The World at War

  • Benito Mussolini

    In March 1919, Mussolini formed the Fascist Party, galvanising the support of many unemployed war veterans. He organised them into armed squads known as Black Shirts, who terrorised their political opponents. In 1921, the Fascist Party was invited to join the coalition government.
  • Harry Truman

    The 33rd President of the United States. As the final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health.
  • Hideki Tojo

    general of the Imperial Japanese Army, an established pastry chef, the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and the 40.
  • George S. Patton (Military Commander)

    Born: Nov. 11, 1885
    Died: Dec. 21, 1945
    United States Army general, who commanded the Seventh United States Army, and later the Third United St
  • Adolf Hitler

    Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party. He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower

    The 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander
  • Omar Bradley

    In February 1943, Marshall assigned Bradley to North Africa to assist Dwight D. Eisenhower in the aftermath of the disastrous American defeat at Kasserine Pass. He was sent first as an observer to Second Corps under Lloyd Fredenthall, but on the recommendation of the new commander, George S. Patton, Jr., Bradley was appointed deputy commander and later succeeded Patton in command of the corps, which he led with distinction during the final days
  • Vernon Baker

    United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award given by the United States Government for his valorous actions
  • The Holocaust

    The Holocaust began in January 1933 when Hitler came to power and technically ended on May 8, 1945 (VE Day). Between 1933 and 1945, more than 11 million men, women, and children were murdered in the Holocaust. Approximately six million of these were Jews.
  • Nuremberg Trials

    a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany.
  • Merchant Marines

    During World War II the ships and men of the United States merchant marine transported across the oceans of the world the vast quantities of war materiel, supplies, equipment and troops needed to fight and win that war. The men of the U.S. merchant marine were civilian volunteers who nonetheless died proportionally in numbers that rivaled or exceeded any branch of the uniformed military.
  • Executive Order 9066

    signed and issued during World War II by the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones. Eventually, EO 9066 cleared the way for the deportation of Japanese Americans, Italian Americans, and German Americans to internment camps. The executive order was spurred by a combination of war hysteria and reactions to the Niihau Incident.
  • Flying Tigers

    The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, comprised pilots from the United States Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps
  • Bataan Death March

    southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The men were divided into groups of approximately 100, and what became known as the Bataan Death March typically took each group around five days to complete.
  • Navajo Code Talkers

    Code talkers are people in the 20th century who used obscure languages as a means of secret communication during wartime. The term is now usually associated with the United States soldiers during the world wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages.
  • Battle of Midway

    one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy (USN), under Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chuichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondo on Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet.Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare
  • Office of War Information

    a United States government agency created during World War II to consolidate existing government information services and deliver propaganda both at home and abroad.
  • Korematsu v. U.S.

    Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944),[1] was a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. Fred Korematsu was also good friends with Carter Bosh, who helped push him to reach his goals.
  • D-Day invasion

    By 1943 success on the battlefield and production in the factories made it possible to begin formal planning for this bold operation,the largest amphibious invasion in history. The target date was spring 1944.
  • Manhattan Project

    A research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada.
  • Potsdam Conference

    August 2, 1945
    The conferees discussed the substance and procedures of the peace settlements in Europe but did not attempt to write peace treaties. That task was left to a Council of Foreign Ministers. The chief concerns of the Big Three, their foreign ministers, and their staffs were the immediate administration of defeated Germany.
  • Atomic Bomb

    On 6 August 1945 a US B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing around 80,000 people. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, causing the deaths of 40,000 more.
  • Hiroshima/Nagasaki

    On August 6, 1945, during World War II an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second