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This thesis is an examination of how the Second World War has been commemorated in Northern Ireland. It seeks to explore how popular and official understandings of the war were constructed around two key moments. Primarily, it looks at the Victory celebrations to mark the end of the war in the West in May 1945. Secondly, it examines the importance of the publication of the official war history Northern Ireland in the Second World War in November 1956. By looking closely at how the Northern Irish government planned for the victory celebrations and how this ritual unfolded, we can reveal much about Northern Irish society at the end of the war. This thesis shows that the state-led, official commemoration served only to alienate the Catholic community. Exploring how the Northern Irish press recorded this event highlights the underlying tensions existing between both communities at the time. This thesis argues that the Northern Irish government used the victory celebrations to project a positive image of itself to the British government. Equally, in 1940 the Northern Irish government rather pre-emptively commissioned the writing of its own official war history, separate from the United Kingdom Official War History Series. This decision, taken by the Northern Irish government, was intended to ensure that Northern Ireland’s role in the war would never be forgotten. After 1945, the unionist government, preoccupied with securing its constitutional positioning within the United Kingdom, intended to make this official history a permanent memorial to Northern Ireland’s contribution to the war. Written, therefore, to exaggerate Northern Ireland’s part in the war, this official war history can be seen as a reflection of unionist insecurity. It is through these commemorative processes that ideas of national identity and belonging are explored.

The resistance of 1941-1944 is one of the more contested and intensively studied periods of Greek history, yet despite the profusion of work that exists in the period, none has discussed in depth the experience of the men who took part in the fighting. This thesis addresses this discrepancy, discussing the experience of Greek resistance fighters and British SOE operatives. The thesis addresses four main questions: Why did men enlist? How were discipline and cohesion retained? How was morale affected by men's experiences and in what ways did they try to address the problems posed? How did men experience combat and construct their personal and gendered identities? These questions are addressed in four separate chapters. The first chapter is concerned with enlistment, and argues that most resisters were driven to enlist either because they lacked any other choice or because of pressure and coercion. Such men were more often than not 'outside the pale': impoverished peasants; outlaws; and marginal intellectuals, who had nothing to lose by joining up. Motives among British irregulars were equally prosaic: boredom; a desire to escape the rigours of military life; or in the case of escaped POW's lack of any other choice. The second chapter discusses discipline. The radical politics of the resistance groups and their egalitarian ideology had a detrimental effect on discipline: guerrillas were hostile to the authority of the officers which they considered to be at odds both with the Resistance's proclamations and their irregular identities. The Resistance tried to address this problem by inventing new structures of command and authority. However, problems persisted and hindered its function throughout this period. The situation was similar in the SOE. Lack of communications, isolation and influences from the Resistance often led to a disregard for discipline, where men turned against each other, embezzled alms and become involved in black market rackets. The third chapter discusses morale. Guerrilla life was wanting in the extreme: deprivation; boredom; and the tedium of everyday chores took a heavy toll. The resistance authorities tried to address this through indoctrination and leisure activities that were used to bolster morale and imbue men with a sense of purpose. At the same time men also turned to what was familiar and appealing to cope with the strain: religion, superstition and drink. In the absence of a relevant support network, British irregulars turned to their immediate environment for support and affection, men formed friendly and intimate relations with the Greeks whose way of life and habits they adopted, thus demonstrating a strong identification with their cause. The fourth chapter focuses on combat and identity. Both Greek and British men saw their participation in the Resistance as a masculinising experience. The effects of hardship and tribulation were acknowledged but at the same time many saw them as necessary and even praiseworthy occurrences that enabled men to mature physically and psychologically and thus to lay claim to idealized heroic masculinities. The personalized nature of guerrilla warfare also enhanced these perceptions, since it enabled them to assert the values of traditional soldiery such as such as personal valour and initiative, rendering combat exhilarating and even pleasurable from many men.

The present study examines the promotion of Holocaust denial since 1945 with a particular focus on the works of David Irving. It specifically examines the contribution to Holocaust denial of Irving's ideological beliefs as expounded in his published works and his many public speeches. My thesis also presents evidence and an argument about Irving's crusade to promote Holocaust denial. This thesis will chart a changing consciousness about the established history of the Holocaust, in which conventional historical discussion is gradually losing ground. Deborah Lipstadt argues that these attacks on history and knowledge have the potential to alter the way established truth is transmitted from generation to generation. Lipstadt points out that according to some post-structuralist scholars no fact, no event, and no aspect of history any longer has any fixed meaning or content. Any truth can be retold. Any fact can be re-cast. Lipstadt defines this as bigotry. I tend to agree. This thesis will examine the genesis and context of holocaust denial. Here I shall evaluate significant contemporary denial writings and offer some perspectives about the controversy; I will consider general aspects of David Irving's background, personality and the major steps in his intellectual development; Irving will be examined as an author of historical books and an historian of the Second World War; examine Irving as a Holocaust denier; examine both Irving's political agenda, his propensity to associate with extreme right groups and individual and his alleged capacity to incite violence. / Master of Arts (Hons)

Following the end of World War II, the Allied forces faced an immediate large- scale refugee crisis in Europe. Efforts focused on returning the millions of refugees to their homes as quickly as possible. Though the majority did return home, nearly a million refugees from Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe refused to do so. Reclassified as Displaced Persons (DPs) and placed in holding camps by the Occupational Authorities, these refugees demanded that Allied leaders give them the chance to immigrate and resettle elsewhere. Immigration historians of this period have focused mainly on the experiences of the Jewish refugees during the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel. Other studies depict the chaos in Germany immediately following the war, describing the DPs as an unstable factor in an already unstable situation. While important, these works tend to overlook the fate of non-Jewish refugees who would not return to their homes. Additionally, these works overlook the many immigration and resettlement schemes put in place to solve the DP situation and stabilize Europe, focusing instead on economic forces and growing Cold War tensions. This thesis looks at the experiences of the Baltic DPs, those from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Beginning with a brief history of the three countries and their people’s experiences during the war, this study also looks at their lives in the DP camps and explores their reasons for not returning home. It also recounts the Allies’ decision to promote resettlement rather than repatriation as the solution to the refugee problem by focusing on the immigration programs of the four main recipient countries, Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia. This thesis argues that the majority of the Baltic DPs came from educated, middle class backgrounds and as such, they were widely sought after by the recipient countries as the most suitable for immigration. A final argument is that disagreements over their fate between the United States, England, and the Soviet Union, fueled the Cold War.

Throughout the Second World War, the Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS) exerted its significant influence in the field of voluntary homefront labour to provide a vast number of services for the benefit of Canadian, Commonwealth and Allied servicemen, prisoners of war, and civilians affected by the horrors of war. These wartime programs, which cost the Society over $90 000 000, were made possible through voluntary contributions of millions of dollars from Canadian citizens mainly through the yearly Red Cross national campaigns. Because of the organization’s claim to reach over cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious lines, it benefitted from the support of various national groups within Canada. Another important group of contributors to the Red Cross structure were women who formed the backbone of the organization’s structure. Women served in nearly every capacity within the CRCS, which allowed them to gain valuable experience in a working environment outside of the home.

Throughout the Second World War, the Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS) exerted its significant influence in the field of voluntary homefront labour to provide a vast number of services for the benefit of Canadian, Commonwealth and Allied servicemen, prisoners of war, and civilians affected by the horrors of war. These wartime programs, which cost the Society over $90 000 000, were made possible through voluntary contributions of millions of dollars from Canadian citizens mainly through the yearly Red Cross national campaigns. Because of the organization’s claim to reach over cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious lines, it benefitted from the support of various national groups within Canada. Another important group of contributors to the Red Cross structure were women who formed the backbone of the organization’s structure. Women served in nearly every capacity within the CRCS, which allowed them to gain valuable experience in a working environment outside of the home.

Following the end of World War II, the Allied forces faced an immediate large- scale refugee crisis in Europe. Efforts focused on returning the millions of refugees to their homes as quickly as possible. Though the majority did return home, nearly a million refugees from Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe refused to do so. Reclassified as Displaced Persons (DPs) and placed in holding camps by the Occupational Authorities, these refugees demanded that Allied leaders give them the chance to immigrate and resettle elsewhere. Immigration historians of this period have focused mainly on the experiences of the Jewish refugees during the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel. Other studies depict the chaos in Germany immediately following the war, describing the DPs as an unstable factor in an already unstable situation. While important, these works tend to overlook the fate of non-Jewish refugees who would not return to their homes. Additionally, these works overlook the many immigration and resettlement schemes put in place to solve the DP situation and stabilize Europe, focusing instead on economic forces and growing Cold War tensions. This thesis looks at the experiences of the Baltic DPs, those from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Beginning with a brief history of the three countries and their people’s experiences during the war, this study also looks at their lives in the DP camps and explores their reasons for not returning home. It also recounts the Allies’ decision to promote resettlement rather than repatriation as the solution to the refugee problem by focusing on the immigration programs of the four main recipient countries, Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia. This thesis argues that the majority of the Baltic DPs came from educated, middle class backgrounds and as such, they were widely sought after by the recipient countries as the most suitable for immigration. A final argument is that disagreements over their fate between the United States, England, and the Soviet Union, fueled the Cold War.

Historians of American diplomatic history during the Roosevelt administration have long debated whether President Roosevelt tricked Americans into the Second World War. Historians have looked at the personalities of Roosevelt and his key advisors to see if a hidden agenda was followed. U.S.-French relations highlight this divide. Did Roosevelt conspire in the fall of France, as the conspiratorialists claim, or did he simply react? With most historians focusing on Roosevelt himself, few have examined the systemic causes of America's failure to aid France. This study investigates how Roosevelt's style of governance and administration affected American foreign policy toward France. It concludes that the system of foreign-policy-making Roosevelt established made the outcome of American policy toward France-in particular the fall of France in 1940-nearly inevitable.