Europa Games and Military History
It was a test, and as such, it showed that there is no interest currently in an forum on this website. Which makes sense, considering there is less activity on the Europa mailing list every year. So for now, The forums have been closed. Thank you to all who posted there! There are still comments possible on a lot of pages, and of course you can always mail me.
The second round of updates provided by Carlos Pérez is going online today: An essay on the history of the Spanish Air Force in World War Two, and the resulting suggestion for a Grand Europa OB for the Spanish Air Forces.
On a random side note, how do you call a linklist that exclusively links to online versions of books? Its a form we’ve used a lot on this website, and both “linklist” as well as “bibliograpy” seems insufficient. A linklist or bookmarks refers to websites, whereas a bibliography is a list of books. These lists are a mixture of the two, pointing the reader to digitalized verions of paper books available online. Confusing.
The young Soviet Union, like any other major power, undertook great efforts to learn from “Great War”. A military comission started publishing a military history of the First World War aimed at the training of Red Army officers. The resulting seven-volume work called Стратегический очерк войны 1914-1918 гг. (Strategic Outline of the War 1914-1918) focuses on strategy and operations and contains a lot of documents, orders and reports. the obvious disadvantage for English speakers is that the work is available in Russian only so far.
The links here lead to HTML versions of the books, including the maps, available at http://www.grwar.ru/library/index.html. Additionally, DJVU versions of all volumes are available at http://www.runivers.ru/lib/book3171/.
Part 1. From the declaration of war to the beginning of September 1914: The first invasion of the Russian armies into East Prussia and the Battle of Galicia. Edited by Tsikhovich Ya. 1922
Part 2. From September 15th to November 25th 1914: The August battle. Warsaw-Ivangorod, Cracow and Łódź operations, operations in Galicia and the Carpathians. Hyrovskoe battle. Edited by G. Korolkov. 1922
Part 3. From November 25th, 1914 to March 28th, 1915. Edited by A. Neznamov. 1922
Part 4. From October 1915 to September 1916: Mackensen’s breakthrough at Gorlice, the struggle for Przemysl and Lviv. The long retreat of the russian Army. Edited by A. Neznamov. 1922
Part 5. October 1915 – September 1916. Trench warfare and attempts to break the Austrian South-Western Front. Edited by VN. Klembowski. M. 1920
Part 6 May 1916 to the end of 1916: Breakthrough of the South-Western Front in May 1916 and operations until the end of the year. Edited by AM. Zayonchkovsky. M. 1923
Part 7. The Campaign of 1917. Edited by AM. Zayonchkovsky. M. 1923
The large Indian participation in the First World War was covered in a single volume entitled India’s Contribution to the Great War published by the Government of India in 1923. The book is available to read on the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts collection, and as PDF download at archive.org.
The number of studies and books published by the US military on the Second World War alone fills a small library. Official histories do not only exist for the Army and the Navy, then the two arms of the US military, but also for the nascent forces of the Air Force and the Marines, and of course for countless other organisations like the Corps of Engineers or the Coast Guard. For brevitys sake, we will limit this bibliography to the classic trio of Army, Navy and Air Force. For further research have a look at hyperwar, the not always up-to-date, but always useful collection of links about military history.
Better known as “The Green Books,” The U.S. Army in World War II consists of 79 volumes plus a reader’s guide. Unlike the official histories of some countries, these volumes were often written by professional historians, such as Robert R. Palmer, Forrest Pogue, or Bell I. Wiley, rather than staff officers.
As with official histories, every campaign is covered in great detail, often starting with descriptions from the front lines rather than with strategic plannings and the big picture. But the really valuable volumes are the ones dealing with what usually only gets experts exited. That is to say, the volumes on to/e, logistics, medical service, and more. The detail in these is often extraordinary, as they delve into matters that, although largely invisible in most histories, were essential to shaping an army that could fight and win.
The US Army in WW 2 – Reader’s Guide
Chief of Staff- Prewar Plans and Preparations, Mark Skinner Watson
Washington Command Post – The Operations Division. Ray S. Cline
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare – 1941-1942, Maurice Matloff and Edwin M. Snell
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare – 1943-1944. Maurice Matloff
Global Logistics and Strategy 1940 – 1943, Richard M. Leighton
Global Logistics and Strategy 1943 – 1945, Robert W. Coakley and Richard M. Leighton
The Army and Economic Mobilization, R. Elberton Smith
The Army and Industrial Manpower, Byron Fairchild and Jonathan Grossman
The Organization of Ground Combat Troops, Ken Roberts Greenfield, Robert R. Palmer and Bell I. Wiley
The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops, Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley and William R. Keast
The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces, John D. Millett
The Framework of Hemisphere Defense, Stetson Conn and Byron Fairchild
Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. Stetson Conn. Rose C. Engelman and Byron Fairchild
Strategy and Command- The First Two Years, Louis Morton
The Fall of the Philippines, Louis Morton
Guadalcanal- The First Offensive, John Miller, jr.
Cartwheel – The Reduction of Rabaul, John Miller, jr.
Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, Philip A. Crowl and Edmund G. Love
Campaign in the Marianas, Philip A. Crowl
The Approach to the Philippines, Robert Ross Smith
Leyte: The Return to the Phillippines, M. Hamlin Cannon
Triumph in the Philippines, Robert Ross Smith
Okinawa: The Last Battle, Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, John Stevens
Sicily and the Surrender of Italy, LTC Albert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth. Assisted by Martin Blumenson
Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, George F. Howe
Salerno to Cassino, Martin Blumenson
Cassino to the Alps, Ernest F. Fisher, Jr.
The Supreme Command, Forest C. Pogue
Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol I, May 1941 – September 1941, Roland G. Ruppenthal
Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol. 2, Roland G. Ruppenthal
Cross Channel Attack, Gordon A. Harrison
Breakout and Pursuit, Martin Blumenson
The Lorraine Campaign, Hugh M. Cole
The Siegfried Line Campaign, Charles B. MacDonald
The Ardennes – Battle of the Bulge, Hugh M. Cole
The Last Offensive, Charles B. MacDonald
Riviera to the Rhine, Jeffrey J. Clarke, Robert Ross Smith
Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Morison, already convinced of the value of personal involvement as a result of sailing experience while writing his biography of Christopher Columbus, wrote to President Roosevelt suggesting the preparation of an official history of the Navy in the war, and volunteering for the task. Both President Roosevelt and the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox agreed, and in May 1942 Morison was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve, and assigned a staff of assistants, with permission to go anywhere and to see all official records. Morison’s reputation as a knowledgeable sailor (based on his analysis in the biography of Christopher Columbus) preceded him, and he was welcomed on a number of ships, eleven of them in all by the end of the war.
The result was a normal historical work, not a prescribed official history. Limitations of the History of U.S. Naval Operations are mostly due to its shortened period of publication. Some material, especially related to codebreaking, was still classified, and later in-depth research into particular occurrences in the war did clarify points that had been passed over rather lightly. Some rewriting was incorporated in the later printings of this series. This History of U.S. Naval Operations also intentionally avoided a certain amount of analysis, for instance deferring to other works for the causes of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. The intended audience for the work, to quote from the preface, was “the general reader rather than the professional sailor.”
The books can be downloaded free of charge for 14 days at archive.org.
Vol. I: The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939–May 1943
Vol. II: Operations in North African Waters, October 1942–June 1943
Vol. III: The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931–April 1942
Vol. IV: Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May–August, 1942
Vol. V: The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942–February 1943
Vol. VI: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942–1 May 1944
Vol. VII: Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942–April 1944
Vol. VIII: New Guinea and the Marianas, 1944
Vol. IX: Sicily, Salerno and Anzio, 1943–1944
Vol. X: The Battle of the Atlantic Won, May 1943–May 1945
Vol. XI: The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944–1945
Vol. XII: Leyte, June 1944–January 1945
Vol. XIII: The Liberation of the Philippines, 1944–1945
Vol. XIV: Victory in the Pacific
Vol. XV: Supplement and General Index
The US Airforce became an independent combat arm in 1947. Prior to 1947, the responsibility for military aviation was divided between the Army (for land-based operations) and the Navy, and Marine Corps, for sea-based operations from aircraft carrier and amphibious aircraft.
In March 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget ordering each war agency to prepare “an accurate and objective account”of that agency’s war experience. Soon after, the Army Air Forces began hiring professional historians so that its history could be recorded. An Historical Division was established in Headquarters Army Air Forces under Air Intelligence, in September 1942, and the modern Air Force historical program began. With the end of the war, Headquarters approved a plan for writing and publishing a seven-volume history. In December 1945, Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker, Deputy Commander of Army Air Forces, asked the Chancellor of the University of Chicago to assume the responsibility for the publication of the history. Lieutenant Colonel Wesley Frank Craven of New York University and Major James Lea Cate of the University of Chicago, both of whom had been assigned to the historical program, were selected to be editors of the volumes. Between 1948 and 1958 seven were published.
Volume One: Plans and Early Operations January 1939 to August 1942
Volume Two: Europe: Torch to Pointblank August 1942 to December 1943
Volume Three: Europe: Argument to V-E Day January 1944 to May 1945
Volume Four: The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan August 1942 to July 1944
Volume Five: The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki June 1944 to August 1945
Volume Six: Men and Planes
Volume Seven: Services Around the World
United States Army Air Force (“Craven and Cate”)
http://www.afhso.af.mil/
Carlos Pérez was one of the most active spanish Europa-players. His historical interest mainly lay with the Spanish Civil War, and at his website belliludi.com he assembled an impressive collection of essays on the history of the civil war, written by internationally renowned military historians such as Brian R. Sullivan and Klaus Maier, to name but two.
Since Carlos does not have the ressources to keep his website updated, he recently gave permission to the General Staff to reproduce some of the essays and articles here, an offer that we accept with deep gratitude. So in the following weeks we’ll add the Europa-related articles as well as selected essays to generalstab.org. Make sure to thank Carlos if you see him!
First to go online is an essay by Williamson Murray titled The Consequences of Italian Intervention in the Spanish Civil War.
Plus, for Friends of knowledgable Europa variants: An Alternative Rule for the surrender of Italy in Second Front by Rich Velay
Thanks to the kind help of Europa veteran Jim Broshot, I was able to add an article index for the original Europa Newsletter published by GDW in 1976-78 to the library. The references also have been added to the pages of DNO and Narvik, respectively. For you, that means another little glimpse at Europa history, for me, it means finally learning who exactly the first fifty buyers of Drang nach Osten really were.
While the generals talk I’ve slowly reached the limit of this years ideas and plans, and/or the limits of what I can post online without running afoul of copyright laws.
This is probably a good moment to repeat my mantra: This website lives by its contributors. If there is anything online you think violates any copyright laws, I would be very grateful if you let me know, and I will immediately remove the offending content. I do not make a single cent from this website, so I would very much like to avoid legal issues.
So, probably the last news for a bit untill the jubilee comes around (Generalstab turns 20 next year!):
Be safe!
Note: This months link leads to german books and sources exclusively, so you might want to skip this link tip if you cant read german.
Markus Maria Hof is a historian and publicist, and he found the time to scrounge archive.org for books related to german and especially Prussian history. And since Prussia shaped more than a century of European military history, his findings are a treasure of sources on that topic, all of them available online. Due to copyright only old books end up at archive.org, so you’ll miss out on the most recent scientific consensus, which in a lot of cases has significantly evolved since the days when writing military history was done to instruct and motivate soldiers for the next war. However, some of the works reach a level of detail unsurpassed since.
A last grain of salt: Hofs political writings place him firmly on the conservative side of conservatism (to put it mildly), elsewhere on his blog he extensively discusses Spengler and Carl Schmidt, and his language as well as choice of topics echoes the national conservatives of the Twenties and Thirties. Still – I appreciate the bibliographical work, and reading Spengler and Nietzsche in my twens didn’t stop me from developing emphathy.
Bibliographies of (german) books on Prussian and German history online
Military history in 19th century Prussia used to be an exclusive club run for and by staff officers. Despised by their brethren who would rather be in the middle of an bombardment than caught reading a book, these “demigods” as they were derisively called, in turn looked down on academic historians as amateurs dabbling with things best left to professionals. The main task of the Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung (historical department) of the General Staff was to prepare future officers for war – intellectually, but also mentally. This called for brutal honesty, but maybe not too much of it, lest the spirit for war be stunted.
The resulting studies were oft biased, uncritical towards the officer corps, glossing over routs and setbacks. They exclusively focused on operations to the detriment of such mundane topics as logistics, supply, intelligence and economy, The price for this folly has since been paid (and mostly, mind you, not by the Germans), so we can now return to these works and value them for the qualities they also posess. The level of detail, familiarity with the topic on hand, the often clear and vivid description of events as well as the operational analysis make these books still an necessary read for anyone interested in the topics they cover.
Hg. vom Großen Generalstab. Berlin 1890/1914
Erster Theil: Der Erste Schlesische Krieg 1740-1742
1. Band, „Die Besetzung Schlesiens und die Schlacht bei Mollwitz“
2. Band „Von Mollwitz bis zum Beginn des Mährischen Feldzuges“
3, Band Der Feldzug in Mähren und der Feldzug in Böhmen und Oberschlesien“,
Zweiter Theil: Der Zweite Schlesische Krieg 1744-1745
1. Band, „Böhmen 1744“,
2. Band, „Hohenfriedeberg“,
3. Band, „Soor und Kesselsdorf“,
Dritter Theil: Der Siebenjährige Krieg 1756-1763
1. Band, „Pirna und Lobositz“,
2. Band, „Prag“,
3. Band, „Kolin“,
4. Band, „Groß-Jägersdorf und Breslau“,
5. Band, „Hastenbeck und Roßbach“,
6. Band, „Leuthen“,
7. Band, „Olmütz und Crefeld“,
8. Band, „Zorndorf und Hochkirch“,
9. Band, „Bergen“,
10. Band, „Kunersdorf“,
11. Band, „Minden und Maxen“,
12. Band, „Landeshut und Liegnitz“,
13. Band, „Torgau“,
Geschichte des siebenjährigen Krieges in einer Reihe von Vorlesungen mit Benutzung authentischer Quellen. Großer Generalstab (Hg.), Berlin 1824/1841
1. Band: Der Feldzug von 1758, Berlin, – also online at archive.org
2. Band: Der Feldzug von 1758, Berlin, – also online at archive.org
3. Band: Der Feldzug von 1759, Berlin, 1828, – also online at archive.org
4. Band: Der Feldzug von 1760, Berlin, 1834, – also online at archive.org
5. Band: Der Feldzug von 1761,, Berlin, 1836 – also online at archive.org
6. Band: Der Feldzug von 1762 und der Schluss des Krieges 1763, Berlin, – also online at archive.org
Das preußische Heer der Befreiungskriege (3 Bd., Berlin 1914).
Band 1: Das preußische Heer im Jahre 1812, Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn: Berlin, 1912
1806. Das preußische Offizierkorps und die Untersuchung der Kriegsereignisse. Großer Generalstab, Berlin 1906
Der Deutsch-dänische Krieg 1864 hrsg. vom Großen Generalstabe, Abteilung für Kriegsgeschichte
Vol 1. E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1886, 515 pages – Political background, mobilisation and operations in Jutland until April 18th, 1864
Vol 2., E.S: Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1887, 566 pages – Operations in Jütland and Alsen up to the end of the war.
Vol 3, Kartenband, E.S: Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1887 – maps
Der Feldzug von 1866 in Deutschland redigiert von der Abteilung für Kriegsgeschichte des Großen Generalstabs, E.S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1867
redigiert von der Abteilung für Kriegsgeschichte des Großen Generalstabs
Erster Theil: Geschichte des Krieges bis zum Sturz des Kaiserreiches
Erster Band: Vom Beginn der Feindseligkeiten bis zur Schlacht von Gravelotte, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1874
Zweiter Band: Von der Schlacht von Gravelotte bis zum Sturz des Kaiserreichs, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1875
Zweiter Theil: Geschichte des Krieges gegen die Republik
Erster Band: Von der Einschließung von Paris bis zur Wiederbesetzung von Orleans durch die Deutschen, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1878
Zweiter Band: Die Ereignisse im Norden Frankreichs von Ende November, im Nordwesten Anfang Dezember und die Belagerung von Paris von Anfang Dezember bis zum Waffenstilstande. Die Operationen im Südosten von Anfang November bis Ende Januar, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1880
Dritter Band: Die Ereignisse im Südosten Frankreichs von Mitte Januar bis zur Beendigung der Feindseligkeiten. Rückwärtige Verbindungen. Der Waffenstillstand. Rückmarsch und Okkupation. Rückblicke. E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1881
—
Die Kämpfe der deutschen Truppen in Südwestafrika. Auf Grund amtlichen Materials bearbeitet von der Kriegsgeschichtlichen Abteilung I des Großen Generalstabes. 3 Bände
1. Band: Der Feldzug gegen die Hereros. (1.-3. Heft) 248 pages, 24 pictures and 27 maps, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1906
2. Band: Der Hottentottenkrieg. (4.-6. Heft). 349 pages, 47 pictures and 28 maps, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1907
And then there is “Der Weltkrieg 1914-1918”
Kriegsgeschichtliche Einzelschriften. In 6 Bänden, Großer Generalstab-Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung (ed); E.S. Mittler & Sohn, 1908
Erster Band (Heft 1.-6.), E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1887
Zweiter Band (Heft 7-12), E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1889
Dritter Band (Heft 13-18), E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1895
Vierter Band (Heft 19-24), E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1898
Fünfter Band (Heft 25-30), , E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1902
Sechster Band (Heft 31-36), E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1905
Studien zur Kriegsgeschichte und Taktik
Volume 1: Heeresbewegungen im Kriege 1870-71, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin
Volume 2: Das Abbrechen von Gefechten, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1903. 25. Maps
Volume 3: Der Schlachtenerfolg, mit welchen Mitteln wurde er erstrebt?, Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn: Berlin, 1903
Volume 4: Die Festung in den Kriegen Napoleons und der Neuzeit. E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin
Volume 5: Der 18. August 1870, E.S. Mittler und Sohn Berlin 1906
Urkundliche Beiträge und Forschungen zur Geschichte des Preussischen Heeres
Erstes Heft: Die Anfänge der alten Armee, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1901
Zweites Heft:
Drittes Heft:
Viertes Heft:
Fünftes Heft: Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Friedrich Karl v. Schmidt. E.S. Mittler & Sohn, 1909
Sechstes Heft: Der Preussische Kavalleriedienst vor 1806. E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1904
I: Militärische Korrespondenz, Berlin, E.S.Mittler, 1892-1895
Erster Teil: Moltkes militärische Korrespondenz: Krieg 1864
Zweiter Teil: Aus den Dienstschriften des Krieges 1866.
Dritter Teil: Aus den Dienstschriften des Krieges 1870/71: Der Krieg bis zur Schlacht von Sedan; Vom 3. September 1870 bis zum 27. Januar 1871; Waffenstillstand und Friede.
Vierter Teil: Aus den Dienstschriften des Jahres 1859.
II. Die Thätigkeit als Chef des Generalstabes der Armee im Frieden, Berlin, E.S.Mittler, 1895-1906
Erster Teil: Moltkes taktische Aufgaben aus den Jahren 1858-1882
Zweiter Teil, Vol 1: Moltkes taktisch-strategische Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1857-1871
Zweiter Teil, Vol 2: Maps and Appendices
Dritter Teil: Moltkes Generalstabsreisen aus den Jahren 1858 bis 1869. 401 pages with 22 maps, Berlin 1906
III. Moltkes kriegsgeschichtliche Arbeiten, Berlin, E.S.Mittler, 1899-1902
Erster Teil: Geschichte des Krieges gegen Dänemark 1848/49.
Zweiter Teil: Kritische Aufsätze zur Geschichte der Feldzüge von 1809, 1859, 1864, 1866, und 1870/71.
Dritter Teil: Der italienische Feldzug des Jahres 1859
IV “Kriegslehre”, Berlin, E.S.Mittler, 1910-1912
Erster Teil: Die operativen Vorbereitungen zur Schlacht.
Zweiter Teil: Die taktischen Vorbereitungen zur Schlacht
Dritter Teil: Die Schlacht
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