[X] My Assistant

any good book recommendation (unbiased) about WW2 history?
or about german and USSR, just getting started to learn this

Anthony Beevor's The Second World War.

If you simply want an account of the Russo-German aspect, try Alan Clark's Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45.

Those two books are among my go-to references for that chapter of history.

This post has been edited by meow_pao: Sep 24 2018, 00:10

I suggest "Mein Kampf", written by Adolf Hitler himself, to order to obtain the first perspective of the leader of a rather interesting, superpower, but defeated in the end of that era.

And about the conditions of weaker countries that got involved into WW2, I suggest [www.amazon.com] https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Over-Malaya...e/dp/9971695081. (Asia, Malaya), and [www.goodreads.com] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5143423-no-greater-ally (Europe, Poland) Their efforts in war is often downplayed.

And the last is those weaker countries which would have been gotten into war but didn't, through the superior power of diplomacy, preparedness and etc. They put a lot of effort in not to get anhilated by either side. [www.amazon.com] https://www.amazon.com/Target-Switzerland-S...y/dp/0306813254 (Switzerland), [books.google.com.my] https://books.google.com.my/books/about/Tha...amp;redir_esc=y (Thailand). These countries are the biggest winner, since they are able to save everyone's lives, their property and the post-war relationships from both sides, from being ravaged by the war.

And the last is those weaker countries which would have been gotten into war but didn't, through the superior power of diplomacy, preparedness and etc. They put a lot of effort in not to get anhilated by either side.

These countries are the biggest winner, since they are able to save everyone's lives, their property and the post-war relationships from both sides, from being ravaged by the war.

Hitler didn't bother to invade Switzerland during WW2 because his main objective during the early part of the war was to get France and Britain to surrender. After that, he focused his attention on his invasion of the Soviet Union as part of his policy of Lebensraum (his thoughts on that subject are laid out in Mein Kampf). Allocating forces to invade Switzerland -- with its difficult terrain and its armed militia -- would be a waste of resources and time.

And Thailand was involved in WW2. It was invaded by Japan and quickly became their ally. Being an independent country (as opposed to being a colony, like most of Southeast Asia) during the outbreak of war, there was no real reason for Allied forces invade Thailand in order to "liberate" it from the Japanese.

Hitler didn't bother to invade Switzerland during WW2 because his main objective during the early part of the war was to get France and Britain to surrender. After that, he focused his attention on his invasion of the Soviet Union as part of his policy of Lebensraum (his thoughts on that subject are laid out in Mein Kampf). Allocating forces to invade Switzerland -- with its difficult terrain and its armed militia -- would be a waste of resources and time.

And Thailand was involved in WW2. It was invaded by Japan and quickly became their ally. Being an independent country (as opposed to being a colony, like most of Southeast Asia) during the outbreak of war, there was no real reason for Allied forces invade Thailand in order to "liberate" it from the Japanese.

I beg to differ, Switzerland was also placed pretty high on his list since Switzerland is included into Greater German Empire, and there is such thing as Operation Tannenbaum, which is supposed to be executed shortly after France was defeated.

The German troops are able take down countries with fairly good military power in a short time, especially France which considered the strongest in Europe when the war has started. They even able to take down Balkans during winter, so Switzerland wouldn't pose too much of a problem to them.

The main reason Switzerland wasn't invaded by Germany mainly due to its banking system that provides anonymity, its access to international finance and they held a lot Nazi Gold that worth $400million. Its well known that many Nazi politicians and officers kept their stolen goods in Switzerland.

2. Thailand being allied with Japan was once considered the same as Italy allied with Germany by the Allies, instead of a billateral relationship like Finland with Germans. The fact that Thailand has declared war to the Allies, that means the Allies have the right to bomb Thailand into wasteland.

The Thais can simply join the Imperial Japanese forces and fought against the Allies like the Burmese, but instead of doing so, they were giving out intels to the Allies about the movements of Japanese force and many other details. That has helped them a lot during post-war peace negotiations, the only punishment by the Allies, - for allying with Axis, then later giving them full access to their road system that has later led to the fall of Malaya and Singapore, was only sending a few trucks of rice to Malaya.

Yes, I'm aware that Operation Tannenbaum, detailing the invasion of Switzerland, was planned out. However, it never pushed through; the most likely reason being that it would tie up resources that could be put to better use for the invasion of the Soviet Union. During the latter half of the war, once the tide of battle started to turn against the Germans, Hitler could not spare any forces to push through with Tannenbaum.

The expertise of the Swiss in terms of banking and finance may have played some role in their being left alone, but it is more likely that their formidable topography and militia were far greater deterrents.

With regards to the Balkans, on the other hand, the Germans went through with this campaign out of necessity: their ally Italy was having problems in Greece, and the German-leaning government in Yugoslavia was overthrown in a coup d'etat.

But, we both digress. This thread was meant to list reference material suggestions regarding WW2. If you have any other reading recommendations, I'm all ears.

But, we both digress. This thread was meant to list reference material suggestions regarding WW2. If you have any other reading recommendations, I'm all ears.

Okie Dokie, here's the link from Independent Commision of Experts Switzerland. In 1996, the Swiss Federal Council appointed something called the Bergier commission (or ICE - Independent Commission of Experts), their aim is not about attack or criticise about Switzerland's actions in WW2, but to provide historical context about Switzerland's role during WW2. They were provided with 22million Francs budget and granted unlimited access to private and public documents. Pretty reliable to be honest. They really secured their post-war relationship well, I would say.

[www.uek.ch] https://www.uek.ch/en/

This post has been edited by Rakion555: Sep 24 2018, 22:08

ill go with mein kampf first cause its easier to find here (2 volume right?)
then anthony Beevor's The Second World War and Alan Clark's Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45.
thanks anyway (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Night by Elie Wiesel.

Battlefield V

any good book recommendation (unbiased) about WW2 history?
or about german and USSR, just getting started to learn this

For a solid overview of World War II, check out "The Second World War" by Sir Winston Churchill. If you're interested in Germany and the USSR, "Stalingrad" by Antony Beevor is a great choice, offering a compelling look at that pivotal battle. Also, if you want to [www.aroundrobin.com] explore the contributions of various leaders, you might read about African American leaders. Enjoy your reading!

I suggest "Mein Kampf", written by Adolf Hitler himself, to order to obtain the first perspective of the leader of a rather interesting, superpower, but defeated in the end of that era.

And about the conditions of weaker countries that got involved into WW2, I suggest [www.amazon.com] https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Over-Malaya...e/dp/9971695081. (Asia, Malaya), and [www.goodreads.com] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5143423-no-greater-ally (Europe, Poland) Their efforts in war is often downplayed.

And the last is those weaker countries which would have been gotten into war but didn't, through the superior power of diplomacy, preparedness and etc. They put a lot of effort in not to get anhilated by either side. [www.amazon.com] https://www.amazon.com/Target-Switzerland-S...y/dp/0306813254 (Switzerland), [books.google.com.my] https://books.google.com.my/books/about/Tha...amp;redir_esc=y (Thailand). These countries are the biggest winner, since they are able to save everyone's lives, their property and the post-war relationships from both sides, from being ravaged by the war.

Mein kampf is too awful, Hitler is a good painter but not a Literary artist