This course presents a military and diplomatic history of the Second World War, focusing on the origins, conduct, and consequences of the war. The format of this course is primarily lecture, but there will be discussion sessions on all of the assigned readings. There will also be some discussion of political and moral issues raised by the lectures in many of the classes. The course will explain why the allies won the war and why the fascists lost. It will discuss the performance of allied and enemy military forces. It will examine the possibility that the allies could have prevented the war by pursuing different policies. It will explain why the Grand Alliance of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union which defeated Nazi Germany collapsed after the war and will examine the origins of the Cold War conflict. It will look at the experience of battle for and on the men who were in the thick of the fighting. It will examine the end of the war in the Pacific theater and the use of atomic weapons by the United States to hasten that end. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Enrollment limited.