en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_of_World_War_II
4 corrections found
The Tripartite Pact stated that if any country declared war on one of the Axis countries, the other two would also declare war on those countries.
This misstates Article 3 of the Tripartite Pact. The pact required assistance only if a signatory was attacked by a power not already involved in the European war or the Sino-Japanese conflict; it did not say the other two would automatically declare war whenever any country declared war on an Axis member.
Full reasoning
The claim contradicts the text of the pact itself. Article 3 of the September 27, 1940 Tripartite Pact says Germany, Italy, and Japan would assist one another when one of them was attacked by a power not already involved in the European war or the Chinese-Japanese conflict. That is a narrower, conditional defensive commitment.
So the article's wording is inaccurate in two ways:
- It says "if any country declared war", but the pact text says "when one ... is attacked".
- It says the other two "would also declare war", but the pact text speaks of assistance "with all political, economic and military means"; it does not say the other two must automatically declare war in every such case.
Because the pact's own text is available and explicit, this is a factual misdescription of what the treaty stated.
1 source
- The Avalon Project: Three-Power Pact Between Germany, Italy, and Japan, Signed at Berlin, September 27, 1940
ARTICLE THREE Germany, Italy and Japan agree to co-operate in their efforts on aforesaid lines. They further undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means when one of the three contracting powers is attacked by a power at present not involved in the European war or in the Chinese-Japanese conflict.
three volumes in the 1950s
The official history of the Canadian Army in the Second World War was not completed entirely in the 1950s. Volume III was published in 1960.
Full reasoning
An official Government of Canada list of vetted military histories gives the publication dates for the three-volume Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War as:
- Volume I, Six Years of War — 1955
- Volume II, The Canadians in Italy, 1943-1945 — 1956
- Volume III, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in Northwest Europe, 1944-45 — 1960
Because the third volume appeared in 1960, the statement that there were "three volumes in the 1950s" is incorrect.
1 source
- Official histories - Canada.ca
Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Vol I Six Years of War — 1955 ... Vol II The Canadians in Italy, 1943-1945 — 1956 ... Vol III The Victory Campaign: The Operations in Northwest Europe, 1944-45 — 1960.
the book Arms, Men and Government by Charles Stacey (one of the main contributors to the Army history) was published in the 1980s as an "official" history of the war policies of the Canadian government.
This gets the publication date wrong. The official Canadian government listing shows *Arms, Men and Governments* was published in 1970, not in the 1980s.
Full reasoning
The Government of Canada's official military-history catalogue lists Arms, Men and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939-1945 by C.P. Stacey as published in 1970. The federal publications catalogue also records the same work, with the same title, as a 1970 publication.
That means the article's statement that the book was published "in the 1980s" is factually incorrect. The article also gives the title in the singular ("Government"), while the official title is Arms, Men and Governments.
2 sources
- Official histories - Canada.ca
Arms, Men and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939-1945 — 1970 — Stacey, C.P.
- Arms, men and governments : The war policies of Canada, 1939-1945 / By C.P. Stacey - Government of Canada Publications
Arms, men and governments : The war policies of Canada, 1939-1945 / By C.P. Stacey ... 1970.
This meant the Danish government tried to do a balancing act of officially cooperating with the Nazis, while at the same time also working against them and aiding the Danish resistance.
This reverses the relationship between the Danish government and the resistance during the cooperation period. Scholarly and archival sources say the government pursued collaboration until August 1943 and condemned resistance efforts rather than aiding them.
Full reasoning
The available historical sources contradict the claim that the Danish government, during the 1940-1943 cooperation policy, was "aiding the Danish resistance."
Aarhus University's Danish history course explains that resistance groups emerged from 1942, but the government condemned these resistance efforts and appealed to the population not to support them. The Royal Danish Library likewise states that from the occupation in April 1940 until August 1943 the Danish government and the occupying power pursued a policy of cooperation, and that this policy collapsed only when Germany demanded that the Danish government crack down heavily on the resistance.
So while individual Danes or later Danish authorities helped anti-Nazi efforts, the article's specific claim about the Danish government during the cooperation policy is inaccurate: the government did not aid the resistance; it maintained collaboration and publicly opposed resistance activity until the breakdown in August 1943.
2 sources
- 6. The occupation, 1940-1945 - Aarhus University
The government ... condemned these resistance efforts and appealed to the population not to support them.
- The August Uprising 1943 | Royal Danish Library
From Germany's occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940 until August 1943, the occupying power and the Danish government had pursued a policy of cooperation ... the German occupying power demanded that the Danish government crack down heavily on the resistance, which caused the Danish government to withdraw from the cooperation policy.