military history

• 
• SOURCE: War on the Rocks
  4/21/2022
  

  The Russo-Ukrainian War At Sea: Retrospect and Prospect

  by B.J. Armstrong

  "The fact that our Twitter feeds and Instagram scrolls are not filled with naval or maritime news does not mean that nothing is happening."

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  4/7/2022
  

  The Forgotten Story of the "Red Ball Express"

  by Matthew Delmont

  "From August through November 1944, 23,000 American truck drivers and cargo loaders – 70% of whom were Black – moved more than 400,000 tons of ammunition, gasoline, medical supplies and rations to battlefronts in France, Belgium and Germany."

• 
• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  4/3/2022
  

  Understanding "Correlation of Forces" in Ukraine Counsels Caution for the US

  by Michael Klare

  Ukraine is a reminder of the significance of intangible factors in assessing military outcomes, and a warning against rash action in anticipation of success.

• 
• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  4/4/2022
  

  Biden's Options in Ukraine are Ugly

  by Walter Russell Mead

  "Now both sides are stuck with a war that neither knows how to win, and it is difficult to see the outlines of a compromise peace that both sides can accept."

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  4/2/2022
  

  Historians: Putin's Strategy Echoes Hitler's Mistakes on Eastern Front

  Peter DeSimone, Timothy Snyder and Ian Ona Johnson discuss the errors of logistics, diplomacy, and treatment of civilians that have hindered the achievement of Russia's goals in Ukraine. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/31/2022
  

  How So Many Were Wrong Assessing Russia's Military

  by Phillips Payson O’Brien

  As Mike Tyson so eloquently put it, “Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the mouth.” What we are seeing today in Ukraine is the result of a purportedly great military being punched in the mouth.

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  4/4/2022
  

  A Soviet Retreat from a Danish Island after World War II Suggests how Putin Could Find an "Off Ramp"

  by Caroline Kennedy Pipe and James Rogers

  Red Army troops remained on the strategically significant island of Bornholm until 1946, when Stalin negotiated a withdrawal in exchange for a pledge that foreign troops would not be stationed on the island. It's likely that a similar concession will be needed to end fighting in Ukraine. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/4/2022
  

  Richard Overy's New Book Tells WWII as Global History of Imperial Conflict

  by Daniel Immerwahr

  "Whatever else the Second World War was about, it was, on both sides, a war for empire."

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  4/5/2022
  

  Ukraine's Next Enemy: Disease

  by Max Brooks, Lionel Beehner and John Spencer

  "If we want to help the Ukrainian resistance, we shouldn’t be sending them only Javelins and body armor. They need emergency supplies — bulk sanitation items such as alcohol-based hand sanitizer, ammonium nitrate to counter food-borne illness, and rat traps and poisons."

• 
• 4/3/2022
  

  Has Putin Heeded Warnings from the History of Urban Warfare?

  by Brian Glyn Williams and Aaron Rawley

  While key to the mythos of Russian patriotism, the pivotal battle of Stalingrad, along with other more recent episodes of urban warfare, show that Russian forces face a difficult and bloody task in capturing Kyiv. As Russian troops now retreat to the east, has this been a lesson learned? 

• 
• 4/3/2022
  

  Remembering the Falklands-Malvinas War 40 Years Later

  by Yoav J. Tenembaum

  Britain's successful repulsion of Argentina's invasion of the disputed islands resulted as much from diplomatic maneuver as military. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/24/2022
  

  Is Putin Stuck in the Past with Military Strategy?

  by Anthony Beevor

  "Astonishingly, the Russian army is repeating the past mistakes of its Soviet predecessor."

• 
• SOURCE: National Interest
  3/11/2022
  

  Historical Lessons for Ukrainians Resisting Russian Invasion

  "Russian forces, and certainly Russian president Vladimir Putin, may not have anticipated the resolve among Kyiv’s residents. It isn't just the Ukrainian Army that the invaders are facing."

• 
• SOURCE: Nursing Clio
  3/15/2022
  

  “Not being a man, I wanted to do the next best thing”: Female Gentlemen and the First World War

  by Anna Elisabeth Gehl

  Volunteering as nurses at the front of the Great War was occasion for many privileged British women to craft a new gendered identity incorporating the virtues of duty and self-control previously associated with "gentlemanliness." 

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  3/14/2022
  

  Why Do Leaders Start Wars Assuming Victory?

  by Gregory A. Daddis

  For millenia, leaders have been seduced by the promise that war unifies fractious politics, elevates leaders, and offers a final solution to conflict, despite the historical wrongness of these lessons. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  3/11/2022
  

  Isaac Chotiner Interview with Michael Kofman on Russian Military Missteps

  The Director of Russia Studies at the Center for Naval Analyses dives into the technological, doctrinaire, and strategic elements of the Russian invasion, and suggests that the military may be more able to wreak destruction than to secure a meaningful victory. 

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• 3/13/2022
  

  Deadly Cucumbers and Roof Tiles: The Lines Separating Civilians from Combat Have Always Been Blurred

  by Nadya Williams

  Stories of ordinary Ukrainians resisting invasion are framed as heroic, but this can conceal the trauma and violence inflicted on civilians in warfare, both modern and ancient. 

• 
• SOURCE: Grid
  3/8/2022
  

  Military Experts Ponder Mystery of Russian Performance in Ukraine

  Although reports of Russian advances failing are premature, the advance of armor and artillery toward Kyiv has been slower than expected. Military experts discuss whether supply lines, tactics, morale or technology explain it. 

• 
• SOURCE: Jacobin
  2/24/2022
  

  The US Military is an Obstacle to Climate Action

  by Michael Franczak

  The Kyoto protocols are inherently undermined by negotiated pledges that preserve the ability of the Pentagon to burn fossil fuels around the globe. 

• 
• SOURCE: Stars and Stripes
  3/6/2022
  

  He Grew Up With a Dog Named Dixie; Now He's Renaming Military Bases Honoring Confederates

  “People try and say ‘Oh, you’re not a patriot because you don’t love the Confederacy.’ No. I love the United States of America. And anybody that kills U.S. Army soldiers, that tries to destroy the country that I love — I can’t honor that.”