on the rainy morning of November 12, 1940. A German band struck up the Internationale, but at twice the normal speed—Nazi Party officials were worried that some locals might try to sing along to the socialist anthem. Molotov and his party were then whisked away in Mercedes limousines down empty streets to meetings with German leadership.
By the time of Molotov’s visit, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had been partners for over a year. Between September 1939 and May 1940, Germany had succeeded in overrunning much of Central and Western Europe, most shockingly its rapid victory over France. The USSR, in turn, had conquered the Baltic States, Romanian Bessarabia, Finnish Karelia, and Eastern Poland. Between them, Hitler and Stalin now held sway over almost all of Europe. Only Great Britain remained defiant, having bested the Luftwaffe in the skies over their island home.
Despite their mutual ill-gotten gains, the Soviet-German Pact was an uneasy partnership. Growing tensions over Finland and the Balkans, Soviet-German trade, and the seemingly anti-Soviet Tripartite Pact between Italy, Japan, and Germany all cast a shadow over the Soviet-German relationship...
The World wars podcast with james rogers
A Faustian Bargain? The Nazi-Soviet Partnership
origins: current events in historical perspective
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
PUTIN'S MYTHS ABOUT THE SOVIET UNION AND WORLD WAR TWO
The final defeat of Nazi Germany 75 years ago closed the bloodiest theater in humanity’s most violent war. Nowhere was the cost of the conflict higher than in the Soviet Union, where at least 26.6 million perished. This year’s Victory Day commemorations in Moscow have been postponed due to Covid-19. Yet even as Russians wait for the chance to honor Russia’s fallen, fresh battles are under way over World War II’s legacy.
History hit podcast with dan snow
WAR STUDIES LECTURE SERIES
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Interview with bowen books
Interview with Bowen Books: "Ian Johnson and Mark Hand are responsible for bringing to life The White Nights, a previously out of print collection of stories about the Russian Revolution. We interviewed them about the book and why they are so excited to see Bowen Press bring it into the hands of twenty-first-century readers."
For the full interview, visit Bowen Press Books