The Second World War: Ambitions to Nemesis

301 Pages·2004·1.81 MB·English

by  Bradley Lightbody

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The Second World War
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3 Bradley Lightbody presents a fascinating and accessible history of the Second World
4 War in its global context. Examining the war around general themes from ambition
5 and advance, through expansion and containment, to rout and victory, The Second
6 World War covers all the major theatres and events of the war.
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8 From the origins and background to the war to its aftermath and legacy, The Second
9 World War covers:
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1 (cid:1) The pre-war ambitions of Italy, Germany and Japan
2 (cid:1) The outbreak of the war in Poland
3 (cid:1) The ‘Phoney War’
4 (cid:1) Blitzkrieg, the Fall of France and the Battle of Britain
5 (cid:1) Pearl Harbor
6 (cid:1) The War in North Africa and El Alamein
7 (cid:1) The Final Solution
8 (cid:1) D-Day, the Liberation of Italy and deliverance from the Concentration Camps
9 (cid:1) The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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1 This book provides a comprehensive overview of the global ambitions and the global
2 warfare that was the Second World War, making it essential reading for all students
3 of twentieth-century world history. Reflecting on the immense social, economic and
4 political impact of the war, The Second World War bears witness to the human cost
5 of the most destructive war in world history.
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7 Bradley Lightbody is a lead consultant with The Quiet Associates, a firm of educa-
8 tion consultants and College UK. He was, until recently, Head of History at Dewsbury
9 College, West Yorkshire. He has published previously on twentieth-century world
40 history, The Cold War (1999).
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1111 The Second World War
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Ambitions to Nemesis
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First published 2004
4 by Routledge
5 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
6 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
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This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
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1 © 2004 Bradley Lightbody
2 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
3 or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
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or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
5 writing from the publishers.
6 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
8 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
9 Lightbody, Bradley.
The Second World War : ambitions to nemesis/Bradley Lightbody. –
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1st ed.
1 p. cm.
2 Includes bibliographical references.
1. World War, 1939–1945. I. Title: 2nd World War. II. Title.
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D743.L54 2004
4 940.53 – dc22 2003025507
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ISBN 0-203-64458-1 Master e-book ISBN
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ISBN 0-203-67308-5 (Adobe eReader Format)
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ISBN 0–415–22404–7 (hbk)
40 ISBN 0–415–22405–5 (pbk)
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3 My immense thanks to Carol,
4 Emma and Stuart for their
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patience, understanding, and the
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regular supply of coffee, during
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weekends taken up with research
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9 and writing.
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Contents
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3 List of maps x
4 Introduction 1
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7 PART 1
8 Ambition 3
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20 1 Rising sun 3
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2 Weimar revision 10
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3 3 Fascist Italy 17
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5 4 Nazi challenge 25
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5 Counter-challenge 33
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9 PART 2
30 Outbreak 39
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6 Case White: Poland 39
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4 7 The phoney war 46
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8 The Winter War 51
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PART 3
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Advance 57
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9 Copenhagen to Narvik 57
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3 10 Blitzkrieg in the west 64
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5 11 Fall of France 70
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12 Battle of Britain 77
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118 13 Italy on the march 83
viii Contents
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2 Expansion 91
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4 14 North Africa and the Balkans 91
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15 Battle of the Atlantic 98
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7 16 Barbarossa 104
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18 Pearl Harbor 121
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2 19 Pacific hegemony 127
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PART 5
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Containment 135
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20 Midway 135
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1 22 Stalingrad 145
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Contraction 155
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23 Clearance of North Africa 155
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8 24 Defeat on the Eastern Front 161
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25 Bomber offensive 167
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1 26 Kriegsmarine repulsed 175
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27 Invasion of Italy 181
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28 Pacific reversal 188
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40 29 Fall of Rome 195
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30 Rollback on the Eastern Front 201
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3 31 Overlord 210
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32 Islands 220
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33 Stalemate on the West Wall 227
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8 34 The Holocaust 237
Contents ix
1111 PART 8
2 Nemesis 245
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4 35 Mussolini’s last stand 245
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36 Götterdämmerung 249
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37 The bomb 260
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1 Reconstruction 267
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38 Ideals and post-war realities 267
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6 Chronology 273
7 Index 286
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