History of War

Each passing month marks different 80-year milestones for many of the most poignant and important moments of the Second World War. In May, 1942, perhaps one of the most important encounters – certainly in the Pacific War – took place around Midway Atoll, between the US and Japanese fleets. From fighting on the back foot almost entirely for five months, the carrier engagement at Midway saw a resounding turnaround in the war for the US. For Japan, Admiral Yamamoto’s ominous prediction that success against their powerful adversary could only last a matter of months, was becoming a reality. This issue, historian James Holland explains how the US turned the tide in the battle and what it meant for Japan’s hitherto unstoppable conquests. FOLLOW THE HISTORY OF WAR TEAM / HISTORY OF WARMAG @…

JAMES HOLLAND Historian, author and co-host of the podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk, James spoke with History of War about the Battle of Midway. He reveals how the US achieved victory, and why the result was so important for the course of the war in the Pacific (page 24). MIGUEL MIRANDA A regular to the History of War pages, Miguel is an historian, author and journalist based in Manila, Philippines. Starting on page 12 he recounts the history of NATO — one of the world’s most powerful military alliances. GAVIN MORTIMER Gavin is a renowned expert on the history of the special forces, particularly during the Second World War. On page 40 he takes on one of the most famed figures in that history: David Stirling, the founder of the SAS. SUBSCRIBE &…

A British patrol, including a Ferret armoured car, is photographed close to the border with East Germany the year before construction of the Berlin Wall began. After the end of the Second World War, West Berlin remained within control of the Allied Powers, split between France, the US and UK occupying forces. Prior to 1961, when the Berlin Wall was built, movement between Soviet-occupied East Berlin and West Berlin was much easier, and an estimated three million Germans fled East Germany between 1949 and 1961.…

Female members of Iran’s Basij militia pose brandishing AK-47s during celebrations marking 25 years since the militia was founded. In the aftermath of Iran’s revolution (1978-79), and the build-up to the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, created the militia purportedly to defend the revolution, and his regime. Named The Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed but most commonly known as Basij (meaning ‘mobilisation’), the militia was formed of millions of civilian volunteers and was heavily involved in the war with Iraq. After the war, however, Basij became used as a paramilitary wing of the regime, deployed to quell protests and opposition.…

2 February 1946 THE LONG TELEGRAM Just months after the end of World War II the American ambassador in Moscow, George Kennan, sends a report to the State Department explaining the Kremlin’s expansionist ideology. To oppose growing Soviet influence and power Kennan argues it’s vitally important to uphold democratic ideals in the West. 4 April 1949 01 NATO IS BORN Eager to strengthen collective security in Western Europe, the representatives of 12 countries – including Iceland and Denmark – meet in Washington DC and sign the founding documents of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 1950-53 02 THE KOREAN WAR Although the war never involves the NATO alliance, the invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950 galvanises the member countries to send forces under a United Nations mandate. China and the Soviet Union become directly involved and hostilities…

From 1945 onward the challenge of rebuilding a devastated Europe was so vast that US President Harry Truman’s administration struggled to devise a strategy for the continent, which by 1946 had 60 million refugees, with 14 million displaced in Germany alone. But there remained critical voices from within and without Washington DC, such as the former isolationist and Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg, who urged a firm American commitment – a commitment that required the huge costs to be shared by the Allies. This approach was also proposed by former Secretary of War George C Marshall in a speech at Harvard on 5 June 1947. An even earlier proponent was Winston Churchill who, after losing re-election as prime minister, devoted himself to writing and public speaking. In the post-war years he was…