By definition, wars have two sides, with an ideological and political line sharply dividing the combatants and their various allies. But war is a lot of things: horrible, violent, devastating, and complicated. The terrors of war endured by those left by their nations and leaders to fight it can lead to abrupt change. In the name of survival, or in the face of an outside menace or a profound threat, the people who fight wars may experience a shift in what they believe, renouncing the ideas they once were willing to die and kill for, and rethinking their battle strategies. Sometimes, wartime opponents find themselves inexplicably but also logically on the same side, united against a third enemy they realize they have in common.

Even during World War II, in which a lot of the world's civiliz

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