Pacifism presents itself as the highest moral ground: a principled refusal to engage in violence, an insistence that all killing is always wrong, and a hope that moral purity can disarm brutality. In practice, however, pacifism is not merely naïve but morally evasive. It refuses responsibility for consequences, confuses intentions with outcomes, and ultimately relies […]
The Moral Failure of Pacifism
The Moral Failure of Pacifism
24 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
Forgotten History-The Swiss Airforce during WWII.
16 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Switzerland, World War II

Although Switzerland remained neutral throughout World War II, it had to deal with numerous violations of its airspace by combatants from both sides – initially by German aircraft, especially during their invasion of France in 1940. Zealous Swiss pilots attacked and shot down eleven German aircraft, losing two of their own, before a threatening memorandum […]
Forgotten History-The Swiss Airforce during WWII.
The evil of Japan during WWII
09 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Japan, World War II

Many people forget that the Japanese war crimes were as bad if not worse then those committed by the Nazi’s albeit it on a marginal lesser scale. Beside the crimes and experiment committed by Unit 731 there were a great number of other atrocities, including cannibalism. https://dirkdeklein.net/2016/07/01/unit-731-japanese-wwii-experiments/ In “The Knights of Bushido”, Lord Russell […]
The evil of Japan during WWII
More maps
05 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, war and peace Tags: Germany, World War I, World War II
The execution of deserter Eddie Slovik
01 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: World War II

Eddie Slovik was executed on January 31, 1945, becoming the only American soldier put to death for desertion since the Civil War. Of approximately 40,000 U.S. service members who deserted during World War II, only several thousand were court-martialed. Forty-nine received death sentences, but Slovik was the only one whose sentence was executed. Private Eddie […]
The execution of deserter Eddie Slovik
Why didn’t the US focus on Japan first in WW2? (Short Animated Documentary)
30 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
Sectoral shifts in supply, wartime agriculture edition
26 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, industrial organisation, war and peace Tags: British history, World War II
It is all the more remarkable, then, that within six years Britain’s agricultural output had transformed, more profoundly and at a faster pace than any time since the start of the Industrial Revolution. The most urgent need was to provide a substitute for all that previously imported foreign wheat. In 1939, Britain only had 11.8…
Sectoral shifts in supply, wartime agriculture edition
Blood in the Snow: The Malmédy Massacre
19 Dec 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: World War II

The Malmédy Massacre: A Tragedy of War and the Story of Survival The Malmédy Massacre, which occurred during the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944, stands as one of the most heinous war crimes committed by German forces during World War II. This event, marked by the ruthless execution of unarmed American prisoners […]
Blood in the Snow: The Malmédy Massacre
SURVIVING KATYN: STALIN’S POLISH MASSACRE AND THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH by Jane Rogoyska
15 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Poland, World War II
(Mass grave of Polish officers in Katyn Forest, exhumed by Germany in 1943) The Katyn forest massacre committed by the Soviet Union occurred between April and May 1940. Though killings took place in Kalinin and Kharkiv prisons operated by the NKVD and elsewhere, the massacre is named after the Katyn forest where mass graves were […]
SURVIVING KATYN: STALIN’S POLISH MASSACRE AND THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH by Jane Rogoyska
Dads Army- The British home guard
12 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, television, TV shows, war and peace Tags: World War II

“Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler” is the first line of the theme of the British sitcom Dad’s Army. A truly hilarious show. I remember one episode where Capt Mainwaring is telling a story how he met an Australian soldier. He had asked him “Did you come here to die?” whereupon the […]
Dads Army- The British home guard
AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL.
08 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Pearl Harbour, World War II

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed, and the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized. In total, twelve ships were sunk or beached, and nine additional vessels were damaged. More than 160 aircraft were destroyed […]
AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL.
Why did the 1945 Japanese Army coup against the Emperor fail? (Short Ani…
01 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, war and peace Tags: Japan, World War II
JFK at War
24 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War II

While the world is remembering the 62nd Anniversary of the Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I want to focus on a different aspect of JFK, his time during World War II. Specifically, his time on PT 109. “The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the NAVY and MARINE CORPS MEDAL to/ LIEUTENANT […]
JFK at War
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East: The Quest for Justice in Postwar Asia
13 Nov 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: World War II

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was one of the most significant judicial efforts to hold individuals accountable for crimes committed during war. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the tribunal sought to prosecute the leading figures of Imperial Japan for crimes […]
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East: The Quest for Justice in Postwar Asia
MPs and the Second World War
11 Nov 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: World War II

Ahead of Remembrance Day, and with 2025 marking 80 years since the end of the Second World War, Dr Kathryn Rix, Assistant Editor of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project, follows up her series on MPs and the First World War by looking at the 23 MPs commemorated in the Commons chamber who died during […]
MPs and the Second World War

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