2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 920 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 15 trips to carry that many people.
What impact did the Second World War have upon British imperial authority? (by Valentin Boulan)
The Second World War was a key event in reshaping the geo-political map in the second half of the 20th century. The conflict resulted in a power shift from European imperial dominance towards US and Soviet hegemony , and a change in the organisation of nations characterised by the breakdown of imperial structures, particularly Britain’s. Certainly, many historians have pointed to the British Empire’s rapid post-war decline, arguing the war itself was a decisive factor in bringing British authority to an end. Before going any further, it must be reminded that WWII alone cannot explain the decline of the British Empire, and other factors such as the rising education of colonial subjects should not be overlooked.
However, this article aims not to compare the impact of the war with that of other issues. Rather, it will highlight some of the direct and indirect consequences of the war itself on British…
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World War II, Chapter 45, Knee Deep
World War II
Knee Deep
Chapter 45
According to the Various Stations and Areas Occupied by the 35th Quartermaster document Marvin Cain’s family provided me, Dad’s Division arrived in Cornwall, England on 26 May 1944 and remained there 42 days until July 9th. They received further training while there. According to the Combat Chronicle for the 35th Infantry on Wikipedia;
The 35th Infantry entered combat 11 July, fighting in the Normandy hedgerows, north of Saint-Lô. The Division beat off 12 German counterattacks at Emelie before entering Saint-Lô, 18 July. After mopping up in the Saint-Lô area, it took part in the offensive action southwest of Saint-Lô, pushing the Germans across the Vire River,
Once again Dad’s division was not the Infantry but his division was attached to the 35th Infantry overseas driving soldiers, supplies and ammunition for the Infantry.
19 June 1944, Cornwall…
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2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.
John Browning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Browning
John Browning
John Mose Browning The 1911, 100 years old
Source More Images of different styles at Little Gun Info
John Moses Browning (January 23, 1855[1] – November 26, 1926), born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world. He is arguably the most important figure in the development of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms and is credited with 128 gun patents.[2] He made his first firearm at age 13 in his father’s gun shop, and was awarded his first patent on October 7, 1879 at the age of 24.[3]
Browning influenced nearly all categories of firearms design. He invented or made significant improvements to single-shot, lever-action, and slide-action, rifles and shotguns. His most significant contributions were arguably in the area of autoloading firearms. He developed the first autoloading pistols that were both reliable and compact by inventing the telescoping bolt, integrating the bolt and barrel shroud into what is known as the pistol slide. Browning’s telescoping bolt design is now found on nearly every modern semi-automatic pistol, as well as several modern fully automatic weapons. He also developed the first gas-operated machine gun, the Colt-Browning Model 1895—a system that surpassed mechanical recoil operation to become the standard for most high-power self-loading firearm designs worldwide. Browning would also make significant contributions to automatic cannon development.
Browning’s most successful designs include the M1911 pistol, the Browning Hi Power pistol, the Browning .50 caliber machine gun, the Browning Automatic Rifle, and the Browning Auto-5, a ground-breaking semi-automatic shotgun. These arms are nearly identical today to those assembled by Browning, with only minor changes in detail and cosmetics. Even today, John Browning’s guns are still some of the most copied guns in the world.
John M. Browning and Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Production examples of the Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle caught the attention of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, who dispatched a representative to evaluate the competition. Winchester bought the design for eight thousand dollars and moved production to their Connecticut factory. From 1883, Browning worked in partnership with Winchester and designed a series of rifles and shotguns, most notably the Winchester Model 1887 and Model 1897 shotguns, the falling block single shot Model 1885, and the lever-action Model 1886, Model 1892, Model 1894 and Model 1895 rifles, most of which are still in production today in some form; over seven million Model 1894s have been produced, more than any other centerfire sporting rifle.[4]
Winchester manufactured several popular small arms designed by John M. Browning. For decades in the late 19th Century-early 20th Century, Browning designs and Winchester firearms were synonymous and the collaboration was highly successful. This came to an end when Browning proposed a new semi-automatic shotgun design, a prototype finished in 1898, to Winchester management, which ultimately became the Browning Auto-5 shotgun. As was the custom of the time, Browning’s earlier designs had been licensed exclusively to Winchester (and other manufacturers) for a single fee payment. With this new product, Browning introduced in his negotiations a continuous royalty fee based upon unit sales, rather than a single front-end fee payment. If the new shotgun became highly successful, Browning stood to make substantially more fee income over the prior license fee arrangements. Winchester management was displeased with the bold change in their relationship, and rejected Browning’s offer. Remington Arms was also approached, however the president of Remington died of a heart attack as Browning waited to offer them the gun. This forced Browning to look overseas to produce the shotgun.
Having recently successfully negotiated firearm licenses with Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium (FN), Browning took the new shotgun design to FN; the offer was accepted and FN manufactured the new shotgun, honoring its inventor, as the Browning Auto-5. The Browning Auto-5 was continuously manufactured as a highly popular shotgun throughout the 20th century. In response, Winchester shifted reliance on John Browning designs when it adopted a hammerless shotgun design of Thomas Crossley Johnson for the new Winchester Model 12, which was based upon design features of the earlier Browning-designed Winchester Model 1897 shotgun. This shift marked the end of an era of Winchester-Browning collaboration.
Military Awards Of World War II
Military awards of World War II were presented by most of the combatants.
United States
Main article: Awards and decorations of the United States military
- Medal of Honor
- Navy Cross
- Distinguished Service Cross
- Distinguished Service Medal
- Legion of Merit
- Silver Star
- Bronze Star
- Purple Heart
- Distinguished Flying Cross
- Air Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
- American Campaign Medal
Soviet Union
- Hero of the Soviet Union
- Order of Lenin
- Order of Victory
- Order of the Red Banner
- Order of Suvorov
- Order of Kutuzov
- Order of Ushakov
- Order of Nakhimov
- Order of Glory
- Order of Alexander Nevsky
- Order of the Patriotic War
- Order of the Red Star
- Medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”
- Medal “For the Victory over Japan”
- Medal “For the Defence of Leningrad”
- Medal “For the Defence of Odessa”
- Medal “For the Defence of Sevastopol”
- Medal “For the Defence of Stalingrad”
- Medal “For the Defence of Moscow”
- Medal “For the Defence of the Caucasus”
- Medal “For the Defence of the Soviet Transarctic”
- Medal “For the Defence of Kiev”
- Medal “For the Capture of Berlin”
- Medal “For the Capture of Vienna”
- Medal “For the Capture of Königsberg”
- Medal “For the Capture of Budapest”
- Medal “For the Liberation of Prague”
- Medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw”
- Medal “For the Liberation of Belgrade”
In Soviet Union orders and medals were also awarded to cities and military divisions.
United Kingdom
- Victoria Cross
- George Cross
- Order of the Bath
- Order of the British Empire
- Distinguished Service Order
- Distinguished Service Cross
- Military Cross
- Distinguished Flying Cross
- Air Force Cross
- Distinguished Conduct Medal
- Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
- Distinguished Service Medal
- Military Medal
- Distinguished Flying Medal
- Air Force Medal
- Burma Gallantry Medal
- George Medal
- Mention in Despatches
- 1939-1945 Star
- Atlantic Star
- Air Crew Europe Star
- Africa Star
- Pacific Star
- Burma Star
- Italy Star
- France and Germany Star
- Defence Medal
- War Medal 1939–1945
France and Belgium
Poland
- Virtuti Militari
- Order Krzyża Grunwaldu
- Krzyż Walecznych (Cross of the Valorous)
- Krzyż Partyzancki (Partisan Cross)
- Monte Cassino campaign cross
Yugoslavia
- Order of the National Hero (Orden narodnog heroja)
- Order of the National Liberation
- Order of Bravery (Yugoslavia)
- Order of the Partisan Star (Yugoslavia)
- Order of Brotherhood and Unity (Yugoslavia)
- The Medal of Bravery (Yugoslavia)
Axis Powers and Allies
Nazi Germany
Main article: Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany
Romania
Finland
World War II, chapter 28, Winter in Tennessee
World War II
Winter in Tennessee
Chapter 28
Dad is still in Tennessee on field maneuvers. They keep running into what he calls “problems.” The way that I understand this term is when they are out in the field, they come across problems they have to overcome. For instance, they are driving along and they come across enemy snipers. They then have to fight the good fight and not get captured or (pretend) killed. It seems as though they will be on maneuvers until after the first of the year. From what Dad says it has been very cold out. I kind of appreciate them having to deal with the freezing cold here in training. I know what kind of weather they will encounter when they get overseas, but hindsight is 20/20. I do want to believe that the Army learned a lot about training men for war from what…
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Vocabulary
German World Vocabulary
Against | Genen
Drive, Go, Run, Move | Fahren
Out | Aus
Counter-Offensive | Genenoffensive
World War II | Zweter Weltrieg
Move | Gehen
Russian World Vocabulary
Axis Map – Zweter Weltrieg Geneoffensive (Counter Offensive) 1941-1942
Zweter Weltrieg Geneoffensive (Counter Offensive) 1941-1942
English World War II
Zweter Weltrieg Geneoffensive ( Counter Offensive) 1943-1945
English World War II
Adolf Hitlers Headquaters
Apocalypse The Second World War SHOCK PART 1 thru 3
Apocalypse The Second World War SHOCK PART 1
Apocalypse The Second World War SHOCK PART 2
Apocalypse The Second World War SHOCK PART 3
The Liberty Memorial – The National World War I Museum
The Liberty Memorial, located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, is a memorial to the soldiers who died in World War I and houses The National World War I Museum, as designated by the United States Congress in 2004.[3] Groundbreaking commenced November 1, 1921, and the city held a site dedication. The memorial was completed and dedicated on November 11, 1926.
On September 21, 2006, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne declared Liberty Memorial a National Historic Landmark.[4]
Second World War Allies Counteroffensive Europe 1943-1945 Map
Second World War Allies Counteroffensive Europe 1943-1945 Map
Germany The Third Reich 1933-45
Germany The Third Reich, 1933-45
Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook Adolf Hitler was born in the Austrian border town of Braunau am Inn in 1889. When he was seventeen, he was refused admission to the Vienna Art Academy, having been found insufficiently talented. He remained in Vienna, however, where he led a bohemian existence, acquiring an ideology based on belief in a German master race that was threatened by an international Jewish conspiracy responsible for many of the world’s problems. Hitler remained in Vienna until 1913, when he moved to Munich. After serving with bravery in the German army during World War I, he joined the right-wing Bavarian German Workers’ Party in 1919. The following year, the party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (National-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei–NSDAP). Its members were known as Nazis, a term derived from the German pronunciation of “National.” In 1921 Hitler assumed leadership of the NSDAP.
As leader of the NSDAP, Hitler reorganized the party and encouraged the assimilation of other radical right-wing groups. Gangs of unemployed demobilized soldiers were gathered under the command of a former army officer, Ernst Röhm, to form the Storm Troops (Sturmabteilung–SA), Hitler’s private army. Under Hitler’s leadership, the NSDAP joined with others on the right in denouncing the Weimar Republic and the “November criminals” who had signed the Treaty of Versailles. The postwar economic slump won the party a following among unemployed ex-soldiers, the lower middle class, and small farmers; in 1923 membership totaled about 55,000. General Ludendorff supported the former corporal in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923 in Munich, an attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government. The putsch failed, and Hitler received a light sentence of five years, of which he served less than one. Incarcerated in relative comfort, he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), in which he set out his long-term political aims.
After the failure of the putsch, Hitler turned to “legal revolution” as the means to power and chose two parallel paths to take the Nazis to that goal. First, the NSDAP would employ propaganda to create a national mass party capable of coming to power through electoral successes. Second, the party would develop a bureaucratic structure and prepare itself to assume roles in government. Beginning in the mid-1920s, Nazi groups sprang up in other parts of Germany. In 1927 the NSDAP organized the first Nuremberg party congress, a mass political rally. By 1928 party membership exceeded 100,000; the Nazis, however, polled only 2.6 percent of the vote in the Reichstag elections in May.
A mere splinter party in 1928, the NSDAP became better known the following year when it formed an alliance with the DNVP to launch a plebiscite against the Young Plan on the issue of reparations. The DNVP’s leader, Alfred Hugenberg, owner of a large newspaper chain, considered Hitler’s spellbinding oratory a useful means of attracting votes. The DNVP-NSDAP union brought the NSDAP within the framework of a socially influential coalition of the antirepublican right. As a result, Hitler’s party acquired respectability and access to wealthy contributors.
Had it not been for the economic collapse that began with the Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929, Hitler probably would not have come to power. The Great Depression hit Germany hard because the German economy’s well-being depended on short-term loans from the United States. Once these loans were recalled, Germany was devastated. Unemployment went from 8.5 percent in 1929 to 14 percent in 1930, to 21.9 percent in 1931, and, at its peak, to 29.9 percent in 1932. Compounding the effects of the Depression were the drastic economic measures taken by Center Party politician Heinrich Brüning, who served as chancellor from March 1930 until the end of May 1932. Brüning’s budget cuts were designed to cause so much misery that the Allies would excuse Germany from making any further reparations payments. In this at least, Brüning succeeded. United States president Herbert Hoover declared a “reparations moratorium” in 1932. In the meantime, the Depression deepened, and social discontent intensified to the point that Germany seemed on the verge of civil war.
In times of desperation, voters are ready for extreme solutions, and the NSDAP exploited the situation. Skilled Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels launched an intensive media campaign that ceaselessly expounded a few simple notions until even the dullest voter knew Hitler’s basic program. The party’s program was broad and general enough to appeal to many unemployed people, farmers, white-collar workers, members of the middle class who had been hurt by the Depression or had lost status since the end of World War I, and young people eager to dedicate themselves to nationalist ideals. If voters were not drawn to some aspects of the party platform, they might agree with others. Like other right-wing groups, the party blamed the Treaty of Versailles and reparations for the developing crisis. Nazi propaganda attacked the Weimar political system, the “November criminals,” Marxists, internationalists, and Jews. Besides promising a solution to the economic crisis, the NSDAP offered the German people a sense of national pride and the promise of restored order.
Three elections–in September 1930, in July 1932, and in November 1932–were held between the onset of the Depression and Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in January 1933. The vote shares of the SPD and the Center Party fluctuated somewhat yet remained much as they had been in 1928, when the SPD held a large plurality of 153 seats in the Reichstag and the Center Party held sixty-one, third after the DNVP’s seventy-three seats. The shares of the parties of the extreme left and extreme right, the KPD and the NSDAP, respectively, increased dramatically in this period, KPD holdings almost doubling from fifty-four in 1928 to 100 in November 1932. The NSDAP’s success was even greater. Beginning with twelve seats in 1928, the Nazis increased their delegation seats nearly tenfold, to 107 seats in 1930. They doubled their holdings to 230 in the summer of 1932. This made the NSDAP the largest party in the Reichstag, far surpassing the SPD with its 133 seats. The gains of the NSDAP came at the expense of the other right-wing parties.
Chancellor Brüning was unable to secure parliamentary majorities for his austerity policy, so he ruled by decree, a right given him by President Hindenburg. Head of the German army during World War I, Hindenburg had been elected president in 1925. Ruling without parliament was a major step in moving away from parliamentary democracy and had the approval of many on the right. Many historians see this development as part of a strategic plan formulated at the time by elements of the conservative establishment to abolish the republic and replace it with an authoritarian regime.
By late May 1932, Hindenburg had found Brüning insufficiently pliable and named a more conservative politician, Franz von Papen, as his successor. After the mid-1932 elections that made the NSDAP Germany’s largest party, Papen sought to harness Hitler for the purposes of traditional conservatives by offering him the post of vice chancellor in a new cabinet. Hitler refused this offer, demanding the chancellorship instead.
General Kurt von Schleicher, a master intriguer and a leader of the conservative campaign to abolish the republic, convinced Hindenburg to dismiss Papen. Schleicher formed a new government in December but lost Hindenburg’s support within a month. On January 30, 1933, Papen again put together a cabinet, this time with Hitler as chancellor. Papen and other conservatives thought they could tame Hitler by tying him down with the responsibilities of government and transferring to themselves his tremendous popularity with a large portion of the electorate. But they proved no match for his ruthlessness and his genius at knowing how–and when–to seize power. Within two months, Hitler had dictatorial control over Germany.
The Third Reich, 1933-45
Data as of August 1995
NOTE: The information regarding Germany on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Germany The Third Reich, 1933-45 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Germany The Third Reich, 1933-45 should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.
Citation model:
The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
Comments and queries are welcome and may be addressed to:
Central Intelligence Agency
Attn: Office of Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20505
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
Telephone: [1] (703) 482-0623
FAX: [1] (703) 482-1739
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