With approximately 19.8 million copies sold, Call of Duty: WWII is the most popular WWII first-person shooter video game of all time. Given its popularity, the way the developers portray WWII is...Show moreWith approximately 19.8 million copies sold, Call of Duty: WWII is the most popular WWII first-person shooter video game of all time. Given its popularity, the way the developers portray WWII is crucial to consider as studies have shown that information in fictional messages has the ability to alter people's perspectives. This is especially true when it comes to narratives provided within single player experiences. Therefore, this thesis provides a qualitative content analysis of the single player campaign mode in Call of Duty: WWII and focuses on narrative elements including conflict/theater of war, locations, player character, friendly non-playable characters, enemy characters and interactable objects. The analysis concludes that the game presents a narrow and US centric view of WWII. However, weapons, equipment, vehicles and locations were found to be represented historically accurately with a substantial amount of detail. Furthermore, it was discovered that the primary cast had been heroized, which can result in a romanticized interpretation of the conflictShow less
This thesis focuses on Native Americans who voluntary enlisted end served in the European and African theaters of operations only. The Pacific theater of operations has received much more attention...Show moreThis thesis focuses on Native Americans who voluntary enlisted end served in the European and African theaters of operations only. The Pacific theater of operations has received much more attention than the other two because of the well documented service of the Code Talker Units, and will therefore not be included in this thesis. Holm, Bernstein, Franco, Townsend, and Sheffield and Riseman all examined motives behind the Native American voluntary enlistment, some more thorough than others. They also analyze whether Native Americans experienced racial prejudice or discrimination. This thesis adds and examines two other motives behind Native American voluntary enlistment, and incorporates them within the existing narrative. Incorporating those two new motives behind Native American voluntary enlistment in the existing narrative provides for a more comprehensive account than is known today. This thesis further and more thoroughly analyzes to what extent Native Americans experienced racial prejudice or discrimination, and therefore may depict a more detailed picture than heretofore known in the existing narrative.Show less
Memory is a dialectical process of remembering and forgetting. When a memory is perceived by a community, the community can strategically choose either to remember or to forget a certain part of...Show moreMemory is a dialectical process of remembering and forgetting. When a memory is perceived by a community, the community can strategically choose either to remember or to forget a certain part of memory, depending on their aim. This memory can be called ‘collective memory’, since it involves memory that is shared by the community, such as nations. It is not just memories of a single individual’s experience or a collection of past events, rather it is memory that is reformulated. It is often symbolized by monuments and statues. Furthermore, it consists of various communications and negotiations from one generation to the later generations. History textbooks, for example, in advanced learning institutions or the rhetoric of political leaders can be involved in forming collective memory. The thesis will focus on the practical function of collective memories, which form individual or national identity, especially in post-war periods. As case studies, West Germany and Japan will be used and their post-war collective memory will be analysed, for the period between 1950-1980. It will examine how war memory was utilized in collective memory in both countries.Show less
A bachelor thesis on how the fame of British fieldmarshal Bernard Montgomery negatively affected Anglo-American relations during the later part of the Second World War with special attention on the...Show moreA bachelor thesis on how the fame of British fieldmarshal Bernard Montgomery negatively affected Anglo-American relations during the later part of the Second World War with special attention on the role that was played by British journalists.Show less
This thesis discusses the comfort women legacy, women's rights movements in Korea, and how these phenomena have influenced each other over time since the Second World War. Through this assumed...Show moreThis thesis discusses the comfort women legacy, women's rights movements in Korea, and how these phenomena have influenced each other over time since the Second World War. Through this assumed correlation, the arguments presented in this thesis will fill a gap in the already existing literature surrounding these concepts.Show less
By comparing historical narratives that coincided in WW II, I intend to examine how the national identities of the Netherlands and South Korea contrasted with one another and illustrate how the...Show moreBy comparing historical narratives that coincided in WW II, I intend to examine how the national identities of the Netherlands and South Korea contrasted with one another and illustrate how the former Comfort Women have been represented within their own social constructs thereafter. A crucial reason for partaking in a historical comparison, between the Netherlands and South Korea, is to combine a lesser documented case with a case which has received substantially more coverage in academia and the media. By examining historical events, I propose to shift the perspective from gaining formal recognition and compensation from the Japanese government, which is often the point of view in the media and an often discussed topic by academics, to instead: How were the former Comfort Women treated and represented by their own society after WW II? It is important to examine the Comfort Women Issue from a different perspective because the perspective of the society of which the former Comfort Women are a part of, holds as much significance in historical terms of accountability as the issue of the Japanese government’s reticence to offer satisfactory recompense.Show less
This thesis presents a textual edition of the diary letters written by the young Dutch woman Catharina Philippina Ouwens (1925-2005). She started writing the letters in February 1945, having lost...Show moreThis thesis presents a textual edition of the diary letters written by the young Dutch woman Catharina Philippina Ouwens (1925-2005). She started writing the letters in February 1945, having lost contact with her boyfriend Hendrikus Johannes Schutten (1924-2014), who had been sent to Babelsberg (Potsdam, Germany) to work for the Germans in the summer of 1943. Catharina, who lived in Amsterdam at the time, never posted the letters, but hoped to share them with Hendrikus once he had returned. She wrote the largest part of her diary during the final stages of the German occupation of the Netherlands, describing the last months of occupation, the liberation, and the weeks after the liberation (including an eyewitness's account of the Dam Square shooting on 7 May, 1945). This textual edition contains an introduction that describes the historical context of the letters and provides insight into Catharina and Hendrikus' personal lives, a transcription of the majority of the diary letters, with footnotes to elaborate on the context of the events or people described, and an appendix containing letters from Hendrikus to Catharina as well as a poem written by Catharina.Show less
When the Second World War ended, the European continent was devastated. Displaced persons (DPs) were scattered all over Europe. There were children among the DPs. They had survived the...Show moreWhen the Second World War ended, the European continent was devastated. Displaced persons (DPs) were scattered all over Europe. There were children among the DPs. They had survived the concentration camps, but often they had no place or family to return to. The European continent was not able to take care of all the DPs as the countries needed to rebuild themselves. The DPs needed to be relocated. An obvious choice would have been Ireland [neutral and undamaged by the war] but Ireland had strict immigration policy, in particularly towards Jewish people. This research aims to explain the attitude of the Irish government towards Jewish DP children and the relationship between media, claim makers and policymakers with regard to policymaking. The story of Dr. W.R.F. Collis is used as a case study. This research is based on a wide range of sources (including policy documents, interviews, autobiographies and newspaper articles).Show less
Centraal in deze scriptie staat de steun van de Verenigde Staten aan de Sovjet-Unie in eerste jaren van de oorlog. Hoe heeft de Lend-Lease kunnen ontstaan en was het een effectief middel in de...Show moreCentraal in deze scriptie staat de steun van de Verenigde Staten aan de Sovjet-Unie in eerste jaren van de oorlog. Hoe heeft de Lend-Lease kunnen ontstaan en was het een effectief middel in de strijd van de Sovjet-Unie tegen nazi-Duitsland tussen 1941 en 1943? Volgens Roosevelt was de steun aan de Sovjet-Unie essentieel voor de veiligheid van de Verenigde Staten. Om de hulp te organiseren werd in het najaar van 1941 de Harriman-Beaverbrook missie naar Moskou gestuurd, na drie dagen was alles vastgelegd in het eerste protocol. Ondanks dat er discussie was in de Verenigde Staten over waar de prioriteiten van het land moesten liggen, werd het protocol toch goedgekeurd door het congres; nu kon de Lend-Lease echt in gang worden gezet. De vele discussies en de initiële terughoudendheid van de Sovjet-Unie vertraagde het proces aanzienlijk, die betekend dat pas in 1942 de leveringen goed op gang zouden komen. Hoewel de Verenigde Staten en de Sovjet-Unie nu een formele samenwerking hadden, werd het werk van de Amerikaanse ambassade in Moskou niet makkelijker. De situatie werd niet geholpen door grote onrust in de relatie tussen het personeel van de Ambassade en het Witte Huis. Er werden grote offers gebracht om de beloofde hulp in de Sovjet-Unie te krijgen. Ondanks dat de hulp pas na de moeilijke periode de Sovjet-Unie bereikte heeft het toch een belangrijk aandeel gehad in de overwinning. De focus van de hulp ligt erg sterk op de logistiek, iets wat verwaarloosd was in de Sovjet-Unie doordat de prioriteit werd gelegd bij de productie van wapens. De moeilijkheden waren het grootst bij de verscheping naar de Sovjet-Unie, de beperkt beschikbare ruimte zorgde ervoor dat er soms moeilijke keuzes gemaakt moesten worden. Het kon hierdoor gebeuren dat goederen te laat in de Sovjet-Unie aankwamen om nog op hun originele bestemming gebruikt te worden. De onrust en onduidelijkheid binnen de Lend-Lease organisatie betekende vaak dat er niet goed gereageerd werd op veranderingen in de verzoeken. Hierdoor kon er minder effectief worden gereageerd op de verandering in de oorlogssituatie. De steun werd verpakt in de Lend-Lease. Onder deze afspraken werden veel goederen aan de Sovjet-Unie geleverd, de Sovjet-Unie was echter ook zelf in staat wapens te produceren. De steun heeft daardoor het meeste effect gehad in de ondersteunde diensten. Er moet wel opgemerkt worden dat de steun pas echt op gang kwam in de loop van 1942, dit betekende dat de steun pas echt effect begon te hebben toen het Rode Leger de Wehrmacht als het tegengehouden. De steun is daarom vooral van belang geweest in het terugdringen van de Duitse troepen en minder in de verdediging.Show less
This thesis constitutes the first monograph on British propaganda for Spain during the Second World War, as part of the British war effort to diminish Nazi influence in Spain and to keep Franco out...Show moreThis thesis constitutes the first monograph on British propaganda for Spain during the Second World War, as part of the British war effort to diminish Nazi influence in Spain and to keep Franco out of the war or to defer his entry as long as possible. From his appointment as ‘special’ ambassador to Spain, Sir Samuel Hoare’s personal appeasing initiatives quickly escalated into a systematic and well-organised propaganda organisation with headquarters at the Madrid embassy. With the help of the embassy staff, Hoare managed to establish an important network of contacts that ensured that British propaganda material breached Franco’s restrictions and reached Spaniards from all classes and regions. As this study argues, the embassy’s propaganda successes were mainly due to the fact that the propagandists knew how to adjust British interests to Spanish customs and norms. For instance, this thesis will give detailed account on the functioning of some peculiar methods of propaganda such as the so-called Religious Propaganda and the Embassy Medical Service. Lastly, this study will also analyse the propagandists’ constant exposure to violent aggressions at hands of the police and the members of the Falange, as well as their struggle to keep British opinion as neutral as possible regarding Spain.Show less
I studied how the KNA value system can be adjusted, so that the traces of World War II are not immediately named worth preserving on the basis of the perception value. The criteria aesthetic and...Show moreI studied how the KNA value system can be adjusted, so that the traces of World War II are not immediately named worth preserving on the basis of the perception value. The criteria aesthetic and historic value are almost always high with the traces of the war. The reason therefore is that the archaeology of World War II is still young and has a close connection to our present day society. It is impossible to research every trace with a perception value. Another important point is that the remains of the war can have more meanings than only be used for scientific research. I studied how KNA value system and the valuation method of RAAP, an archaeological research agency and consultancy, work to understand those systems and to be able to adjust it. I further studied how Belgium and England treat their war heritage and if there are points that we could use. Next I studied whether education and the involvement of the community could function as criteria. With all the knowledge gathered I could adjust the KNA value system. I did this by developing a new value called ‘meaning’. It exists of four criteria; educative, symbolic, emotional and community.Show less
Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog heeft de Amerikaanse overheid besloten het Japanse deel van haar bevolking naar interneringskampen te brengen. Deze scriptie beschrijft hoe de overheid tot deze...Show moreTijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog heeft de Amerikaanse overheid besloten het Japanse deel van haar bevolking naar interneringskampen te brengen. Deze scriptie beschrijft hoe de overheid tot deze beslissing is gekomen en welke rol de bevolking in het besluitvormingsproces heeft gespeeld.Show less
In this study, I focused on how historians looked at British and American handling of the ‘Polish Question’ in World War II. This was from the moment the discovery of the mass graves at Katyn led...Show moreIn this study, I focused on how historians looked at British and American handling of the ‘Polish Question’ in World War II. This was from the moment the discovery of the mass graves at Katyn led to a break between the Soviet Union and the Polish government-in-exile in April 1943 to the end of the Warsaw Uprising in September 1944. I was particularly interested in what ways the United States and Great Britain wanted to solve this problem in accordance with the wishes of the Polish government-in-exile. It seems as if historians are biased on this subject. They mainly see a pleasing Allied side, desperately trying to keep Stalin in the War. Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to please Stalin so much, according to these historians, that they were willing to sell out their Polish allies and to forget about the Soviet crimes committed in the Easter-European country. Instead of this biased historical look on affairs, summarized in the schools of innocence and blame, I argue for the school of reconstruction or a more objective look at this subject.Show less
