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September 1939
Germany invades Poland
Britain declares war on Germany
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The Second World War – the Backstory
1530 words
an 8 minute read
The Second World War, the first phase of which broke out on 1 September 1939 when Germany attacked Poland, had its origins twenty-one years earlier, when the First World War – then known as the Great War – came to an end. Four years of massive slaughter had ended with the hope that, despite the carnage, and the collapse of the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish Empires, global war, fought on land, at sea and in the air, had become a thing of the past.
The Treaties that followed the end of the Great War were dictated by the victorious powers, led by Britain and France. Germany, once the dominant military and industrial power in the centre of Europe, with imperial possessions in Africa and the Pacific, was reduced in territory, disarmed, and saddled with a massive debt in the form of reparations: payments to the victorious powers, and to the countries with whom they had fought, including Belgium, which they had overrun.
Polish prisoners-of-war, captured by the Germans in September 1939.
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Sir Martin's September Books
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American History Atlas
Its history in maps
BUY HERE
For discount, enter DC 360 at checkout.
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 From Esther Gilbert
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In praise of barbed wire
600 words
a 3 minute read
A century ago from the time I grew up there, those living in the American West experienced years of animosity that often descended into bloodshed. Having taken the land from the native Indian population, Eastern settlers experienced a new freedom: that of the wide open range. Endless square miles of land stretched out before them, land on which to graze their livestock, grow crops, build their homes and their livelihoods. But soon they found their dreams collided, with the flashpoint, often over the question of fences.
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Randolph Churchill on
the Churchill Biography
Editor's Note: On June 14, Hillsdale College, the publishers of the official multi-volume Churchill biography, announced, at a gala dinner in London, the completion of the final document volumes, bringing the biography to 8 volumes of Churchill's life, and 23 volumes of accompanying documents. Randolph Churchill, Churchill's great-grandson, spoke to mark this occasion:
1500 words
an 8 minute read
“My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen. I cannot tell you how delighted I am to be speaking to you at this celebration dinner for the completion of the Official Biography. The fact that we celebrate this alongside the 75th anniversary of those remarkable D-Day landings, which represent in my view the most important event in our strategic military history, makes this occasion even more special.
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Short List, Dubai, https://www.shortlistdubai.com/article/21289-22-biographies-every-man-should-read, “22 biographies every man should read” by Michael Hogan, posted 7 August 2019:
Churchill, A Life by Martin Gilbert
“One of the greatest Britons has one of the greatest biographies. Army officer, Nobel Prize-winning writer, artist and prime minister in two separate stints, Sir Winnie was a titan who bestrode British public life for 60 years. As official biographer, Oxford history don Gilbert wrote an eight-book epic, which he boiled down into this single-volume version. Politician Michael Foot said of Gilbert's work: 'Whoever made Martin Gilbert Churchill's biographer deserves a vote of thanks from the nation.'
Key details: The way Churchill drove off the black dog of depression and many other, more literal enemies in wartime, powered by nothing but cigars, whisky and sheer force of personality.”
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Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre
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Save The Date! 24 October 2019, the second Sir Martin Gilbert Memorial Lecture will be given by David  Miliband. For more information please email info@smglc.org.uk
Bookings and updates at https://www.smglc.org.uk/
Calling Sir Martin's post card correspondents! Do you have post cards we could borrow for a planned exhibit? Please email esther.gilbert@martingilbert.com
Share Sir Martin's Legacy
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