A military camp in the middle of nowhere: mobilities,dislocation and the archaeology of a Second World War German military base in Finnish Lapland

This article discusses military mobilities and encampment, and associated themes such as dislocation and displacement of people, through the case of a Second World War German military camp in Finnish Lapland. The article describes the camp and its archaeological research and discusses various aspects of the camp and camp life in its particular subarctic ‘wilderness’ setting, framing the discussion within the themes of mobilities and dislocations, and especially their multiple impacts on the German troops and their multinational prisoners-of-war based in the camp. A particular emphasis is put on how mobilities and dislocation – in effect ‘being stuck’ in a northern wilderness – were intertwined and how the inhabitants of the camp coped with the situation, as well as how this is reflected in the different features of the camp itself and the archaeological material that the fieldwork produced.     

‘Imago Mundi’ bibliography (of literature mainly published in 1985–87)

The History of Cartography, Volume 1: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Edited by J. B. Harley and David Woodward. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Pp. xxii + 599, 40 colour plates. US$100.00

Kartographische Quellen Welt‐, See‐ und Regionalkarten by Anna‐Dorothee von den Brincken. Typologie des Sources du Moyen Âge Occidental, fasc. 51. Turn‐hout: Brepols (for Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut d'Études Médiévales), 1988. Pp. 117, plates.

Chizu no Shiwa: Creases of Map or Essays on the History of Cartography by Kazutaka Unno. Tokyo: Yūshōdō Press, 1985. 4 8419 0009 8. Pp. xii+338, illustrations. Yen 3500.

Maps and Plans for the Local Historian and Collector by David Smith. London: Batsford, 1988. 0 7134 5191 2. Pp. 240, illustrations. £19.95.

Maps for Local History by Paul Hindle. London: Batsford, 1988. Batsford Local History Series. 0 7134 5583 7. Pp. 160, illustrations. £14.95.

American Maps and Mapmakers: Commercial Cartography in the Nineteenth Century by Walter W. Ristow. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1985.08143 17685. Pp. 488, illustrations. $60.00.

Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History edited by Helen Hornbeck Tanner. The Civilisation of the American Indian Series 174. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press (for The Newberry Library), 1987. 0 8061 1515 7 (cloth)/0 8061 2056 8 (paper). Pp. xv+224, illustrations, maps. $29.95.

Cartographic Innovations: An international handbook of mapping terms to 1900 edited by Helen M. Wallis and Arthur H. Robinson. Tring: Map Collector Publications, 1987. Pp. xx + 353, illustrations. £47.     

Inter-imperial Humanitarianism: The Macau Delegation of the Portuguese Red Cross during the Second World War

ABSTRACT

Focusing on the history of the wartime Macau Delegation of the Portuguese Red Cross (1943–46), this article aims to shed light on interactions between Macau and the occupied British colony of Hong Kong during the Second World War. It argues that the Macau Red Cross branch was a concrete example of Portuguese collaborative neutrality with the Allies, most particularly the British. In coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, this local branch played an important role in humanitarian assistance to many victims of the war, particularly refugees and POW dependants, in Hong Kong and Shanghai when British authorities were unable to negotiate an exchange with Japan or provide direct assistance in those occupied cities.

The wartime Red Cross in Macau was a small-scale and temporary endeavour but, nevertheless, a multi-dimensional one: it was a local creation, a delegation integrated in a national and colonial context, an inter-imperial institution and part of a transnational organisation with global reach.     

The German Approach to Counterinsurgency in the Second World War

From the German attack on Poland, the political aims of National Socialist ideology replaced other considerations in the field of counterinsurgency. This tendency escalated during the following years, with the invasion of the Soviet Union as the key turning point. The fighting at the front and against insurgents became interconnected with the destruction of the European Jews, and the radicalisation of the German approach provoked further resistance from underground movements throughout Europe. In the form of a literature review that presents the current state of research on six operational areas (Poland, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, and the Soviet Union), this article argues that German counterinsurgency policy between 1939 and 1945 combined military necessity, ideology, and mentality in a way that facilitated genocide.     

Transatlantic Generosity: Canada's ‘Billion Dollar Gift’ to the United Kingdom in the Second World War

On the basis of research in Canadian, British, and US records, this article examines the development and implementation of the most generous financial act in the Second World War: Canada's billion dollar gift to the United Kingdom in 1942. The origins of this extraordinary measure, the political and economic factors that influenced its introduction, and the reasons why its replacement differed so markedly in format even as it replicated the fundamental purposes of the gift, are all assessed within the context of Canada's economic relations with Britain and the United States. As this analysis demonstrates, the gift advanced Canada's enlightened self-interest and bolstered the war effort of its oldest and closest ally. It was an economic success but a political failure; how it was perceived and depicted in Canada ensured that it would not be repeated, even though the conditions and requirements that necessitated the gift had not changed and equivalent measures had to be implemented.     

The Study of Small Finds at the 1644 Battle of Cheriton

Abstract

A metal detection survey over a 2.6% sample of the Registered 1644 Battlefield of Cheriton yielded 355 metallic small finds, of which 92% were directly related to the battle. An archaeological analysis of the sample emphasises the use of non-valuable small finds as an aid to understanding the location, direction and participants of battle. An appreciation of battle and the actions of warfare has been indicated via the social and functional aspects of weaponry. The finds have been assessed within their Civil War context and indicate that the presumed extent of the battlefield could be much larger than previously thought. The distribution of the finds confirms that the retreating Royalist army were pursued as they fled. Individual regiments within the armies have been identified based on find typology and distribution, to build up a coherent interpretation of the battle.     

Albert the Great's interpretation of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the context of scholastic psychology and physiology* 1

Abstract

Albert the Great (ca. 1193–1280) serves as an example to show how the Latin West successfully integrated Greco‐Arabian psychology with Galenic physiology. He divised a model of perceptive, cognitive and mnestic powers located in different areas of the “brain cells”; and interacting with the immaterial and man‐specific intellect. He managed to describe anmesis, epileptic seizures and psychotic states as results of disturbed brain fuction. Finally, further aspects of Scholastic theorizing on mental disorders are discussed.     

A neglected chapter in Italy's transition from Fascism to the Republic: The Kingdom of the South (1943–1944)

Gallerano's paper examines the reasons why Italian historians have paid little attention to the political events that followed the liberation of the Italian Mezzogiorno and the brief life of the government established under the auspices of the monarchy during the period of what was termed the Kingdom of the South. He argues that this neglect derives in part from the brevity of the period of civil government in the south, but mainly from the fact that historians have been attracted above all by the history of the Resistance which has led them to consider events in the south to be of secondary importance. Gallerano argues that such a view is quite unjustified and shows how some historians ‐ from Chabod in the early 1950s ‐ have understood that events in the south bore very directly on the broader transition from Fascism to the Republic. Challenging Renzo De Felice's recent claims that Italy's defeat on 8 September 1943 marked the beginning of a crisis of national identity, Gallerano argues that the circumstances that obtained in the months that followed made the south an exceptionally rich terrain for exploring the very contradictory feelings and expectations that were aroused in Italy by the experience of military defeat and political reconstruction.     

The question of Fascist Italy's war crimes: the construction of a self-acquitting myth (1943 – 1948)

Between the announcement of the armistice on 8 September 1943 and 1948, the anti-fascist ruling class developed a narrative of the ‘Fascist war’ that was destined to mark deeply the historical conscience of the country and the national self-image. Until now, extraneous to both of these has been the awareness of Fascist Italy's role as protagonist in a policy of aggression towards various foreign states (Ethiopia, Albania, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union) and as an occupation regime distinguished by violent forms of repression and control not dissimilar to the abominations committed by Nazi Germany in western Europe. A study of the debate on the question of Italian war crimes and criminals from 1943 to 1948 will shed light on this lacuna in the historical memory of the Italians.