August 30, 2019

This Sunday, September 1, marks 80 years since Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Fighting in Asia had begun years earlier, but Germany’s invasion of Poland is considered the beginning of World War II, the most destructive war in history. World War II eventually drew in more than 50 nations, and more than 50 million people died before the war ended in September 1945.

German troops attack from a trench early in World War II. Germany started the war in Europe by attacking Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, 80 years ago this Sunday. Credit: AP Photo

Germany’s invasion of Poland came after years of problems and shifting attitudes in Germany. The nation’s defeat in World War I (1914-1918) resulted in dire economic and social problems in the 1920′s. Many people longed for the more prosperous pre-war days of the German Empire. In the early 1930′s, political unrest led to the rise of the Nazis, a fascist (extreme authoritarian) political group. The Nazis opposed democracy, Communism, socialism, feminism, and other political systems and movements that claimed to favor equality. The Nazis promised to make Germany great again by building a harmonious, orderly, and strong society. Instead, they brought terrorism, war, and genocide to Germany and other countries.

Adolf Hitler, far right, reviews German tanks as they parade through the streets of Warsaw, Poland, in 1939. Credit: AP/Wide World

In 1933, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazis, was appointed chancellor of Germany. Hitler rapidly increased his own power, and preached that Germans were a “superior race.” He called Jews, Slavs, and other minority groups inferior. He began a campaign of hatred against Jews and Communists and promised to rid the country of them. In this time of distress and economic depression, Hitler’s version of nationalism (an extreme form of patriotism) appealed to many Germans.

Hitler built up Germany’s armed forces. In March 1938, German soldiers marched into neighboring Austria and united it with Germany. At the end of September, Germany seized part of Czechoslovakia. The Czechs came under complete Nazi control in March 1939. Germany’s September invasion of Poland took place after Hitler agreed to divide the country with the Soviet Union. After quick German advances in western Poland, the Soviets invaded Poland from the east on September 17. Attacked from both sides, Poland fell on October 6. The Germans went on to invade other countries (including the Soviet Union) and took control of much of Europe.

The Nazis instituted the Holocaust, the systematic, state-sponsored murder of Jews and other people the Nazis judged politically dangerous or racially or mentally inferior. Historians estimate that the Nazis killed as many as 11 million people, including some 6 million Jews.

The war eventually turned against Nazi Germany, and the Nazis lost control of all areas—including Germany, which was badly damaged in the fighting. Around 5 million Germans died during World War II. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. Germany surrendered on May 8, ending the war in Europe. Despite the death and destruction brought by Hitler and the Nazis, far-right Neo-Nazi (new Nazi) groups formed after the war in Germany and elsewhere. Neo-Nazis continue to threaten and attack Jews and members of other minority groups.

Nazism and fascism (which also thrived in Italy and Spain) were not unique to Europe. In the United States in the 1930′s, the German American Bund and other groups actively supported the Nazis. The Bund gained a large membership, and in February 1939, it held a rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Some 20,000 people attended the radical Bund rally as around 1,500 police officers held back crowds of anti-fascist protesters outside. The Bund collapsed with the U.S. entry into World War II in December 1941—against Nazi Germany (and Japan).

May 3, 2018

Dogs have lived with people as pets for more than 10,000 years. Over that time, dogs have accompanied people in all sorts of situations, including when people have gone to war. Dogs fought alongside soldiers in the days of ancient Rome, and they continue to do so today. One hundred years ago, in the final year of World War I (1914-1918), one particular war dog earned military and other honors in the United States Army. That dog, a pit bull terrier named Stubby, also earned his stripes and achieved the Army rank of sergeant.

Sergeant Stubby wears his stripes and several medals on his Army uniform. Credit: Division of Armed Forces/Smithsonian National Museum of America History

Stubby was a scrawny brown-and-white puppy when he wandered onto the campus of Yale University in Connecticut in 1917. At the time, the Army’s 102nd Infantry Regiment was training there before being sent to Europe to fight in the war. Stubby seemed to enjoy running among the troops on the practice field as they marched and drilled. One of the soldiers, Private John Robert Conroy, became especially attached to Stubby.

When the 102nd received orders to board a troop ship headed for France, Conroy smuggled Stubby aboard. The rest of the men quickly became fond of the little stowaway, and Stubby became the mascot of the 102nd Regiment. The soldiers even taught the dog to salute—Stubby would raise his right front paw to his face.

John Robert Conroy and Sergeant Stubby pose for a post-war photo in March 1919. Credit: Division of Armed Forces/Smithsonian National Museum of America History

Soon after the 102nd arrived in Europe, the regiment was sent to fight on the Western Front in France. Stubby had never been trained in the horrific conditions of war, but from the beginning, the small dog reacted calmly to the noise and confusion of the battlefield. When the soldiers heard incoming shells and ran to take cover in the trenches, Stubby ran, too. Soon, with his superior canine hearing, Stubby would know that shells were coming before the men did. When the soldiers saw Stubby run for cover, they ran too.

But Stubby did more than run and hide from danger. When any of his men were injured during a battle, Stubby would run out onto the field, find the soldier, and stay with him until he could be rescued. Stubby’s daring actions resulted twice in wounds and the dog was cared for in a Red Cross hospital.

Besides his excellent hearing, Stubby also possessed a canine’s superior sense of smell. During a gas attack by the enemy, Stubby gave his troops early warning and saved the soldiers from injury or death. Stubby also carried messages across the battlefield, took turns at guard duty, and once even caught a German spy! For his service, Stubby was made an honorary sergeant in the U.S. Army.

After the war, Sergeant Stubby returned to the United States with Conroy. He was introduced to President Woodrow Wilson (whom Stubby saluted) and later met Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Stubby marched in many parades and was named a life member of the Red Cross, the American Legion, and the YMCA.

When Conroy went to Georgetown University to study law, Stubby became the mascot of the university’s football team. Stubby often enjoyed playing with the football on the sidelines at halftime. Stubby eventually died of old age in 1926, with his favorite soldier, Conroy, at his side.

Sergeant Stubby was the subject of the 1978 children’s book, Stubby—Brave Soldier Dog. In 2018, an animated film, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, recounted Stubby’s story and that of his best friend, Private Conroy.

November 15, 2017

Since 2015, civil war and famine have killed more than 10,000 people in Yemen, a country on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. To make matters worse, an outbreak of cholera, an infectious disorder of the intestines, has killed thousands more in the past year. Fighting between Sunni Muslim government forces and Shī`ite Muslim rebels has destroyed much of Yemen’s already poor infrastructure and displaced millions of citizens. Sewage systems in urban areas have collapsed, as have Yemen’s health services. Throughout the country, people have crowded into temporary camps. Unsanitary conditions and shortages of food, clean water, and medicine led to the cholera outbreak. Cholera is transmitted by water or food that has been contaminated with the feces (solid body wastes) of people who have the disease.

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Yemen. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The World Health Organization (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, estimates that more than 800,000 Yemenis have fallen ill with cholera since late 2016, and more than 2,100 people have died from the disease. More than 25 percent of the cholera deaths have been among young children already weakened by malnutrition. The cholera epidemic in Yemen is the largest and fastest-spreading outbreak of the disease in modern history. Cholera cases in Yemen are expected to exceed 1 million by the end of 2017, and deaths too are expected to rise.

Cholera occurs when the comma-shaped bacterium Vibrio cholerae enters the intestines and releases cholera toxin. The toxin causes the intestines to secrete large amounts of water and salt. Because the intestines cannot absorb the water and salt at the rate they are secreted, the victim suffers severe diarrhea. This loss of fluid causes severe dehydration and changes in the body chemistry. If untreated, the illness can lead to shock and eventually death. With proper medical treatment, cholera lasts only a few days.

Heavy fighting in Yemen, as well as a naval blockade and an extensive aerial bombing campaign, have prevented health workers and medicine from reaching many cholera victims, resulting in high numbers of otherwise preventable deaths. Such international relief agencies as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the international Red Cross and Red Crescent, Save the Children, WHO, and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) are doing all they can to help, organizing Yemeni health workers and volunteers from other countries and setting up temporary hospitals and oral rehydration and intravenous therapy centers. Until the fighting stops, however, cholera will continue to add to Yemen’s miseries.

August 28, 2014

The Ukrainian government accused Russia today of launching a “full-scale invasion” by sending troops, tanks, and artillery pieces into southeastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists who have been battling the government. A Russian official told one news agency that the claims bear “no relation to reality.” However, in an interview with the BBC, the leader of the main separatist group in southeastern Ukraine said that up to 4,000 Russians, including active-duty soldiers on leave, had been fighting against Ukrainian government forces there.

According to multiple news services, a combined force of Russian and separatist forces had seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk, opening a new southern front, in an attempt to relieve pressure on the separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk farther north. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military, supported by its Western allies, has made progress in its efforts to oust pro-Russian forces from those cities and surrounding areas. Novoazovsk, a port city on the Azov Sea, lies on the southeastern tip of Ukraine along the border with Russia. The city sits along a road linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in March.

Also today, NATO Brigadier General Niko Tak told the BBC that there had been a “significant escalation in the level and sophistication of Russia’s military interference in Ukraine” over the past two weeks.” Tak said NATO had detected “large quantities of advanced weapons, including air defence systems, artillery, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers being transferred to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.”

Novoazovsk lies on the sea of Azov, east of Mariupol, at the southeastern tip of Ukraine (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

Leaders in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and other European countries expressed outrage at the reports and demanded an explanation from Russia. The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for later today.