Victory in Europe 1945From World War to Cold WarEdited by Arnold A. Offner and Theodore A. WilsonSeptember 2000
In this provocative collection, eleven senior scholars explore the transition from war to uneasy peace. Authorities such as Warren Kimball, Randall Woods, and Garry Clifford examine how and why the war ended as it did, whether a different resolution was possible, and what the victors actually won. They also consider whether the circumstances surrounding war termination made inevitable the ensuing Cold War. Some examine the often-tragic results of actions taken to deal with such immediate circumstances as the food crisis. Others assess the roles of key players, such as the joint chiefs of staff, during the transition from shooting war to cold war. Still others explore issues that have preoccupied scholars and policy makers since 1945 regarding the chaotic termination of the war, such as Eisenhower's decision to stop at the Elbe. Here readers will relive VE Day from the perspective of Soviet-occupied Poland and neutral Ireland, get a glimpse of Russian society at war's end, and experience Holland's brutal "hunger winter." The authors also re-examine ties between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. and show how such factors as inept diplomacy, mutual anxieties, Stalin's heavy-handedness, and Truman's bravado led to decades of standoff. We always know more about how wars begin than how they end, and five decades after this important event many questions about the end of World War II remain unanswered. Victory in Europe 1945 offers a case study in war termination that examines choices made and opportunities lost as it considers the transition from coalition cooperation to mutual suspicion in the face of new political realities. It brings to life a pivotal moment in history with new insights for specialists, students, and general readers alike. ARNOLD A. OFFNER is Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History at Lafayette College and author of such works as The Origins of the Second World War: American Foreign Policy and World Politics, 1917–1941 and a forthcoming diplomatic biography of Harry S Truman. THEODORE A. WILSON is professor of history at the University of Kansas and general editor of the Modern War Studies series. He is the editor of D-Day 1944 and author of The First Summit: Roosevelt and Churchill at Placentia Bay, 1941, which won the Francis Parkman Prize. CONTRIBUTORS: Anna M. Cienciala, University of Kansas; J. Garry Clifford, University of Connecticut; Ronan Fanning, University College Dublin; David Hogan, U.S. Army Center of Military History; Warren F. Kimball, Rutgers University; Arnold A. Offner, Lafayette College; Vladimir V. Pozniakov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Mark A. Stoler, University of Vermont; Hal E. Wert, Kansas City Art Institute; Theodore A. Wilson, University of Kansas; Randall Woods, University of Arkansas
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At the end of World War II in
Europe, peace had finally come but at a terrible price: its cities
and countryside were devastated, 35 million lay dead, and those
who did survive faced extreme economic hardship and the threat
of starvation. Ending the war was more than a matter of defeating
the German army; it was about a new world order emerging in fits
and starts from the smoldering ruins of a continent.