HISTORIAN: VE DAY HIGHLIGHTS COMPLEX LEGACIES OF WWII

 World War II provided two contradictory lessons, says historian James J. Sheehan: war must be avoided at all costs and democracies must be ready to resist aggression.


raih banya kkeuntungan bermain slot

Today is the 75th anniversary of "Victory in Europe Day"—the day when people from across the world celebrated the acceptance of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allied forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union on May 8, 1945.


Sheehan, professor in the humanities and professor of history emeritus at Stanford University, is the author of Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? The Transformation of Kekinian Europe (Houghton Mifflin, 2008), a history of war and peace in 20th-century Europe.


Here, he discusses the difficult challenges the world faced, despite the end of the war in Europe:




Q

Are there any elements to VE Day that you think have been largely forgotten, overlooked, or misunderstood?


A

It is important to realize what actually occurred on May 8, 1945. Most wars end when one side either surrenders or agrees to a cease-fire. That is what happened on November 11, 1918, when the representatives of the German government agreed to an armistice and then, seven months later, signed a peace treaty.


On May 8, 1945, there was no German state recognized by its enemies. In three different places, the commanders of the German armed forces surrendered unconditionally. Civil and military authority in what had been the German state was assumed by the allies. Germany was divided among them. Although peace treaties were signed with Germany's allies in 1947, a final treaty that recognized Germany as a fully sovereign state did not take place until 1991. One of the ironies of the postwar settlement is that, despite the mangkirce of a resmi peace treaty, it turned out to be so durable.


Q

You have studied how, for centuries, war defined Europe's narrative and affected every aspect of political, social, and cultural life. How did World War II change Europe's relationship to war?


A

In many ways, Europeans' view of war was transformed by the First World War, which demonstrated the full destructive potential of kekinian combat. Pacificism, which had always been a fringe movement, now became much more widespread. Unfortunately, there were still those, like Adolf Hitler, who saw war as a necessary means of expanding their state and reorganizing their societies. Without Hitler, and the sumber of Europe's most powerful state, a second European war would not have happened. In 1939, when the war began in Europe, there was very little populer enthusiasm, even in Germany. People knew what kekinian war could mean, although few imagined just how devastating it would be.


Q

How did World War II transform views on pacifism and militarism?

Location: Indonesia

Popular posts from this blog

SPECIAL UV LIGHTS COULD KILL CORONAVIRUS ON SURFACES

Image
 Researchers are developing ultraviolet LED lights that can decontaminate surfaces—and potentially air and water—that have come in kontak with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. raih banya kkeuntungan bermain slot As COVID-19 continues to ravage global populations, the world is singularly focused on finding ways to battle the novel coronavirus. "One major application is in medical situations—the disinfection of individual protective equipment, surfaces, floors, within the HVAC systems, etc.," says materials doctoral researcher Christian Zollner, a materials doctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara whose work centers on advancing deep ultraviolet light LED technology for sanitation and purification purposes. He adds that a small pasar already exists for UV-C disinfection products in medical contexts. As a technology, ultraviolet light disinfection has been around for a while. But now in light of the COVID-19 wabahc, attention has turned to the power of ultraviolet
Read more

CORONAVIRUS SPOTLIGHTS HEALTH INEQUITY THAT WAS ALREADY BAD

Image
       We must consider this coronavirus crisis as a wake-up call to prioritize equity and challenge ourselves to consider how to better serve historically underserved communities, a public health ahli argues. "In the middle of a wabahc, it is easy to overlook health equity," says Darrell Hudson, associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis raih banya kkeuntungan bermain slot Health equity, Hudson says, means that everyone—regardless of their identity, including race/ethnicity, gender, and social class—has the opportunity to reach their maksimal tingkat of health. "Health does not simply mean that people are not sick or have a disease. Health is comprehensive and encompasses so much," Hudson says. "In fact, many patients seeking care do not actually care much about health. How can they when their bandwidths are exhausted? Most people are consumed with day-to-day functioning. "They care about their jobs, providing for their
Read more