The Cambridge history of the Second World War

Following on from earlier three‐volume histories of the Cold War and the First World War, Cambridge University Press completes a trilogy with this detailed treatment of the Second World War. Multi‐authored in the Cambridge tradition, the individual chapters cover a wide range of events and topics and the 81 contributors, mainly but not exclusively from the United Kingdom and the United States, include both scholars who have already established a reputation in the subject as well as those who are in the process of doing so. Perhaps the greatest strength of the volumes is the treatment given to what may be loosely referred to as the Pacific War. No one who uses them properly is going to have any doubts about the nature and importance of the struggle between Japan and its opponents between 1937 and 1945, and it is particularly encouraging to note the use of Chinese and Japanese sources by the authors, when so many English‐language books on the subject cite none. The principal weakness of the enterprise is its division into an unnecessarily complicated series of topics, which is not always adhered to by the authors and which often compels the unfortunate reader to skip backwards and forwards, not only within but between volumes. Despite this flaw, however, this remains an important contribution to the history of the Second World War and will need to be consulted by any serious student of the subject for many years to come.     

德国政界对第二次世界大战的历史反思

第二次世界大战结束后,德国,特别是联邦德国的政治家曾对希特勒和民族社会主义给德国和其他受害国人民带来的"灾难"进行过多种多样的反思和探讨。从总体上说,他们的认罪、道歉和赔偿的态度是比较真诚的,但不谐之音时时可闻,争论也非常激烈。政治家们对历史的认识,不仅与其个人修养、价值观和党派立场有密切联系,而且也与国内外的局势变化息息相关,并且往往表现出为现实政治服务的目的。历史反思与现实政治自始至终都是难分难解的。     

世界历史发展进程中的第二次世界大战

第二次世界大战是资本主义陷入深刻危机的产物,使人类在物质上和精神上蒙受了前所未有的巨大双重劫难。但是,战后形成的社会主义新气象和殖民体系的瓦解,以及在国际关系中形成的各种维护世界和平与安全、促进全球经济发展与合作的新机制,进一步加快了世界历史的发展进程。战后的世界历史进入了一个以和平与发展为时代主题的新阶段。     

Economic nationalism in Flanders before the Second World War

ABSTRACT. In this article the author makes the claim that economic nationalist ideas had their origins in the Flemish Movement before the First World War and were further developed in the interwar period. This is an important modification of the classical view that Flemish nationalism before the Second World War was mainly focused on the linguistic and cultural situation in Belgium. Central to this contribution is the view of economic nationalism as an ideology using social and economic means for nationalistic purposes, although there are variations in the degree to which economy and nationalism are tools or purpose. In any case there was not much consistency, because there were different views on what constituted the interests of the ‘Flemish nation’, and which social and economic principles should be adopted. In addition, a movement that did not show much unity could not construct a homogeneous social‐economic agenda.     

Review Article:Three Second World War Studies

STEVEN MERRITT MINER. Between Churchill and Stalin: The Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the Origins of the Grand Alliance. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. Pp. 319. $36.00 (US);

CHARLES MESSENGER. Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Times of Oberstgruppenfiihrer and Panzergeneral-Oberst der Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich. London and New York: Brassey's Defence Publishers (Pergamon), 1988. Pp.xvi,245.$26.95 (US);

TONY LE TISSIER. The Battle of Berlin 1945. London: Jonathan Cape, 1988. Pp. xiii, ago. £15.