Introduction
One of the great problems with World War II web sites is that countless hobbyists litter the cyber-landscape with all sorts of irrelevant offerings. For the serious student of the war, it is difficult to find sites that contribute to a deeper understanding of the war and war-related issues. I have assembled the following links in the hope of saving students from time consuming cyber-wandering through unimportant presentations. Some of the following links might be regarded as of secondary importance, but overall I have attempted to steer away from the "Allied Sidearms at the Bulge" kinds of web sites that one often finds listed.
World War II on the Web
General Sites:
H-War Military History Network: This H-War operation is associated with H-Net Humanities and Social Sciences Online. The site provides scholarly reviews of books, online resources, and a gopher site.
World War II Resources: Assorted Primary Documents to be found on the Internet. This is one of those sites you need to look over in order to see what is offered. One can find material on Pearl Harbor, Ultra, Japanese participants in the war, American diplomacy, and many additional topics.
Mount Holyoke College WWII Site: Mount Holyoke offers numerous primary documents from the war period. There are also some maps that might prove helpful.
Yale University's Avalon Project: A number of important documents related to the diplomacy of the war are presented here. If one wishes to follow the course of negotiations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, this is the place to go. There is more to be found here, not all of it related to diplomacy.
The World War II Multimedia Database: Jason McDonald of Fordham University has compiled this database of short articles, 1850 photographs, 90 video clips, and additional materials. There is much of interest to see here.
Fordham University's Modern Source Book: If you have seen my other web pages you will know by now that Fordham's effort is one of my favorite sources for studying all kinds of historical topics on the web. Scroll down the page to "War Conflict and Progress:, and from there click "Nazism and World War II." Be sure to scroll down the entire page in order to see all the material offered on the war in Europe and Asia.
Second World War Encyclopedia: This British site offers excellent articles and summaries on topics ranging from German Generals to Women in the War. Scroll past the initial opening blurb and you will find thirty major topics. Click onto one of those topics and you will find subtopics and articles. There is some good material here.
Database articles for UMUC students:
UMUC web databases: The scholarly articles listed below can be found on the UMUC Virtual Library site. Once you are logged on you will have to link to the appropriate database. You will notice that I've included the database name at the end of each article. When the database page opens, click onto the correct letter (Example: "J" for JSTOR) and then type in the author's name or article title into the database search engine.
Japan and the Outbreak of War in Asia:
The Rising Sun: This British site provides information on the root causes of Japanese aggression in the Pacific and the early military campaigns to February 1942.
A Joint Study of the Sino-Japanese War - 1931-1945: This page offers bibliographical materials for students who wish to seek out more information on China's war with Japan. You will need access to a good library to take advantage of this site, but the information is worth holding onto.
The Nanking Massacre: This archive contains documents and photographs recounting Japan's brutal massacre of non-combatants at Nanking. There are also additional materials related to Japan's war in China as well as news stories on China today. The site is sponsored by China News Digest (CND), a non-profit , volunteer organization based in Maryland.
Database articles for UMUC students:
The Outbreak of War in Europe
The Diplomacy of the Third Reich: Professor Gerhard Rempel of Western New England College presents a Written Lecture on National Socialist foreign policy during the 1930s. This site offers a good summary on Germany's drive towards war.
The Origins of the Second World War: Ruth Henig (author of The Origins of the Second World War 1933-1939) outlines key issues concerning the outbreak of World War II. She is interested in how historians interpret these issues.
Hitler's Foreign Policy and War Years: Dickenson College presents this short summary of Hitler's foreign policy. The real value of this site is the bibliography at the bottom of the page.
Three Historians' Interpretation of Hitler's Attack on Poland - An Analysis: This interesting paper was apparently submitted by a university student to his or her history class. While the paper's author is anonymous and the circumstances behind the composition are unclear, the paper is worth reading. It presents the opinions of three leading Hitler biographers, Alan Bullock, Joachim Fest, and Ian Kershaw.
Database articles for UMUC students:
War in Europe
Paths of Memory: This site provides a record of the Western and Central European nations during World War II. First click onto the 1939-1945 photograph, and then be sure to click the British flag at the bottom of the page for an English translation. There is good material ranging from the occupation of France to the Italian home front. Click on the map for information about each country.
The Battle of Britain: This site contains a potpourri of interesting information, including an introduction, battle timeline, a short recording of Churchill, and a weekly count of aircraft production and losses.
The Battle of the Atlantic: The material found here includes discussions on Enigma, submarine warfare, Allied cooperation in hunting German U-Boats, and other themes.
France In World War II: The focus here is on France's role during the outbreak of the war, defeat in 1940, and the Resistance. The material is offered in several links. One particular point of interest is a round table review of Joel Blatt's The French Defeat of 1940: Reassessments.
Canada and the Second World War: This Canadian site offers a fairly good overview of the Canadian contribution of the war. The site is broken up into the topics that include the Battle of Britain, Dieppe, D-Day, and several others.
Database articles for UMUC students:
Russia and the Eastern Front
The Great Patriotic War: The Soviet war effort is often neglected by American students. This website is presented by the University of Chicago and gives a rundown on the "militarization" of Soviet society before the war. This includes a survey of armaments buildup along with the preparation of society for the coming conflict.
Map of Barbarossa: This animated map shows the movement of German forces into Russia during 1941-42. It takes a moment to completely download.
Stalingrad - History of a Great Battle: This site covers the battle of Stalingrad, but also offers an interesting photo archive of the city and fighting.
The Battle of Kursk: The greatest armored battle of the Second World War was a slugfest between the Germans and Soviets at Kursk. This site offers a tremendous amount of information on the Battle of Kursk, and also provides excellent maps of the Russian Front.
The Russian Battlefield: A broad discussion of the Soviet war effort is provided here. one can find all sorts of materials on Russian battles, equipment, documents, and diplomacy.
Eastern Front Map - Nov. '42-April '44: This animated map shows the movement of Soviet armies retaking lost territories from the Germans.
Soviet-American Alliance and American POWs: There are primarily two topics discussed at this site, both related to the bumpy American-Soviet wartime alliance. These issues concern American Lend Lease to the USSR and the controversy over American personnel interned and lost in Soviet wartime labor camps.
Database articles for UMUC students:
Commando Supremo - Italy at War: Italy is often the forgotten "enemy" of World War II. This site offers over 100 short articles on the Italian effort, an in-depth timeline, links to other sites, and a discussion forum.
Germany's Allies: This page offers links to information on three of Hitler's important wartime Allies: Hungary, Croatia, and Slovakia. Soldiers from these countries accompanied the Germany Army into Russia, and it is usually difficult to find much information about these East European allies. This site helps bridge the gap.
Finland in World War II: Here is another neglected German ally. It is interesting to view the war from the Finnish viewpoint. There are interesting academic articles located here along with some additional links.
Database articles for UMUC students:
The War in the Pacific
The Myths of Pearl Harbor: This web site provides links to materials that show the distortions and myths surrounding the Pearl Harbor disaster. (Sorry, FDR had no knowledge about the coming Japanese attack.) The site was set up by the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army.
Pearl Harbor - Battleship Row: While the site is not academically oriented, it does contain a lot of interesting information, including maps, eyewitness accounts, photographs, and even a message board. If you want to see the Pearl Harbor layout, here is the place to go.
After the Day of Infamy: The Library of Congress presents "man in the street" interviews taken the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. One gets a feel for the shock, anger, and anxiety felt by most Americans at that time.
The Burma Campaign: This British site focuses on the British contest with Japan in Burma and surrounding environs. Related topics are included.
U.S. Cryptologic History - Midway: The National Security Agency gives an analysis of the Battle of Midway , focusing on the key role played by American cryptanalysts.
Oral History of the Battle of Midway: The Department of Navy has prepared three American eyewitness accounts of the Battle of Midway.
Database articles for UMUC students:
The United States
HyperWar - A Hypertext History of World War II: For those of you who want in-depth knowledge of American campaigns and diplomacy during the war, here is the site you need to visit. This isn't the usual amateur effort that clogs the Internet. HyperWar offers scholarly studies of various American military campaigns. There are also numerous primary documents to be found here.
National Archives - A People at War: America's National Archives & Records Administration presents the experiences of thousands of military personnel and civilians during the World War II era.
Rutgers University Oral History Archives of WWII: Rutgers has collected numerous interesting eye-witness accounts of the war and pre-war years Most of these memories are from Americans and immigrants who came to America. In order to read these files you need to download Adobe Acrobat software found at the site.
The Office of War Information: The OWI was created by the American government to boost morale and act as an agency for propaganda during the war. The OWI supported American mobilization for the war effort by recording the nation's activities. OWI photographers documented American life and culture during the early years of World War II, concentrating on such subjects as aircraft factories, training for war work, women in the work force, and the armed forces. Many of these photographs can be found at this Library of Congress site.
Japanese-Americans Internment: Photographs, documents and information are provided here, recording America's policy of interning Japanese-Americans during the war.
African Americans in World War II: Numerous articles, reports, and reading lists on the the World War II experience of African Americans. The quality of the site is uneven. There is some very good material here, but some of the contributions are of less value.
Translating War: The Combat Film Genre and Saving Private Ryan: This one is for you moviegoers out there. Author Jeanine Basinger does an excellent job in discussing how Ryan was different from most combat films, but she also demonstrates how the film followed many of the patterns seen in earlier Hollywood efforts.
Churchill & Roosevelt - The Emergence of the Anglo-American Alliance: The Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library presents an introduction to the wartime relationship established by FDR and Churchill. The site also provides links to British diplomatic files concerned with Anglo-American wartime affairs.
Database articles for UMUC students:
Soldiers, Women & Civilians
Students who desire materials on the Holocaust and on the Third Reich should see my Modern Germany page.
Coping with the Emotional Numbing of Combat: Professor Mark D. Van Ells gives a short but excellent introduction to the psychological difficulties experienced by those who face sustained combat.
Psychological and Psychosocial Consequences of Combat - World War II: This chapter is taken from a book dealing with the issue of combat fatigue in general. The specific work here covers the difficulties experienced by American soldiers during the Second World War.
The Mentality of Combat: Here is an Internet memoir by a somewhat crusty American veteran of World War II. There are some very astute observations here concerning combat, and they are well worth reading.
Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II: There are not many quality websites dealing with the lives, ideals and experiences of Germany's combat troops. This site helps fill the void by offering a review of Stephen G. Fritz's book on German soldiers and their frontline experience.
I Remember: Memoirs of Soviet soldiers, tankers, pilots, snipers, medics and others. There is a wealth of good primary information here.
Women at War: This site confines itself solely to the experience of American women, but it is still a welcome addition to the World War II story.
Total War and the Memories of Two Women: This site provides extremely interesting interviews with two women from the German and the Soviet home fronts.
Soviet Women in Combat: This site really provides short reviews of four books that deal with the contributions of Soviet women during World War II. These books focus on participation in the partisan movement and Soviet air force. Two of the books are memoirs of two women who served in ground combat.
Growing Up Nisei in Japan during the Pacific War: This account follows two Japanese-American sisters whose father had emigrated to the United States at the turn of the century and ultimately returned to Japan with the family. These two girls give their impression of Japan during the war.
Americanitos: Here is a fascinating account of a young Filipino woman during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Actually, the author gives her family history as well, but the focus remains on the period when Japan controlled the islands.
United States Report on the Japanese army and its involvement in in recruiting Korean women into prostitution (the comfort station system). Two additional accounts by former Japanese soldiers give further insight into the comfort station program. Soldier #1 and Soldier #2
Database articles for UMUC students:
Ultra and the Battle for North Africa: 1941-43: This site presents an overview of the role Ultra played in enabling the British to defeat Rommel in North Africa.
Rommel - A Bibliography: A list of published books and articles on Rommel and the North Africa campaign can be found here.
Coming Into Its Own: The Military Review offers an article devoted to the Battle of Alam Halfa and how Ultra and Intelligence contributed to the defeat of Rommel.
Operation Torch: This short article is presented by Education on the Internet and Teaching Online.
Database articles for UMUC students:
D-Day and the End of the War
Omaha Beachhead (6 June-13 June 1994): The United States Army Center of Military History presents this in-depth analysis of the D-Day operation at Omaha beach. For those curious about the complications and obstacles of the Omaha landing, a better site cannot be found.
Normandy: Britannica Online has put this site together, so you will get a sales pitch at the end of each page. Yet, there is much to offer here, including maps, photos, eyewitness accounts and discussion concerning the whole Operation Overlord process.
D-Day Accounts: Here are numerous first-hand accounts from many American soldiers, sailors, and fliers who participated in the D-Day endeavor. A lot of this material is intriguing.
Historical Overview of the Battle of the Bulge: This page provides a very short summary of the Battle of the Bulge. You can link up to other features of the operation through this site.
The V-2 Ballistic Weapon: This is a pretty good account of Germany's V-2 rockets. Most of us have heard of these weapons, but usually we don't know much about them. This site helps fill the void. Information on the V-1 predecessor can be found here.
Battle for Berlin: Here is an interesting paper that is part memoir and part history of the 1945 collapse of Berlin.
Database articles for UMUC students:
Spaatz, Carl. "Evolution of Air Power: Our Urgent Need for an Air Force Second to None" (JSTOR)
Werrell, Kenneth P. "The Strategic Bombing of Germany in World War II: Costs and Accomplishments" (JSTOR)
Weinberg, Gerhard L. " German Plans for Victory, 1944-45" (MasterFILE Premier)
The Decline and Fall of Japan
The History and Ethics Behind The Manhattan Project: This interesting site presents a history of the Manhattan Project and includes an explanation of the challenges confronted by scientists as they worked to produce the most destructive weapon known to history. A second portion of the site discusses the ethics behind the development and use of atomic weaponry.
A Personal Record of Hiroshima: Several A-Bomb survivors give eyewitness accounts on the bombing of Hiroshima. Some accounts provide responses from readers. A second, related site is Voices of A-Bomb Survivors.
Atomic Bomb - Decision: This site provides numerous documents pertaining to the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Database articles for UMUC students:
War Crimes Trials
The Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1946-1948): Most people are familiar with the Nuremberg War Trials, but little is ever said about the fate of Japan's wartime leaders. This site gives a very brief introduction to the topic.
Tokyo War Crimes Trials: Gives more details and a broader outline to the war trials held in Tokyo.
Famous World Trials -The Nuremberg Trials 1945-49: One can find a very good account of the Nuremberg War Trials here. Photographs, testimony, additional links, and documents are also provided.
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School - The Nuremberg War Trials: This site is for those legal buffs who want access to a mountain of trial primary documents. The site and the material are very well organized, so this should make your research easier. Happy hunting.
Pacific Naval Battles: This excellent map shows where the most significant Pacific naval battles and campaigns took place.
World War II - Asian and Europen Theaters: The University of Texas presents this collection of easily readable maps. The various fronts and engagements are not difficult to find and follow. Many of the maps can be enlarged by placing the cursor on the map and clicking with your mouse.
Balkans Map - 1941: This animated map shows the directions Germans took as they crashed into Yugoslavia and Greece.
World War II: Asia - Pacific: This set of maps offers various battlefronts in the Asia and Pacific theater.
World War II: Europe: A second, complimentary site that provides maps of the European, North African, and Russian fronts.
World War II Maps: These maps from Indiana State help clarify confusing war-related events. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of each page; otherwise additional excellent maps might be bypassed. Don't forget to click on the titles of the maps in order to get an enlarged version. Students might want to download these maps for future reference.