All,

I'm a history major at West Point and have to choose a topic (any topic) for the writing requirement I need to complete for my Era of the Second World War class. The paper has to be around 6 pages long.

Any ideas for a topic you believe would be a good choice? I'm leaning towards something to do with D-Day.


Also, I need to do the same for my History of the Middle East class and U.S. Foreign Relations since 1898 class. Any thoughts?

d-day has been done to death (pun intended). My suggestion: kill three birds with one stone and examine Allied/Iranian relations towards the end of the war and immediate post-war years. It sets the stage for why we deposed the shaw and why Iran is so insistant on making nukes.

OP most impressive handle.

For those to lazy to Google it it "Sine Pari" means "Without Equal"

With a handle like that I assume you are not just looking for something to just get by. Here is my suggestion.

"Maneuver warfare" and it modern evolution thru the Second World War:

Military orthodoxy believes that with some exceptions, most battles between established armies have historically been fought based on an attrition warfare strategy. This view is not universally held, and some military doctrines and cultures are based on historical examples of maneuver warfare.

The attritionalists' view of warfare involves moving masses of men and material against enemy strongpoints, with the emphasis on the destruction of the enemy's physical assets - success as measured by enemy troops killed, equipment and infrastructure destroyed, and territory taken and/or occupied. Attrition warfare tends to utilize rigidly centralised command structures that require little or no creativity or initiative from lower-level leadership (also called top-down or "command push" tactics).

Maneuver warfare advocates that strategic movement can bring about the defeat of an opposing force more efficiently than by simply contacting and destroying enemy forces until they can no longer fight. Instead, in maneuver warfare, the destruction of certain enemy targets (command and control centers, logistical bases, fire support assets, etc.) is combined with isolation of enemy forces and the exploitation by movement of enemy weaknesses.

Between the World Wars the Germans completely revised their approach getting back to some of the Von Clausewitz ideas which were now enabled by motorized military equipment especially that tank. The integration of the main battle tank, with close air support, rapid movement of troops, and concentrated forces, were described as blitzkrieg, "Lightning War' by Heinz Guderian, who then deployed these tactics during Second World War and would be a very worthy topic to study.

Blitzkrieg is perhaps the most famous example of maneuver warfare and derived in part from the theories of many, perhaps including British officer J.F.C. Fuller, of which the British army had failed to take advantage. Modern "Shock and Awe" tactics such as used by the US and Coalition forces in Desert Storm, were closely related to Blitzkrieg methods.

I think you will benefit from the study of "Maneuver Warfare" as it has many modern applications well beyond WWII and a very worthy topic to explore.

Good luck with whatever you topic choose.

Personally I'm a fan of investigating the rationale behind strategic bombing campaigns and "terror" bombings. Specifically, why the Allies continued the policy of mass-bombing urban areas when it seemed that it wasn't making the Axis surrender any faster (or was it? This could be a point of investigation).

For the WWII era, you could choose something on the strategy of the Allied Landings at Anzio and the subsequent battles and engagements. Here is a good summary to whet your appetite:

http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/anzio/72-19.htm

I would also suggest that you could choose lesser known theaters of war for WWII to write on, say in China or Burma. That would broaden your outlook some and what you learn may be eminently worthwhile and very relevant.

The Middle East, or Asia Minor, could prove interesting if you concentrate on a broad outlook and development. I would suggest looking at the US relationship with the Ottoman Empire/Republic of Turkey, a state at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. And given the timeframe, 1898 on - you get to intergrate the Ottoman Empire and WWI developments into your paper. It would, I predict, be a most interesting study and very enlightening.