WarCommons Deep Dives are long-form investigations into the events, mechanisms, and human stories that defined the Second World War. Going beyond the familiar narrative, each Deep Dive traces causes, examines consequences, and surfaces the history that standard accounts leave out. Built on source-driven research and written for the reader who wants more than a summary, WarCommons Deep Dives are the place where the full complexity of World War II gets the space it deserves.
In the final days of the war, Wehrmacht soldiers, American tankers, and French prisoners became allies to defend a Tyrolean castle against the SS. By May 1945, the war was still fought fiercely. The Axis versus the Allies. What’s hard…
From a ‘scouting club’ with 700 members to eight million child soldiers, and why none of them knew it was happening We haven’t really given much thought to the Hitler Youth yet. It’s actually quite striking, and unheard of today.…
How the Rhineland crisis of March 1936 became the last moment the Allies could have stopped Hitler, and why they chose not to We’ve discussed this before on WarCommons. Hitler’s march toward absolute power in Germany and the beginning of…
If there is one topic that still sparks controversy and even conspiracy theories to this day, it is this one. What happened to Adolf Hitler’s body after he committed suicide in the Führerbunker, along with his new wife, Eva Braun?…
The focus is often on Hitler, the Japanese Empire, the United States, or the Soviet Union. But there was another key player during World War II. One who also waged his own wars in the run-up to the conflict. An…
September 15, 1944. The first wave of U.S. Marines landed in their LVTs, the Landing Vehicle, Tracked. Their final destination was the island of Peleliu. A large portion of the Marines would never leave the island alive. It was all…
The Holocaust was one of the greatest tragedies that humanity has inflicted upon itself. However, it did not happen overnight. The evil within the Nazis was laid bare before the world. But not before they first calmly discussed and deliberated…
It may be hard to imagine: an agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) and Nazi Germany. But in 1935, this was a reality for both Germany and the UK. It arose in part from sympathy for Germany, not because of…
The story of World War II does not end with the surrender of Nazi Germany. Nor does it end with the surrender of the Japanese Empire. For some, however, it is clear: after Japan’s surrender, World War II was over,…
The collective memory of World War II is dominated primarily by the European theater of war, Nazi Germany, Operation Barbarossa, and D-Day, to name just a few well-known examples. But in the Far East, the war raged just as fiercely.…
