The sharp focus on Mrs. Verhagen gives “The Winged Watchman,” Hilda van Stockum’s novel about a Dutch family during World War II, such power. The close-up tasks of the women are just as heroic as the tasks of the men who often fought to protect their loved ones. Who knew a great war story would [...]
It is necessary for President Vladimir Putin to restore his previous and proper focus on what it means to be Russian in the twenty-first century. At the heart of this healthy focus is the absolute necessity of Russia separating herself psychologically from the Soviet Union. On January 27, 1945, advancing Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz concentration [...]
From the beginning of their friendship, Franklin D. Roosevelt could not see Joseph Stalin as anything other than an ally, an anti-imperialist and proto-democrat, representing all that was modern and rational and equalitarian. Robert Nisbet concludes that Roosevelt’s arrogant blindness was the key to Soviet mischief. World War II—especially the European theatre—intrigued Robert A. Nisbet [...]
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the following speech to a Joint Session of the United States Congress on December 8, 1941, one day after the Empire of Japan's attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Though Roosevelt referred to December 7th as a "date which will live in infamy," the speech itself [...]
Commissioned by Adolf Hitler, “Triumph of the Will” is a terrifying film. It is as if, for a moment, something infernal took control of the camera and caused the audience to be entranced, as it projected a lie into Germany’s consciousness, and then beyond to an unwilling world. As a consequence, 85 million people were [...]
Had the Japanese succeeded in their last-ditch atomic effort, the world’s history might have been very different. By August 1945, Japan had abandoned the idea of bombing mainland America. Instead, Japanese leaders were planning to use what atomic weapons they could produce on the Allied invasion fleet that they believed would soon be off its [...]
Throughout the film “The Thin Red Line,” Private Witt seems to be in the midst of his own form of contemplative prayer in the environment of war. After all his compassionate searching, he, surrounded by the enemy, lays down his life for his friends and falls into a blissful gaze. I find Private Witt’s character [...]
On June 18, 1940, two days after France had sought an armistice with Germany, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons about the calamitous turn of events in Europe. Britain now stood alone against Adolf Hitler’s military machine, and in this speech, Churchill bolsters his countrymen’s courage to fight for freedom and [...]
On June 6, 1984—the 40th anniversary of D-Day—President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech to an audience of D-Day veterans and world leaders commemorating the lost and living heroes. He stood at the site of the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc on the northern coast of France where Allied soldiers had courageously charged ashore. [...]
Winston Churchill’s leadership through World War Two led the United Kingdom to victory against Nazi Germany. His decision at Mers el-Kebir is a clear example of statesmanship, one worth study and imitation. Winston S. Churchill demonstrated statesmanship, prudence, and determination in the destruction of the French Fleet at Oran. Prime Minister Churchill sat at the [...]
The Spanish Flu had arisen without warning and was especially virulent. It challenged established knowledge about the nature of such diseases, killing not the young and the old, but instead men and women who were in the prime of life. Not only did doctors struggle to treat it, but they were also at a loss [...]
From British Movietone: "V E Day began with Mr Churchill's broadcast officially announcing the end of war in Europe. Londoners took to the streets in celebrations which continued for nearly two days. Outside Buckingham Palace the crowds chanted 'we want the King' and were rewarded by the Royal Family appearing on the balcony. At nine [...]
It is now 78 years since the Allies freed the Netherlands from the clutches of the Nazis, yet my neighbor Christina (“Stien”) van Egmond remembers the events with amazing clarity. Ms. Stien was 16 at the time and, having graduated from high school several months previously, was working in her father’s greengrocery in Diemen, a [...]
During the Japanese-American internment of 1942-1946, there arose a style of art that drew from elements and techniques of Western and traditional Japanese forms. Through a closer look at these works of art, Japanese-American internment art can serve to reflect the internees’ cultural, social, and political resilience while also allowing us to study the forms [...]