World War II

Michael Neiberg, Army War College

Oral Historian Studs Terkel famously titled his book on America in the Second World War The Good War.  Only Americans see the war in such lofty tones.  The war made America a superpower and brought the nation out of a depression, but for the rest of the world, the war brought unprecedented suffering.  The best guess is that 50,000,000 people died as a result of the war.  For the first time in history the majority of deaths were civilians.  This course will look at the global tragedy that was World War II in international and comparative perspective.