War so terrible : the informal theory of interstate warfare and the determinants of interstate war outcomes

Title from PDF of title page; abstract from research PDF (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 26, 2014).This thesis puts forth a theory of how interstate wars are fought and how certain outcomes and their determinants occur. It begins with an overview of military theory and military science, followed by an overview of the relevant literature in political science. Next the Informal Theory of Interstate Warfare is put forth, along with its implications for how interstate wars are fought and won, lost, or fought to a draw. The theory and its several hypotheses are then tested qualitatively in two case studies, that of the Russo-Japanese War, and World War II. The theory and its hypotheses are further tested quantitatively using a data set that contains strategic level, operational level, doctrinal, economic, population, and political variables with an emphasis on ground, naval, and air warfare in order to determine how and why certain war outcomes occur, the determinants of those war outcomes, and the overall validity of the Informal Theory of Interstate Warfare

Rape as a Weapon of War: The Demystification of the German Wehrmacht During the Second World War

The German Armed Forces were originally thought to be completely innocent of all war crimes associated with unethical Nazi racial policies. This has been proven not to be the case. History has adjusted itself to show that Wehrmacht forces were guilty of virtually every war crime except for the sexual violation foreign women. Due to the long-standing assumption that Nazi racial ideology prevented the intermingling of the “Aryan” race with the “unworthy” Eastern European races, this myth was rarely questioned. Given the lack of hard evidence proving that civilian women were raped by invading Wehrmacht troops, a firm conclusion is out of the question. However, with a concrete understanding of the Nazi attitude towards sexual relations, the components in the East that led to a breakdown in Wehrmacht discipline, and the resulting reaction of the Soviet Union in light of this brutality, one can surmise the type of violence women were forced to endure. Through the research conducted in this thesis, it is likely that the mass rape of Eastern European women did indeed occur. The silence that surrounds this issue is highly indicative of the cultural elements that prevent an open discussion of this topic. This thesis is meant to spark a discussion of the implications and reverberations of mass rape in a wartime setting

Wissen ist menschlich. Der Stellenwert der Human Intelligence in der britischen Kriegsführung 1939–1945

This thesis examines the use of prisoners of war (POWs), agents and other groups of persons as source of information in the British conduct of war against Germany during the Second World War and demonstrates its significance. While the successes of Bletchley Park in decrypting German wireless traffic are well-known, human intelligence (HUMINT) has received considerably less scholarly attention. During the years 1939 to 1945, the British used an extensive espionage network, maintained informal contacts in neutral cities, and questioned refugees, convicted enemy spies and soldiers who had escaped from German captivity. Most notably, the military services established a far-reaching system of interrogation facilities to obtain intelligence from German prisoners of war in all theatres of war. These activities provided a valuable amount of intelligence on German weaponry, tactics, plans and mentality, which not only constituted useful background information in rapidly changing war conditions but also improved decision-making processes and resulting actions. During the past decades, the main focus of academic research lay on signals intelligence and its influence on British strategy and operations which resulted in a neglect of other forms of intelligence. Recent academic research has not only emphasised a more holistic view of intelligence and its impact on warfare but also points to several successful HUMINT operations such as the international cooperation in espionage and the so-called Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre, United Kingdom (CSDIC(UK)). At the same time, studies in intelligence provide an extensive framework dealing with various theoretical, practical and ethical aspects which facilitates the analysis of intelligence in historical context. In light of these developments and the unprecedented access to archival material, a re-evaluation of the role of human intelligence in Great Britain during the Second World War is necessary. This thesis combines the theoretical approaches of intelligence with an examination of the organisation of human intelligence during wartime. It utilises three case studies covering the tactical, operational and strategic level of war. First, it offers a model of “main areas”, collection, analysis, dissemination and use, to examine the intelligence process in historical context. These elements constitute a set of interacting steps which describe the way from a specific piece of raw material to its use as human intelligence in decision-making. The human origin influences the characteristics of the intelligence process such as the interaction of individuals during collection, the inherent problem of reliability and accuracy, and the question of acceptance by potential users. The model also serves as a basis for an evaluation scheme: the internal value addresses the intelligence process itself, whereas the external value measures the effect within decision-making and its impact on resulting actions. Regarding the organisational aspect, the intelligence agencies responsible for human intelligence used their previous experience from the last war and grew significantly in size during the Second World War. The interrogation of prisoners of war consisted of a multi-step process with the CSDIC(UK) at the top, which over 10 000 POWs passed through. The combination of interrogation techniques – such as the omniscient trick and friendly approach, concealed microphones, and former refugees or prisoners acting as stool pigeons – resulted in a high output of accurate and appreciated HUMINT. The Secret Service (SIS) recovered after some setbacks at the beginning of the war and – supported by contacts in occupied territory – it was able to deliver reports covering a wide range of topics. In addition, the Security Service (MI5) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) supplemented the work of the SIS – besides their primary objectives. In addition to the use of enemy prisoners and agents in the field, there were three other sources for HUMINT: the questioning of refugees in the specifically designed London Reception Centre, regular contacts with interned British soldiers and individual arrangements in neutral countries, most notably in Sweden and Switzerland, which provided the Foreign Office with news of varying quality. The outcome of these extensive efforts is discussed in the three case studies. The tactical example deals with the defence against German attacks during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz in 1940/1941. POW Intelligence supplemented the other sources of intelligence with the perspective of the enemy: it provided actual data on armament, armour and equipment of German bomber and fighter aircraft; it added details on the order of battle and combat readiness of the German Luftwaffe; and it gave insight into enemy tactics, targeting and the effectiveness of British countermeasures. Therefore, HUMINT made a valuable contribution to the overall intelligence picture which supported and optimised the efforts of Fighter Command. It helped to prepare fighter pilots for their engagements with the enemy and to counter new tactics and technologies such as navigational aids for night bombing. The operational case study covers the detection of the German plans to use a liquid rocket and cruise missile (the so called V-weapons V1 and V2) against British cities, where human intelligence played a key role. In early 1943, SIS reports and secret records of conversations between German POWs convinced the authorities in London of the danger of a long range weapon of a new type. HUMINT later gave indications of the existence of two distinct weapons and the V1 firing system in Northern France. In 1944, it provided details on the characteristics and launching procedures of the V2. These contributions enabled the British not only to direct other intelligence resources such as aerial reconnaissance towards the new threat but also to develop effective offensive and defensive countermeasures. These delayed the deployment of the two weapons and significantly reduced the inflicted damage. The strategic example deals with the British efforts to assess the state of morale of the German military and civilian population. This aspect was primarily covered by human intelligence. Although the amount of raw material gradually expanded and the analytical methods became more sophisticated – especially after the drastic increase of prisoner of war interrogations after D-Day –, the impact of HUMINT remained ambivalent. Until 1943, preconceived opinions about an inferior German morale and an especially vulnerable civilian population were not altered by intelligence products provided by the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee and a separate “morale committee”. The conviction in the second half of 1943 that Germany would collapse from within as it had happened in 1918 was the most visible result. In the following months, intelligence analysis improved considerably and finally falsified previous hopes; however, that development did not restrain British authorities from over-enthusiastic expectations of a rapid end of war in the summer of 1944. Ultimately, human intelligence provided a considerable insight into the inner state of the enemy, but the intelligence task to detect a predefined collapse and the attempt to conceive an elaborated concept of morale overburdened the intelligence services. This thesis combines theoretical approaches with a historical analysis and shows that human intelligence was a powerful force multiplier which the British early recognized and successfully utilized. Therefore, this thesis offers a new perspective on British intelligence and military history during the Second World War. Furthermore, it seeks to contribute to general discussions about the relevance of intelligence in decision-making up to the present day

In the Shadows of the Sea: the Destruction and Recovery of Zeeland, the Netherlands, 1940-1948

This study explores the wartime experiences of the rural Dutch province of Zeeland from the German invasion in May 1940 to 1948 by a close reading of Dutch newspapers as well as Dutch government and Allied sources. It seeks to contextualize the liberation of Zeeland in the autumn of 1944 by exploring both before and after the Second World War. It argues that the subdued reaction the Canadians received was a product of a very different understanding of the war for the citizens of Zeeland. Their experience was above all driven by geography, topography, confessionalism, as well as a very complex and unusual understanding of a war that dated back to 1914. Zeeland’s experience of neutrality during the First World War, as well as government responses to the post-war era and Depression of the 1930s created a precedent with which many would compare the experience of war a generation later. In many ways, the German occupation of Zeeland after May 1940 resembled the experience of neutrality after the outbreak of war in 1914. In both instances, the province was touched by war, but remained isolated by its economy, politics, and, culture. In that sense, the idea of liberation in the fall of 1944 had a very different meaning, especially with the Allies’ flooding and sinking of Walcheren Island in early October. That event brought an unprecedented level of destruction that framed the local response to liberation, which lasted well beyond the conventional end of the war in 1945

Race and Gender in Modern Western Warfare

This book fills a gap in the historiographical and theoretical fields of race, gender, and war. In brief, Race and Gender in Modern Western Warfare (RGMWW) offers an introduction into how cultural constructions of identity are transformed by war and how they in turn influence the nature of military institutions and conflicts. Focusing on the modern West, this project begins by introducing the contours of race and gender theories as they have evolved and how they are employed by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and other scholars. The project then mixes chronological narrative with analysis and historiography as it takes the reader through a series of case studies, ranging from the early nineteenth century to the Global War of Terror. The purpose throughout is not merely to create a list of so-called "great moments" in race and gender, but to create a meta-landscape in which readers can learn to identify for themselves the disjunctures, flaws, and critical synergies in the traditional memory and history of a largely monochrome and male-exclusive military experience. The final chapter considers the current challenges that Western societies, particularly the United States, face in imposing social diversity and tolerance on statist military structures in a climates of sometimes vitriolic public debate. RGMWW represents our effort to blend race, gender, and military war, to problematize these intersections, and then provide some answers to those problems

Kline Collection Finding Aid

This collection was purchased in 1997 through the generosity of the following donors: Michael J. Leffell ’81 and Lisa Klein Leffell ’82, the Sheftel Family in memory of Milton S. Sheftel ’31, ’32 and the proceeds of the Carole and Michael Friedman Book Fund in honor of Elisabeth “Lisa” Friedman of the Class of 1985 The collection contains books, pamphlets, magazines, guides, journals, newspapers and screenplays related to Jewish history, German history, World War II, and the Holocaust. Of the at least 3,600 volumes, valued at approximately $300,000, 60% are in English, 30% in German, and 10% in other languages including Yiddish, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, Italian, Czech, Croatian, Norwegian, and Russian. The English-language materials are comprised of 13 boxes that document the pre-, post-, and mid-war attitudes largely from an American perspective. In total, 70% of English language materials are from the post war period while 20% are from during the war and the remaining 10% predating the 1930s. Series one, entitled “Antisemitic Materials,” contains 233 volumes of antisemitic propaganda mostly made up of small pamphlets made for American audiences. Notably, this series contains a collection of The Dearborn Independent, also known as The Ford International Weekly, a weekly newspaper established by Henry Ford which disseminated his antisemitic beliefs. Series two, “Holocaust materials,” is made up of 93 volumes mostly, though not exclusively, from the post-war period. The materials from the period during the Holocaust include magazines, newspapers, and pamphlets many of which attempt to explain the rise of National Socialism. The post-war Holocaust-related materials are made up of books, including memoirs and academic literature, as well as programs from Holocaust memorials and sites. Series four offers a broad sweep of “Jewish history” with materials dating back to the late-nineteenth century. This section contains documents from the American Jewish Labor Council, books teaching the history of Jews in various countries, and pamphlets advocating for Zionism or assistance for Jews in occupied Europe. Series five, “Post-war Germany,” contains reports, pamphlets, and books that grapple with what to do with Germany after the war. This includes everything from American treatment of defeated Germany as well as pamphlets explaining West Germany’s reaction to the Eichmann Trial. Series six, “The Second World War & International Resistance,” deals largely with mid-war international (though mostly American) resistance to the Nazi regime. Resistance in this sense encompasses everything from documenting concentration camp horrors to publicly rejecting Hitler and advocating for his defeat. Series eleven recounts the history and experiences of migrants, refugees, and displaced persons in the post-war era. This series largely revolves around the documents and books collected by Freidl Reifer, director of Unitarian Service Committee\u27s casework department (1948-1949) and Regional Representative in Chile for United HIAS Services (1960+). Of the German-language materials, 80% are from the time period during war with most being pro-Nazi or from a Nazi perspective. The materials that are in others languages, a large percentage of which are in Yiddish and French are mostly (90%) from the postwar period. Of those, 70% constitute the period before 1950, thus giving insight into the immediate post-war period

Renseignement et contre-espionnage entre Dublin, Londres et Edimbourg de 1845 à 1945

This dissertation illustrates to what extent the use of secret agents allows London to conceal her weaknesses more specifically in her conflicts with Scotland and Ireland. In fact, Scottish and Irish rebel movements question the very founding of the United Kingdom when they want to repel their acts of Union with London. The central power relies on the effectiveness and power of British secret agents to help the army. Since the 15th century, English kings, fond of spying games and manipulation, have sent spies to France. In the 19th century, London installs police forces in Dublin, Edinburgh and London which warn the British government of every single plot raising owing to many detectives infiltrated in rebel organizations like Clan na Gael. This operating is very efficient and permits the central government to stifle the rebellions in spite of the alliance between Ireland and Scotland. Yet, Michael Collins forces the British government to negotiate thanks to the intelligence war (1919-1921) in which his squads target the British agents in Dublin using their methods and developing a large very efficient network of spies and informants. At the beginning of the Second World War, Éamon De Valera’s declaration of Eire’s neutrality urges London to play a very dangerous game of cooperation, espionage and political manipulation with Ireland in which diplomatic relations play a key role and the Irish collaboration with the Allies turns out to be very precious. This thesis tries to demonstrate that when fighting against Scottish and Irish rebels, London must reassert its power by developing and professionalizing its intelligence services which end up with a worldwide reputation.Cette thèse démontre dans quelles mesures le recours aux agents secrets permet à Londres de dissimuler ses faiblesses notamment dans ses conflits avec l’Ecosse et l’Irlande. En effet, les mouvements dissidents écossais et irlandais mettent en péril le fondement même du Royaume-Uni en remettant en cause leurs actes d’Union signés avec Londres. Le pouvoir central se base donc sur l’efficacité et la puissance de ses agents secrets pour soutenir ses forces armées. Dès le XVème siècle, les monarques anglais, avides de subterfuges, envoient beaucoup d’espions en France. Par la suite, Londres instaure des forces de police à Dublin, Edimbourg et Londres, qui lui rendent compte des moindres complots grâce à l’infiltration de détectives dans des organisations rebelles comme le Clan na Gael, un fonctionnement qui lui permet de mater les rébellions malgré l'alliance irlando-écossaise. Toutefois, Michael Collins amène Londres à négocier grâce à la guerre d’espions (1919-1921) dans laquelle il cible les agents britanniques en imitant leurs méthodes et en développant un réseau de contre-espionnage performant. A l’aube de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la neutralité de l’Eire proclamée par Éamon De Valera précipite Londres dans un jeu très dangereux de coopération, d’espionnage et de manipulation politique de l’Irlande dans lequel les relations diplomatiques jouent un rôle clé, mais où la collaboration irlandaise auprès des Alliées s’avère précieuse. Cette thèse essaie de démontrer que les conflits opposant Dublin et Edimbourg au pouvoir central poussent ce dernier à s’affirmer, à développer et professionnaliser ses services de renseignement qui, de fait, gagnent une renommée mondiale

Prisoners of War-Cold War Allies: The Anglo-American Relationship with Wehrmacht Generals

This study examines the relationship between British and American officials and the fifty-five Wehrmacht general officers who were held as prisoners of war in the United States during World War II. This relationship transformed as the war developed and new national security concerns emerged in the immediate postwar era. As largely evidenced by the records of the United States War Department and the British War Office, the transformation of this relationship illustrates two important points. First, despite some similarities, the respective priorities of British and American authorities regarding their POW general officers differed significantly. British officials consistently interrogated and eavesdropped on all of their senior officer prisoners, primarily seeking operational and tactical intelligence to aid the Allied war effort. By contrast, American officials initially had little regard for the value of Wehrmacht general officer POWs. Second, by the end of the war, admiration for the prowess of German officers and the German military tradition in particular, coupled with anxiety about Soviet intentions and the strength of the Red Army, drove Washington into a collaborative relationship with many of the Wehrmacht general officers in its custody. The evolution of America's national security concerns in the years immediately following the end of World War II impacted its policy governing the treatment of high-ranking prisoners of war

Thinking with stories of suffering: towards a living theory of response-ability

In the thesis I develop a living theory of responsibility, movement, engagement, withdrawal, and self care with a living standard of judgement of response-ability toward the other. I use a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to develop a dynamic, relational understanding, where social constructions are discussed and refined using cycles of loose and strict thinking, an inter-play of emotion and intellect, and a combination of intuitive and analytic reasoning. This is underpinned by an extended epistemology embracing experiential learning, documentary and textual analysis, presentational knowing, dialogue, narrative and photographic inquiry. I address the essence of inquiry with people who have difficult stories to tell and for us to comprehend: narratives which emerge from episodes of chaos and suffering, interspersed with occasional glimpses of the inter-human. Within this context I explore responsibility [response-ability] to ‘the Other’ as subject, and the ethical obligations implied in that relationship. My and others’ narratives, through space and over time, are researched using an extended epistemology and inquiry cycles across two interwoven strands. I look back over a long career and ‘epiphanous’ moments as a social worker and academic in the field of child protection and children and families work; and as the child of a war veteran, I reflect on World War II narratives of suffering, changing identity, and the inter-human. This first and second person inquiry extends outwards through cycles of dialogue with ex European prisoners of war and relation with landscape across Europe and Russia. In these reflections I clarify my meanings of chaos, suffering and responsibility [response-ability]. The learning from this extended inquiry and the contribution to knowledge are reflected on within my current practice as a participative researcher who is expressing response-ability toward the other. Finally, I consider implications for improving practice and organizational climate in children and families work.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo