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The Netherlands' escape from the 'hard hand of war' in 1914-1918 was explained until this century through several myths, all of which painted the country as a passive player during the war. That these myths are now discredited is not new. What has been given little attention, however, is the impact of these myths on the Netherlands' preparation for the next war, which it would not escape. The consequences of the country's faulty historical memory would have an impact well beyond its own borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most significant World War II battle between Germans and Italians outside of Italy was the September 1943 battle for the Greek island of Cephalonia, ending in the post-battle execution by German Mountain Troops of thousands of Italian soldiers. The recent clash between two German groups over what happened illustrates ongoing disputes about guilt and responsibility—how governments, historians, and civilians mobilize facts to write history. The Mountain Troops' Veterans Association, which has influenced official German memory of the war, used the Cephalonia case to reassert the myth of Wehrmacht innocence, contrary to opinion-shaping Wehrmacht exhibits of the 1990s. In 2010, the federal government, backing a German judicial decision, reasserted the Wehrmacht Myth, despite opposition from Rome, Athens, and an international association of activists, as reports on right-wing extremism in the German police, judiciary, and military have become increasingly prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo discurre sobre las operaciones navales de la isla Tsushima, Japón durante la guerra ruso-japonesa. El autor comenta sobre la burocracia gubernamental de Japón, los errores de las fuerzas armadas japonesas y la influencia del emperador japonés Meiji. Otros temas incluyen el Imperio de Japón, la historia de la política de Rusia y el almirante ruso Zinoviĭ Petrovich Rozhestvenskiĭ.

The essay presents an exploration into the military history and conduct of Czechs serving within the armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, drawn from previously unpublished primary sources in the State Archives of Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic. Details are given describing and challenging the historical myth of the unreliability of Czech soldiers which emerged after several alleged cases of mass desertion in Russian campaigns.