Obscure Research Topics

Hey guys, I was hoping you could help me brainstorm some good research questions for my dissertation about WWII. It just needs to be something uncommon (the more obscure the better); can pertain to politics, strategy, economics, etc. (pretty open ended)

some examples are:

• Pearl harbor from the point of view of the Japanese
• A comparison of Germany and Japan during the war
• The effect of the media in the US during the war

These ideas are okay but I figured asking on here would give me more ideas from more perspectives which can only ever be a bonus. Just a question/title and, if you are feeling generous, maybe a couple of bullet points elaborating on it. Anything you guys could suggest would be very much appreciated.

 

You'd probably get a lot of info that entirely agrees on a topic like...

"What's the best tank of WW2?"

:lol:



Some ideas that might be slightly better:

Women in WW2

If you wanted to further narrow the media idea- an in-depth examination of a specific country's propaganda

Economics would seem to have some pretty good potential for some rather obscure areas... a more specific, defined aspect of the very common "german logistical problems" topic perhaps. An in-depth look at one specific area of logistics across the board perhaps- something like "feeding the troops", or some such.

Just a couple ideas. Hope you come up with something good, and good luck on the dissertation!

:cheers:

 

War from a ss man point of view or the common Japanese foot soldier.

 

Hi,

I think this has been done quite a bit, so I would stay away from it. Some "obscure" topics that pop into my head are

-comparison of the suitability of axis and allied weapons to their respective tactics (ex: what's more suited to Blitzkrieg, Sherman tanks and semi-automatic weapons or heavy panzers and bolt-action rifles)
-Effects of mass-bombing on civilians in axis nations (ex: did firebombing Tokyo strengthen or decrease Japanese civilian resolve)
-Prosecution of soldiers who committed war crimes by their respective countries (ex: did the Germans ever prosecute one of their own soldiers? How about the Allies? Or the Soviets?)
-Effect of late-war German experimental programs on the Cold War (ex: some say the AK-47 was inspired by the STG-44, some say the Ta-183 was copied to create the MiG-15, captured German rocket scientists were at the forefront of the American and Soviet missile/space programs)

There are quite a few. I would say pick the subject area you are most knowledgeable in to write about, and go from there. I am a technical/tactics/politics person, so I would hate to write about, for example, rationing in America. Good luck with your dissertation.

 

The allied radar war. The German beam war. The battle of the beams.

Alternatly.... Did Ultra really win the war.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys; I particularly liked the idea of "was the US 'isolationist' or 'interventionist' prior to Dec. 7th, 1941?"

 

I'll throw a couple of ideas out there, but I don't know how useful they are.

Everyone hears about the French resistance movement. Maybe work on the resistance movement of another nation; even in Germany. On the other side of the coin, you could always work on a paper of collaberation.

If all else fails, try this assignment. When I was in high school, as punishment, one of my teachers made me write a 3,000 word essay on the use of hay in World War I (you just change it to WWII).

 

Japanese point of view on Pearl Harbor: ( Had two Great Grandfathers their )

The leader of it knew that he had awaken a sleeping tiger, and didn't want to bomb the base. ( My Great granddad meet him and such, 30-40 years later, I will send the story to you ) He was just given orders, and it's supposed that the US knew about it. Though also most Japanese soldiers, now had a god aweful haterd for the U.S besides some leaders. Remember the Emperor of Japan, wanted to end in the end in Peace.

Other not known topics :

• The building of Hitler's Sercet bunker in Berlin
• The orgins of the Nazi Salute
• The Frence spy network. ( You can find a book on it, called "Ten Thousand Eyes" )
• The "Fake" Normandy Blow up tanks, or Dolls thrown out of the C-47's ( See this in the Movie. " The Longest Day " )
• 1936 Berlin Olympics
• The real story, of how the communicater from Japan, by mistake said "No, we wont give up" , when he ment the opposite, when the American's sent a letter saying "give up now, or we will cause considerable Damage." ( I can help you with this story If you choose )

Hope that helps!

 

Here is one that I think would be good

OSS operations in Southeast Asia WW2

 

No, ultra didn't win the war, the Yanks did you silly English person! Now go away before I taunt you a second time....

 

Maintainable of German infrastructure June 44 to end of the war.

Life for Danish Wehrmacht volunteers after the war.

Rebuilding Stalingrad from the ground up.

 

oh righto...Forgot we were the junior partner...got a letter of apology from Dave The PM Cameron..3 pages long on that..if Ican smite that bugger..a yank para is errrr chicken feed..or sheep feed in my case...

 

What is Aerial?

Not to be a nudge; but, isn't dissertation just a fancy word for homework?