when was World War II?

[Douglas Laycock]

Phillip's Claim is that "The Long War" lasted from 1914 to 1989, and was
fought over the basic choice between democratic and authoritarian forms
of government, obviously with internal disagreements and shifting
alliances on the authoritarian side.

The first Japanese invasions of the mainland were in 1931.  It does not
take sophisticated scholarhip to see that as a plausible date for the
beginning of World War II.  It just takes a perspective that is not
Eurocentric.


Douglas Laycock
University of Texas Law School
727 E. Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX  78705
   512-232-1341 (phone)
   512-471-6988 (fax)

-----Original Message-----
From: conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
[mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Bob Sheridan
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 10:22 AM
To: Mary L. Dudziak
Cc: mdudziak at law.harvard.edu; CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu;
H-LAW at h-net.msu.edu
Subject: Re: when was World War II?

Phillip Bobbitt's volume,  "Shield of Achilles," places WWII as a subset
along a continuum of conflicts that go waay back, and forward, the
nature of war changing with the societies and long-range underlying
conflicts that produce the immediate violent crisis. 

Supeme court doctrine refuses to answer the specific begin-/end- date
problem by leaving same to the political branches, as I recall, thinking
of a postwar rent control measure upheld.

rs

Mary L. Dudziak wrote:
> For an essay that questions/criticizes the way the concept of
"wartime"
> has been used in works on rights and war in the 20th C, I would be 
> interested in any curious examples of the ways World War II is
periodized.
> The answer(s) to the question "when was World War II?" may seem 
> obvious (1941-45 for the US would be one answer, 1939-45 for Europe 
> would be another, but there are arguments against these beginning
points).
> Scholars who argue that World War II had an impact on rights seem to 
> be all over the map regarding what they identify as the "wartime" that

> impacted rights. There is slipperyness not only in when the 
> war-related impact began (Pearl Harbor?  1940?), but also about end 
> points, with much slipping into the early and even middle years of the

> Cold War, but all wrapped up in one "war" era.  Right now I'm just 
> trying to come up with examples of the ways folks who write about 
> rights and World War II identify the starting and ending points of 
> World War II.  And I wonder whether there are disciplinary differences

> between history, poli sci & law.  Off-list replies would be great.  
> Many thanks, Mary Dudziak mdudziak at law.usc.edu 
> mdudziak at law.harvard.edu (HLS email is best to use through 6/06) 
> _______________________________________________
> To post, send message to Conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, 
> unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see 
> http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/conlawprof
>
> Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as
private.  Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are
posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly
or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
>
>