History of War

 Operation Market Garden, launched 80 years ago, has gone down in history as an equally audacious and tragically flawed campaign. It began with the goal of striking a decisive blow across the Rhine, accelerating the liberation of the Netherlands, the advance into Germany and ultimately – hopefully – Germany’s surrender. Instead the Allied commanders were faced with a costly setback, with thousands killed, captured or wounded, while Dutch citizens were left with months of further occupation, as well as retributions and even famine. In its final days the operation focused on the survival and withdrawal of Allied forces in the village of Oosterbeek, west of Arnhem. Here Airborne and Glider Pilot forces held a desperate defensive line against overwhelming German attacks. FOLLOW THE HISTORY OF WAR TEAM /HISTORY OF WAR…

PHILLIPS O’BRIEN Phillips is professor of Strategic Studies at St Andrews University, and has written extensively on the Second World War. Over on page 44 he discusses his new book The Strategists, which studies five wartime leaders’ different strategies. MARK SIMNER This month Mark recounts the sinister rise of one of Hitler’s most ruthless generals: Ferdinand Schörner. A zealous Nazi, late in the war he earned the grim reputation for executing scores of his own men – until he attempted to flee West (p58). PRIT BUTTAR Alongside a distinguished career in medicine, Prit has become a leading expert on the Eastern Front, with multiple publications on the Siege of Stalingrad, Operation Bagration and others. On page 66 he discusses the second volume of his history on the Siege of Leningrad.…

MEETING THE ENEMY September 1944 Keystone press agency photographer Fred Ramage, wearing a US Army uniform and helmet, meets German prisoners of war near Brest, Belarus. Ramage was well-known for his coverage of Benito Mussolini’s rise to power in 1922 and his iconic image of Neville Chamberlain at Heston Aerodrome after meeting with Hitler in Munich (1938). During the Second World War, Ramage was assigned to the US Army, where he remained throughout its campaign in France. He continued to document European history after the conflict, including at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. BEER BREAK IN THE JUNGLE  1975 Servicemen pose with a puppy and drink beer in front of their fortification during the Vietnam War. This was the first conflict fought by the US Army with desegregated units.…

“IN SUBSEQUENT REPRESSION, FRENCH AUTHORITIES KILL UP TO 45,000 ALGERIANS” 8 May – 26 June 1945 01 SÉTIF AND GUELMA MASSACRES On the same day that Nazi Germany surrenders, Algerian anti-colonial activists protest in Sétif and Guelma. The demonstrations are violently repressed and the killings inspire retaliatory attacks against the French population. In subsequent repression, French authorities kill up to 45,000 Algerians during this turning point in French-Algerian relations. 1 November 1954 TOUSSAINT ROUGE ATTACKS The Front de libération nationale (FLN) conducts 70 attacks against civilian and military targets across Algeria following a broadcast calling for a national struggle against the French occupiers. At the start of the conflict, the FLN has fewer than 500 pro-independence fighters. 1954 – mid-1955 SMALL-SCALE GUERRILLA CAMPAIGN The FLN begins a campaign of limited rural…

On 8 May 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies, bringing to an end almost six years of brutality and bloodshed in Europe. As millions across the continent celebrated, the first great tragedy of the post-war era was unfolding a short distance across the Mediterranean. What happened there that day and in the following weeks would sow the seeds of a tragic conflict between France and the North African country it had occupied for more than 100 years. Rich in oil, gas and iron ore, Algeria had long been considered the jewel in France’s imperial crown. By 1945, however, its relationship with its North African neighbour was a messy one. Decades of colonisation had created a political and legal morass in the country, one that was further complicated by Algeria’s…

The Second World War ravaged Europe’s economy and infrastructure, leaving imperial powers like France unable to hold on to the vast empires they’d controlled for years. All over the world, independence movements now began to challenge the colonial system, in many cases taking up arms against their European overlords. By 1954, France had been defeated by the Viet Minh army in Indochina and forced to withdraw from its former colony there. Meanwhile closer to home, in the Maghreb of northwest Africa, Tunisia and Morocco were also on the brink of booting out the French. Inspired by the events taking place around them, Algeria’s independence movement now made its move. At its vanguard was a new organisation, the Front de libération nationale (FLN), which became a rallying point for a spectrum…