military history 
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3/19/2023
The Curious History of Ulysses Grant's Great Grandfather
by John Reeves
The military experiences of Noah Grant in the French and Indian War typified changes in military strategy in the Americas and cemented a family commitment to the military that drove his great grandson Ulysses.
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SOURCE: CSPAN
3/7/2023
Matthew Connelly Presents Digital Lessons on the History of Government Secrecy
Historian Matthew Connelly offers a series of talks and lesson plans for social studies teachers about the origins and significance of government secrecy, classified information, and freedom of information.
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3/12/2023
How The Irish Saved Wellington at Waterloo
by Brendan Farrell
For centuries, the Irish provided manpower to the British military, never more notably than on June 18, 1815.
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SOURCE: London Review of Books
3/1/2023
Review: The Unfinished Business of "Double V"
by Eric Foner
Eric Foner considers recent books on racism in the military in World War II and in Vietnam.
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SOURCE: New York Times
2/24/2023
Is Ukraine Headed for a Cease Fire? And Is That the Best Option?
by Sergey Radchenko
After an essential stalemate between 1951 and 1953, a cease-fire in Korea enabled the parties to avoid both defeat and the cost of victory. Is this the best chance for resolving the war in Ukraine?
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SOURCE: Foreign Affairs
2/28/2023
America Remains Trapped by the Dream of Global Hegemony
by Andrew Bacevich
American victory in World War II remains a source of dangerous myths and delusions about global supremacy. Both popular culture and foreign policy need to adopt the Iraq War as a less affirming, but more realistic, touchstone.
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SOURCE: The New Yorker
2/17/2023
Stephen Kotkin on How the Ukraine War Could End
The historian of Russia and the USSR argues that Putin's invasion will ultimately be seen as a disaster for Russia. Its unclear, however, if that view is sufficiently widespread in Russia to change Putin's strategic outlook or the regime.
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2/22/2023
America Fought Its Own Battle Over Books Before it Fought the Nazis
by Brianna Labuskes
The Armed Services Editions paperback books were wildly popular among World War II servicemembers. But they became symbols of American freedom to read in the war against fascism only after a bitter domestic battle about the works and topics that would be permitted.
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
1/17/2023
Training Ukrainian Troops in the US Part of a Long History of Military Advising as Foreign Policy
by Syrus Jin
Training foreign military officers in the US has, since the 1950s, aimed at more than military success. It's been a vehicle for developing foreign political leadership and expanding US influence.
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SOURCE: New Statesman
12/20/2022
Ukrainesplaining, or, Why the West Underestimated Ukraine
by Olesya Khromeychuk
The credibility of Ukraine's claims and commitment to national self-determination have always been dismissed and diminished by the influence of Russian perspectives, even among academic observers. A woman historian finds the phenomenon familiar.
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12/18/2022
A Grisly but Significant Discovery at Red Bank Updates the History of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign
by Robin Baker
Local volunteers excavating near the site of Fort Mercer in southern New Jersey discovered new evidence of the participation of Hessian mercenaries in a key battle in the British attempt to seize Philadelphia in 1777.
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SOURCE: The Atlantic
12/6/2022
The Conventional Wisdom About War Crimes is Wrong
by Brian Klaas
Ideology can be seductive, and doesn't require monstrous people to incite monstrous acts.
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SOURCE: War on the Rocks
12/13/2022
Politicization of the US Military over the Last 4 Decades
by Kori Schake
"If America wants to retain a military that recruits from all parts of the citizenry and brings them together into an effective fighting force, it should both correct that public perception and better insulate the military from being a pawn in partisan political disputes."
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12/11/2022
Writing My Father Into History
by Stephen G. Rabe
As a child, the author developed an interest in history by hearing his father's stories on the journey from parachuting in to Normandy to the Brandenburg Gate and the occupation of Berlin. But he waited until retirement to research and write about them.
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SOURCE: New York Times
12/2/2022
The Passing of the Generation that Remembers the Last World War Makes the Next One More Likely
by Stephen Wertheim
The United States faces a growing risk of conflict with other global powers without a strong awareness of how difficult and all-consuming it could be for the military, civilians, and the entire society.
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SOURCE: Foreign Policy
12/2/2022
In Ukraine, "General Frost" Will Fight on Both Sides
Military commanders in Eastern Europe have long tried to deal with the effects of bitter winter on morale and logistics. How is it likely to affect the Ukrainian counterattack against Russia?
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SOURCE: New York Times
12/3/2022
"Archives Rat" John Prados Punctured Military Secrecy to Write History
"Running through all his work was the contention that records of intelligence and covert activities represented a sort of historical dark matter: a vast amount of material that, while invisible in conventional narratives, could, if revealed, radically shift our understanding of the past."
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11/6/2022
From Torch to Tunis to El Alamein: Events 80 Years Ago Made the Modern Middle East
by Robert Satloff
80 years ago Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, opened a second front against Nazi Germany. Today, it has proven equally important for establishing models for America's relationship to the Middle East.
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11/6/2022
Lindsey Fitzharris on the Pioneering Facial Reconstruction Surgeon Who Remade the Faces of Great War Veterans
by James Thornton Harris
As one battlefield nurse wrote home, “the science of healing stood baffled before the science of destroying.” Dr. Harold Gillies let the effort to catch up, arguably the only lasting "victory" of the Great War.
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SOURCE: The Guardian
10/27/2022
Newly Translated Documents Give Fuller Picture of Nuclear Danger During Cuban Missile Crisis
The National Security Archive has released an English translation of the account of a Soviet submarine officer of events in October 1962 tells the story of how his vessel's commander nearly launched nuclear weapons against US Navy ships enforcing the quarantine of Cuba.
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