The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945

<HTML> <HEAD> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <TITLE>The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="This informative site is intend for enthusiasts of the history of World War 1939-1945, in unique day by day entries."> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="History, Military, WWII, Government, 1939-1945, World War II, Allied, Axis, War, Nations, Wilfried, Braakhuis, Apolotical, Culture, Historical."> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache"> <META NAME="Creator" CONTENT="Wilfried Braakhuis"> <script> //configure status message to show var statusmsg="Gereed" function hidestatus(){ window.status=statusmsg return true } </script> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="update.js"></SCRIPT> <style>  </style> <STYLE type="text/css">  </STYLE>  </HEAD>  <BODY BACKGROUND="network/bground.gif" LINK="#FF0000" VLINK="#FF0000" ALINK="#000000" bgproperties="fixed"> <script language="JavaScript"> var backgroundOffset = 0; var 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sitems[7]="" sitems[8]="_Strategy of the War" sitems[9]="_Military Aspects" sitems[10]="_Acknowledgements" sitems[11]="_Department Webmaster" //These are the links pertaining to the above text. sitemlinks[0]="main.htm#welcome" sitemlinks[1]="main.htm#history" sitemlinks[2]="main.htm#source" sitemlinks[3]="" sitemlinks[4]="main.htm#ww2forum" sitemlinks[5]="main.htm#mailinglist" sitemlinks[6]="main.htm#guestbook" sitemlinks[7]="" sitemlinks[8]="main.htm#strategy" sitemlinks[9]="main.htm#aspects" sitemlinks[10]="main.htm#acknowledgement" sitemlinks[11]="main.htm#department" for (i=0;i<=sitems.length-1;i++) document.write('<a href='+sitemlinks[i]+'>'+sitems[i]+'</a><br>') </script> </layer> <script language="JavaScript1.2"> function regenerate(){ window.location.reload() } function regenerate2(){ if (document.layers) setTimeout("window.onresize=regenerate",400) } window.onload=regenerate2 if (document.all){ document.write('</div>') themenu=document.all.slidemenubar2.style rightboundary=0 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<TR> <TD><P ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="network/nat-flag.gif" ALT="Nations Flags" WIDTH="560" HEIGHT="26"></P> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <P ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="network/nat-flag1.gif" ALT="Nations Flags" WIDTH="560" HEIGHT="26"></P> </TD> </TR> </TABLE></CENTER>  <CENTER> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%"><TR> <TD> <IMG SRC="network/sdkfz-234-4.gif" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="2" ALT="Sdkfz-234/4" ALIGN="left" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> </TD> <TD> <P ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B>A Military Historical Website</B></FONT><BR> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> Page maintained and created by <A HREF="mailto:wilfried@euronet.nl" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>Wilfried Braakhuis</B></A> <BR> Completed: 1 Januari 1998.<BR> Address: http://www.worldwar-2.eu<BR> This site is best viewed in high color mode and 1152*864 resolution.<BR> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">  </SCRIPT> Since 1/1/1998 you are person number <a href="http://www.hostinginsiders.com" TARGET="_blank"><img src="http://www.counting4free.com/cgi-bin/counter.pl?id=135169" border="0" alt=""><br></a> <BR>  <BR>  <P> <CENTER> <MG SRC="/cgi-bin/counter/users/wilfried/ww2/counter/counterww.xbm?color=#99FF33 ALIGN="middle" HSPACE=5"><BR> </CENTER> <P></FONT></TD> <TD> <IMG SRC="network/falco.gif" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="2" ALT="Cr 42 Falco" ALIGN="left" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> </TD> </TR></TABLE><P> </CENTER>   <CENTER><IMG SRC="network/trucks.gif" ALT="American trucks" WIDTH="443" HEIGHT="40"></CENTER><P> <center> <P> <table><tr> <td> <CENTER><IMG SRC="network/ww2banner.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="60"></CENTER> </td> <td></td></tr></table></center> <P> <A NAME="source"></A> <A NAME="awards"></A> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="5" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>WW II Forum,</U></B><BR> Participate in our <A HREF="#list" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>WW 1939-1945 Forum</B></A>, for detailed study of the war, and is especially useful to the reader seeking to put a given subject or campaign into wider historical context. </FONT> </TD> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>Americanism Award,</U></B><BR> The American Legion Post 694, <A HREF="#promote1" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>Americanism Award</B></A> is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to Americanism principles. </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>Mailinglist,</U></B><BR> Join our <A HREF="#list" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>WW 1939-1945 mailing list</B></A> and receive WW 1939-1945 Website update news monthly! </FONT> </TD> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>Military Sites</U></B><BR> Military.com recognizes our website as a valued resource for the military community, see the <A HREF="awardsww.htm" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"> <B>Distinguished Military Site Award</B></A>. </TD></TR> <TR> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>Simple message board,</U></B><BR> I have designed a <A HREF="forum/responce.html" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>message board</B></A> for WW II enthusiasts to post messages or responding messages.<BR> </FONT> </TD> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>HistoryChannel,</U></B><BR> Our WW II site is added to this <A HREF="#promote" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>Network</B></A>, which is a searchable, categorized index of the best history sites on the Web. </FONT> </TD></TR> <TR> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>Shortened address,</U></B><BR> Our war site has two registered addresses, the shortened forms of the full local address are: www.worldwar-2.eu (10-4-2006) and www.worldwar2history.net (7-10-2001). </FONT> </TD> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <B><U>USA TODAY Education,</U></B><BR> This is to inform you The World at War, History of WW 1939-1945 Web Site has been selected as a "Best Bet" on the USA TODAY Education Web site from 9-15 April 2002. <A HREF="#promote1" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>USA TODAY Education</B></A> serves as a gateway to valuable information and resources for the total learning environment. </FONT> </TD></TR> <TR> <TD></TD> <TD> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2">  </TD> </TR> </TABLE><P> <P ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="network/tanktot.gif" ALT="Animated tank" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="50"></P> <A NAME="welcome"></A> <P> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <CENTER><IMG SRC="network/ccaw1a.gif" ALT="Welcome to the War," WIDTH="575" HEIGHT="46"></CENTER> </TD> </TR> </TABLE><P></CENTER><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <IMG SRC="network/matilda.gif" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="2" ALT="The Matilda tank" ALIGN="left" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> <IMG SRC="network/king-tiger.gif" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="2" ALT="The King Tiger tank" ALIGN="right" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> This Web site is intended for enthusiasts of World War II, a period now far behind us. The text has been written using our own judgement and should be easily understood by everybody. The reader is taken back in time and feels that he was actually present when the events took place, a new and compelling way of experiencing the events of World War II. Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the facts are presented accurately, although new developments could of course shed new light on the matter. Every such work as The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945 is an attempt to walk the tightrope between the fullest possible and the most accessible description of the period. Our aim has been to provide a basic source of information for these vastly important and often misrepresented years, enabling students to orient themselves rapidly or the general reader to browse through the entries following a theme by use of the cross-references. The chronologies, too, have been designed for this dual purpose. However, we are very confident that this story will make a contribution to history, a contribution which will benefit mankind in the future. We hope you will like it.<BR> The objective of our site is to provide you with a vast catalogue of interesting resources including WW II links throught the WWW, you may search the whole site using keywords or names, use these resources to recreate the atmosphere of the time 1939-1945. Once you become acquainted with the features, you will be navigating this complex and bewildering war in a clear, easy-to-understand and exciting way.<P> <A NAME="submit"></A> We list only sites that contain a substantial amount of information. If you would like to include your favorite link or WW II site or if you know of other interesting related sites please tell us simply <a href="mailto:elite-engineer-publishing@worldwar-2.eu?subject=The World at War advanced" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">elite-engineer-publishing@worldwar-2.eu</a>, send it to us. We hope you enjoy your stay.</FONT><P> <A NAME="history"></A> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <CENTER><IMG SRC="network/ccaw1b.gif" ALT="History of WW 1939-1945," WIDTH="575" HEIGHT="46"></CENTER> </TD> </TR> </TABLE><P><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <IMG SRC="network/m24chaff.gif" ALT="USA M24Chaffee" ALIGN="left" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> <IMG SRC="network/t-34-85.gif" ALT="Sovjets T-34-76a tank" ALIGN="right" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> Never has there been a war that could have been avoided more easily than the one that has just destroyed (1939 - 1945) whatever was left of the world after the previous confrontation (1914 -1918).<P> When World War II began in 1939, Germany was the aggressor, it was later joined in June 1940, by Italy, and <A HREF="japan-1.htm" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">Japan</A> in December 1941. The war against Japan was fought over two-thirds of the world's surface, with America and her allies taking part in vast air, land and sea battles. It turned WW II into global conflict and ended it with the drawning of nuclear era. Together they formed <A HREF="foreword.htm#powers" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">the major Axis nations</A>, each had their strenghts and weakness. From 1900 until the late 1930's the armies of the world believed that massed infantry charges, heavy artillery, and static defenses could dominate and control any battlefield. But on the morning of September 1st 1939, the world was forever changed as Germany invaded Poland and executed its first "Blitzkrieg" or "Lightning attack", quickly crushing Polish resistance. And the entry of France and Britain into the conflict on 3 September, marked not so much the beginning of a new war as opening of a more intensive phase of a war that already in progress. A possible opinion was that it had never stopped at all during the years since 1914. A more moderate view, might take the outbreak of the Spanish revolt in July 1936 as the starting point. But to any informed observer it was at least clear that the struggle had waged, bloodlessly but with growing intensity, for a considerable period before the resort to armed hostilities. <P> From 1939 to 1945, Germany's military machine struck out and conquered most of Western Europe, swept into <A HREF="desert-1.htm" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">deserts of North Africa</A> and drove deep into <A HREF="barbar-1.htm" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">the hinterlands of Russia</A>. In time, however, the Allies gathered strength and eventually crushed the German Army and Axis powers with a display of brute force that has remained unmatched to this day. What started out as a war based on <A HREF="foreword.htm#tactics" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">military technical tactics</A> and blitzkriegs, later became a war reliant on industry and mass production.<BR> The western offensive has learned the German much, though they will not remember all the lessons. They have seen the movement of heavy armoured vehicles, and the battlefield tactics they could employ, significantly reduced by unhelpful terrain and the most modest of road obstructions; columns of such machines have also often been badly delayed by human traffic, in the form of fleeing refugees. With command of the air and relatively light resistance, however, the Blitzkrieg technique has been proven; the tempo of advance has been unprecedented and, indeed, caused its own, unforeseen logistical problems. But the success of the Battle of France may have proved to be the Germans' undoing for they expect future battlefields to be equally susceptible to these techniques and when this proves not to be the case some of its finest commanders will be found wanting, their one-dimensional approach not being effective in defence or retreat. Furthermore, the rapid defeat of France has focused Allied minds. Had they been able to hold their ground for longer, old strategies might have been clung to and new equipment might not have been urgently demanded. For the French, the last weeks have been a chastening experience. Their industry has broken all manufacturing records to keep the armed forces suppilied, but political foresight and military resolve have been absent. It is indicative that their air force ends the Battle of France with more aircraft than when it started, thanks to that manufacturing spurt accompanied by the logistical failure to deploy what was available.<P> <IMG SRC="network/wilfriedalice.jpg" ALIGN="right" ALT="Peace for animal and people" VSPACE="5" HSPACE="15" WIDTH="114" HEIGHT="149"> The deeds of the Japanese extremists and of Hitler and Mussolini, which led up to martial conflict, are the positive points of the story, but they are not more of it than the negative points, the ability of democracy to understand the nature of peace and to cope with the swelling flood of aggression. Peace itself might have been preserved if men of good will who were leading the democracies had also been men of good sense. It would make a poor understanding of the world crisis if these failures were not continually borne in mind.<P> Victory won over evil, we have still not found peace or safety and we are still in the grip of dangers which are even worse than the ones we have survived. I seriously hope that a careful consideration of the past may show us the way in the years to come, that it will enable the new generation to make up for the errors (against animals and wildlife too, not only people) committed in the past and that they will thus be able to rule this vast, rapidly developing world, in accordance with the needs and the dignity of mankind, with the help of all the numerous new technological developments at our disposal, such as nuclear energy and electronics, and all their benefits.</FONT><P> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <P> <A NAME="list"></A> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <CENTER><IMG SRC="network/ccaw1d.gif" ALT="WW2 website management," WIDTH="575" HEIGHT="46"></CENTER>  </TD> </TR> </TABLE><P> <A NAME="ww2forum"></A> <CENTER> <TABLE BORDER="0"> <TR> <TD></TD> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">Participate in our WW II Forum,</FONT></H5><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <HREF="network/sound/jeep.avi"> <IMG SRC="network/jeep.gif" ALIGN="left" ALT="Commander Jeep" HSPACE="10" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"></A> The 1939-1945 war is pure history, and a topic we should all understand and be able to discuss. This message board for WWII enthusiasts is devoted to exchange ideas about any topic dealing with the WW 1939-1945 history. Have a question about the WW military history 1939-1945, or some other WW II military issue?<BR> <A HREF="http://forums.delphiforums.com/ww2_history/start" TARGET="_blank"><B> The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945 message-board</B></A> to share your experiences or seek help from others.<BR> May each of you establish and enjoy a congenial relationship with all members of the The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945 Delphi Forum.<P> I have designed <A HREF="forum/responce.html#top" TARGET="_blank" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"><B>a simple message board</B></A> for WW II friends to post short messages, answer or just read messages.</FONT><P> </TD> <TD WIDTH="10"></TD> <TD> <CENTER><script src="http://ac.prospero.com/ll/lldiscussions.js?webtag=ww2_history"></script></CENTER>  </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </CENTER> <A NAME="mailinglist"></A> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2">  <script type="text/javascript"> function validate_elist_34481456() { e = document.getElementById('elist_err34481456'); e.innerHTML=""; regexPattern = "^[-!#$%&'*+./0-9=?A-Z^_`a-z{|}]+@[-!#$%&'*+/0-9=?A-Z^_`a-z{|}~.]+?.+[a-zA-Z]{2,4}$"; if (!document.getElementById('elistaddress34481456').value.match(regexPattern)) { e.innerHTML += 'Invalid email address'; } if (e.innerHTML != "") return false; return true; } </script> <div align=""> <div style="border:0px solid #999999; width:235px; margin: 0px; ackground-color:#F2F4FA;"> <form action="http://pub48.bravenet.com/elist/add.php" method="post" style="margin:0px;" onsubmit="return validate_elist_34481456()"> <div style=ackground-color:#DBE0F5; padding:3px; font:12px arial; color:red;"><b>Join the Mailing List</b></div> <div style="margin:10px; font: 11px arial; color: black; text-align:right;"> <div style="margin-bottom:5px;">Enter your name and email address below:</div> Name: <input type="text" id="elistname" name="ename" size="25" maxlength="60" style="width: 170px"><br> Email: <input type="text" name="emailaddress" id="elistaddress34481456" size="25" maxlength="100" style="width: 170px"><br> <input type="radio" name="action" value="join" checked style="border: 0px;">Subscribe <input type="radio" name="action" value="leave" style="border: 0px;">Unsubscribe <input type="hidden" name="usernum" style="border: 0px solid black; height: 0px; width: 0px;" value="4107691501"><input type="hidden" name="cpv" style="border: 0px solid black; height: 0px; width: 0px;" value="1"> <input type="submit" name="submit" value="GO"></div> <div style="color: red" id="elist_err34481456"></div> <div align="center" style="margin-bottom:10px;"><a title="Free Mailing Lists from Bravenet.com" href="http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/elist/" style="font: bold 11px tahoma, sans-serif; color: #004891;" target="_blank"></a><br><a title="Free Mailing Lists from Bravenet.com" href="http://www.bravenet.com" style="font: 10px tahoma, sans-serif; color: #004891;" target="_blank"></a></div></form> </div></div>         <P> <A NAME="guestbook"></A> </TD> <TD WIDTH="50"></TD> <TD ROWSPAN=""> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2"> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">Sign the WW II guestbooks,</FONT></H5> <P> Our Guestbooks from HTML Gear will stop functioning after 1-4-2012. After this data you are no longer able to make entries. <P> <FONT SIZE="2">Tell us what's on your mind and leave a message on one of our WW II guest-books.<BR> The new Guestbook of The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945 is free for every entrie:<P>  <a target="_NEW" href="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/guest/control.guest?u=arnoud10&i=1&a=sign"><font face="arial,helv,helvetica,sans serif" size=2>Sign the WW II Guestbook 2</font></a> <a href="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/specs/guest.html"><img border=0 ismap src="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/img/guest/gb_white.gif"></a> <a target="_NEW" href="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/guest/control.guest?u=arnoud10&i=1&a=view"><font face="arial,helv,helvetica,sans serif" size=2>View the WW II Guestbook 2</font></a><br>  <P> <HR ALIGN="CENTER" WIDTH="195" NOSHADE> </TD> <TD WIDTH="50"></TD> <TD></TD></TR> <TR><TD></TD><TD WIDTH="50"></TD><TD></TD></TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2"> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia"></FONT></H5> <FONT SIZE="2">The excellent Guestbook of The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945, start date 1-1-1998, inclusive for quality entries:<P>  <a target="_NEW" href="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/guest/control.guest?u=wfrb&i=1001&a=sign"><font face="arial,helv,helvetica,sans serif" size=2>Sign the WW II Guestbook 1</font></a> <a href="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/specs/guest.html"><img border=0 ismap src="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/img/guest/gb_white.gif"></a> <a target="_NEW" href="http://htmlgear.lycos.com/guest/control.guest?u=wfrb&i=1001&a=view"><font face="arial,helv,helvetica,sans serif" size=2>View the WW II Guestbook 1</font></a>  </TD> <TD WIDTH="50"></TD> <TD></TD></TR> </TABLE><P> <A NAME="promote"></A> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <P ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="network/trucks.gif" ALT="Tank line" WIDTH="443" HEIGHT="40"></P> <CENTER><IMG SRC="network/ccaw1c.gif" ALT="Interesting facts" WIDTH="575" HEIGHT="46"></CENTER> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="3" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD>  </TD> <TD>  </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> <TR> <TD> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">HistoryChannel Network,</FONT></H5><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <A HREF="http://network.historychannel.com/" TARGET="_blank">HistoryChannel.com</A> has just launched a new feature called the HistoryChannel.com Network, which is a searchable, categorized index of the best history sites on the Web. HistoryChannel.com receives over 700,000 visitors monthly and The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945 is invited to be added in this searchable index.</FONT> </TD> <TD> <CENTER> <A HREF="http://network.historychannel.com/" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="network/history.gif" WIDTH="101" HEIGHT="77" ALT="Historychannel" border="0"></A> </CENTER> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A NAME="promote1"></A> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">Americanism Award,</FONT></H5><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> The American Legion Post 694, <A HREF="http://www.redshift.com/~legion/" TARGET="_blank">Americanism Award</A> is reserved for those sites that have as their theme americanism in any of its many wonderful faces. Any site receiving this award must show America in a favorable light and display a excellent set of authoring skills.<BR> The Amercian Legion Monterey Cypress Post 694 of Marina, California has reviewed 'The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945' website and found it to be in keeping with the theme of helping to make a better America.<BR> The Americanism Award has a long history of distinguished honorees and is one of the highest awards bestowed by the organization. </FONT> </TD> <TD> <CENTER>  <A HREF="http://www.redshift.com/~legion/" TARGET="_blank"> <IMG SRC="network/award/alplaq.gif" WIDTH="140" HEIGHT="180" BORDER=0 ALT="The American Legion - Post 694, Americanism Award"></A>  </CENTER> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">USA TODAY Education,</FONT></H5><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> The <A HREF="http://www.usatoday.com" TARGET="_blank">USA TODAY Education</A> general interest news site offers educators, parents and students robust activities, ideas and links directly related to daily news stories. It is one of the most popular and extensive sites on the World Wide Web, featuring more than 140.000 pages of up-to-the-minute news with about 11.000.000 unique visitors to the site each month!<BR> When a site is recognized a USA TODAY Education "Best Bet" Web site, a staff of education specialists looked for Web sites that can bring unique and useful resources and information to the classroom in an intriguing way. The site must be appropriate, factual and relevant to teachers, students and parents. Fewer than 150 sites are selected each year as USA TODAY Education "Best Bet" Web sites. </FONT> </TD> <TD>  <A HREF="http://www.usatoday.com" TARGET="_blank"> <IMG SRC="network/award/bestbet.jpg" WIDTH="131" HEIGHT="134" BORDER=0 ALT="Selected as a USA TODAY Education Best Bet Web Site"></A>  </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="25"> <TR> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia"></FONT></H5><FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <A HREF="" TARGET="_blank"></A> </FONT> </TD> <TD> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">The best WW II site 2019,</FONT></H5> <FONT SIZE="2"> The best site 2019 is chosen by me, Wilfried Braakhuis, and my friends of Elite Engineer Publishing, Jan Willem Westra en Arnoud Zuidema.<BR> We found the presentation of this elite site at the Internet very valuable, and therefore I would like to bestow the 'Pañstwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau' site with the best WW II site 2019 in the category history WW 1939-1945; the murder of minority races.<P> Pañstwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau;<BR> http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/ <BR> This Museum site is about concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. The camp Auschwitz-Birkenau became the site of the greatest mass murder in the history of humanity, which was committed against the European Jews, blacks, many other minorities and POWs as part of Hitler's plan for the complete destruction of that people. </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A NAME="strategy"></A> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">Strategy of the War,</FONT></H5> <FONT SIZE="2"> There is a lot of bad information about the war. Some of it was done during the War to confuse the enemy, some of it was done after the War to protect reputations, and some of it is just sloppy research and writing.<P> </FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE><P> <A NAME="aspects"></A> <CENTER> <TABLE BORDER="0"> <TR> <TD><CENTER><IMG SRC="network/stuka.gif" ALT="Stuka" HSPACE="5" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"></CENTER></TD> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">The Military aspects,</FONT></H5> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> This is an apolitical page dealing with the military aspects of the WW II only and nothing more, does not support any political thought and no support should be assumed.</FONT> </TR> </TABLE> <P><A NAME="acknowledgement"></A> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="3" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD></TD> <TD> <H5><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia">Acknowledgements,</FONT></H5> <FONT SIZE="2"> <IMG SRC="network/halftrack.gif" ALT="Halftrack" ALIGN="left" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="80"> I would like to thank the following people, who have provided invaluable assistance in preparing this home page: Jan Willem Westra (translation, publishing), research assistance of Arnoud Zuidema (historical research) and others. To all go appreciation and thanks. We should furthermore like to thank all the very many others that have made a site on World War II. These are invaluable as a reference to our site. So if you have any comments or suggestions or if you see any new links on World War II added to this site, please e-mail us.<BR> I personally supervise the business management further.<BR> We are free to all sorts of criticism, praise, corrections and general feedback, or most importantly things you'd like to contribute or specific items you would like to see in these pages, please <A HREF="mailto:elite-engineer-publishing@worldwar-2.eu?subject=The World at War suggestions" onMouseover="return hidestatus()"> let us know!</a>. If you have a favourite site you think we should feature, or any topics you'd like to see covered in these pages, please email.<P> </FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE><P> </CENTER> <P ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="network/trucks.gif" ALT="Tank line" WIDTH="443" HEIGHT="40"></P> <center> <A HREF="foreword.htm#top">[Introduction]</A>- <A HREF="tot-1931.htm#top">[1889-1930]</A>- <A HREF="tot-1939.htm#top">[1930-1938]</A>- <A HREF="1939.htm#top">[1939]</A>- <A HREF="1940.htm#top">[1940]</A>- <A HREF="1941.htm#top">[1941]</A>- <A HREF="1942.htm#top">[1942]</A>- <A HREF="1943.htm#top">[1943]</A>- <A HREF="1944.htm#top">[1944]</A>- <A HREF="1945.htm#top">[1945]</A>- <A HREF="museum.htm#top">[Museum]</A>- <A HREF="second.htm#top">[WWII HomePages]</A>- <A HREF="secret.htm#top">[Secret]</A>- <A HREF="related.htm#top">[Related]</A>- <A HREF="epilogue.htm#top">[Postscript]</A>- <A HREF="http://forums.delphiforums.com/ww2_history/start" TARGET="_blank">[Message-board]</A>- <A HREF="comment.htm#top">[Comment]</A>- <A HREF="book.htm#top">[Guest-book]</A>- <A HREF="webring.htm#top">[Webrings]</A>- <A HREF="trade.htm#top">[Trade]</A> </center><P> <A NAME="department"></A> <HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="350" NOSHADE> <center> Page maintained and created by <A HREF="mailto:wilfried@euronet.nl?subject=To the Webmaster?body=The message" onMouseover="return hidestatus()">Wilfried Braakhuis</A>.<BR>Associate Professor of History University of Twente.<BR> Copyright © 1998-2020 Wilfried Braakhuis. All rights reserved.<BR> All materials used on this website are the property of their respective authors © 1998-2020, and protected by <A HREF="mailto:elite-engineer-publishing@worldwar-2.eu?subject=Elite Engineer Publishing?body=The message">Elite Engineer Publishing</A>, Netherlands law for<BR> "The World at War, history of WW 1939-1945".<P> <A HREF="http://www.worldwar-2.eu" TARGET="_blank"> <IMG SRC="network/ww2_icon.gif" ALT="WW II logo" WIDTH="88" HEIGHT="31"></A> <CENTER> <FONT FACE="CG Times" SIZE="2"> <P ALIGN="center"><script language="JavaScript"> {PageLastUpdated();} </script></FONT> </P> <I>Whoever lights the torch of War in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos.<BR> Adolf Hitler, May 21 1935</I> <P> <IMG SRC="network/flametot.gif" ALT="Flames" WIDTH="30" HEIGHT="60"><P>  <script type="text/javascript">  </script>  </center> </FONT> </FONT> <map name="defence"> <area shape="rect" alt="Introduction." coords="72,6,147,27" href="foreword.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1889-1931." coords="158,8,231,27" href="tot-1931.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1932-1938." coords="243,7,316,27" href="tot-1939.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1939." coords="327,8,400,27" href="1939.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1940." coords="411,8,485,28" href="1940.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1941." coords="73,31,147,50" href="1941.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1942." coords="158,31,231,50" href="1942.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1943." coords="242,31,316,49" href="1943.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1944." coords="327,31,401,50" href="1944.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="1945." coords="410,31,485,50" href="1945.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Museum." coords="72,228,146,247" href="museum.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="WWII Pages." coords="157,228,231,247" href="second.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Related." coords="242,228,317,247" href="related.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Secret." coords="327,228,401,246" href="secret.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Conclusion." coords="410,228,485,247" href="epilogue.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Search." coords="72,250,146,270" href="search.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Trade." coords="157,251,233,271" href="trade.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Comment." coords="241,251,318,270" href="comment.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Guest-book" coords="327,251,401,271" href="book.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" alt="Awards." coords="411,250,485,271" href="awardsww.htm#top"> <area shape="rect" href="main.htm#top" coords="0,0,559,277"> </map> <SCRIPT> // Your messages. 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