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Stalin's Time in Office
Joseph Stalin was an integral part of the Bolshevik Revolution, alongside Lenin. When the Czar was successfully overthrown, and after Lenin's death, Stalin became the sole leader of Russia. As more evidence was uncovered, it became apparent that Stalin was a ruthless man, killing millions upon millions of his own people and crushing any competition. He tried to maintain peace with Germany, but was betrayed when Hitler invaded Russia. -
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Benito Mussolini's Time as Leader of Italy
Mussolini was the leader of Italy for almost 20 years, and in his time as Prime Minister, he turned Italy into a fascist one-party dictatorship. Although he sided with Germany in WWII, Mussolini truly wanted to avoid a war in Europe, as he knew that Italy did not have enough military to combat the British and French. -
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Hirohito's Reign
Hirohito was the Emperor of Japan for over 60 years. His reign included WWII, although he had very little say in what happened. Most military decisions were left to his general, Hideki Tojo. -
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Adolf Hitler's time in office
Hitler was a German politician who was born in Austria. Before becoming the Fuhrer, he fought in WWI, and was imprisoned for trying to stage a coup in Munich. He gained support by promoting nationalism and anti-semitism through Nazi propaganda. As leader, he sought to improve the lives of Germans by expanding their living space and trying to create a "master race." His policies are considered the primary causes of WWII. -
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Chamberlain's Time in Office
Neville Chamberlain was the prime minister for the first eight months of WWII. He is best known for his Appeasement foreign policy, and how it caused the Munich Agreement and turned a blind eye to Hitler's movements. -
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The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the Nazi genocide of Jews in Europe. Of the 9 million Jews in Europe, approximately 6 million were killed over the course of 5 to 6 years. The use of concentration camps for the holding, experimentaion on, and murder of countless numbers of Jews, disabled people, gypsies, gays, and various prisoners of war. The holocaust is often considered one of the worst, if not the worst, atrocities in human history. -
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Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, German for "lightning war," was the invasion tactic employed by the Germans to penetrate defenses by using densely concentrated armor and infantry backed up by strong air force in quick, rapid attacks. The term was adopted by Western culture to use in war propaganda against the Germans. The tactic was used throughout the war, but it was most effective in 1939, 1940, and 1941. -
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Churchill's Time in Office
Winston Churchill is often regarded as the greatest wartime leader of the 20th century. His time in office during WWII was known for ispiring and fueling British resistance to the Nazi forces. Without Churchill's leadership, some theorise that Britain would have lost to Germany long before 1945. -
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Hideki Tojo's Time as Prime Minister of Japan
Hideki Tojo was the Prime Minister of Japan for most of WWII. He is best known for being directly responsible for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and his alleged quote that it had "awoken a sleeping giant." At the end of the war, he was arrested for Japanese war crimes. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor In an attempt to cripple the American Pacific naval branch. However, the aircraft carriers they were targeting were not in the harbor at the time, so the attack was a failure. On the attack that brought the US into the war, Japan's general Isoroku Yamamoto allegedly said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." -
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Internment Camps
Executive Order 9066, signed by FDR in February of 1942, established "Exclusion Zones" along the entirety of the West Coast in which "any and all people may be excluded." the Japanese Americans were the onlly ones affected, however, with more that 110,000 put in camps- 62%of these were American citizens. The exclusion orders were completely removed at the start of 1945, but it took almost 1.5 years for the last one to close down. -
Battle of Midway
6 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, American and Japanese naval forces collided in what has been called the most decisive battle of the war. Very few men were lost, but the damages to the Japanese fleet caused irreparable harm to their chances of success in the Pacific battles to come. Casualties: Japan- 4 aircraft carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, 250 aricraft; American- 1 aircraft carrier, 1 destroyer, 150 aircraft -
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Manhatten Project
The Manhatten Project was a team of scientists tasked with creating nuclear technologies, especially weapons. The first nuclear weapons ever detonated came out of this program, as did the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is recognized as the catalyst for the Atomic Age. -
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Island Hopping
Island hopping was a strategy used by the US in the Pacific war. It involved taking over less well-defended islands and using them to fuel advancement to Japan. This strategy allowed America to advance quickly and take Japan by surprise. -
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Truman's Time in Office
Harry S. Truman succeeded FDR after his death and was president when the World War came to a close. He effectively caused this by greenlighting the dropping of nuclear weaponry on Japan. Truman then led the country into an internationalist foreign policy (UN, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan) and the beginning of the Cold War. -
D-Day
The most famous of the D-Days, June 6th 1944, was a surprise invasion by the British and Americans in order to gain a lodgement on the mainland. 156,000 total Allied soldiers were brought in by boat and plane to take over several beaches from an estimated grand total of 10,000 Germans. Although there were casualties, the operation was a huge success. Casualties: German- 4,000-9,000, Allied- 12,000 -
Battle For Brest
In the same operation as D-Day, the Allied forces were trying to capture ports to refuel their ships. Brest was a harbor town occupied by entrenched elite German soldiers. The German held their position well, but eventually lost. Casualties: Germans- KIA 1,000, POW 38,000; Allies- 4,000 -
The Battle of the Bulge
At the end of 1944, Hitler was sure that the alliance between France, Britain, and America was weak, that he could dissolve it with one huge attack. He attacked a group of mainly American forces. His attack, which focused on armored vehicles, did well for the first two days. However, after those two days, the Germans began to literally run out of fuel, and the "bulge" that they had formed in the Allied front lines became a battlefield. Death toll: Germans- 100,000, Americans - 81,000 -
Battle of Iwo Jima
In order to gain a foothold to attack Japan, the Americans attacked the island of Iwo Jima. The battle was so fierce and bloody thatthe island's actual usefulness became controversial. However, the American victory was almost certain, as they started with 3 times the soldiers. The raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi wass immortalised in Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph "Raising the flag on Iwo Jima." Casualties: Japanese: 19,000, American: 7,000 -
Battle of Okinawa
This 82- day battle was the most high-casualty conflict in the Pacific Theater. Often referred to as the "Typhoon of Steel" by American soldiers, it was a furious fight for another foothold near Japan. The Americans focused on amphibious assault, and the Japanese used an insane amount of kamikaze bombers. The Americans won, but at a heavy cost. Casualties: Japanese: 110,000; Americans- 12,000; Civilians- as many as 150,000 -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
On the 6th of August, 1945, the atomic bomb Little Boy was dropped on the Japanese City of Hiroshima. Three days later, Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki. These bombs were the result of the Manhattan Project's research, and have a combined estimated death toll of 150,000-250,000. Less than a week after the second bombing, Japan surrendered to America.
