World War II
It was the biggest and deadliest war in history, spanning six grueling years and involving countries in nearly every part of the world. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, World War II pitted the Allied forces (led by the United States, Great Britain and the U.S.S.R.) against the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy). Explore the battles, key players and atrocities from the war and its impact on geopolitics and humankind today.
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The majority of the world's countries eventually formed two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Axis.
By the time the first Japanese bomber appeared over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, tensions between Japan and the United States had been mounting for the better part of a decade, making war seem inevitable.
The Allied invasion of Normandy was among the largest military operations ever staged.
The Holocaust was the persecution and murder of millions of Jews, Roma, political dissidents, homosexuals and others by the Nazi regime.
The Hidden Army of Women That Helped Defeat Hitler
Flashback: The Hidden Army of Women That Helped Defeat Hitler
This 1944 American propaganda film imagine’s Hitler’s surrender and explains the Füher’s greatest mistake – his underestimation of American women. This episode of Flashback shows how female wartime workers were an indispensable part of America’s victory, even before the war was officially won.
3 Key Battles
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Rosie the Riveter was the star of a campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for defense industries during World War II. Artist Normal Rockwell's cover image of Rosie, made in 1943, became, perhaps the most iconic image of working women.
The explicit reason was to swiftly end the war with Japan. But it was also intended to send a message to the Soviets.
Troops and military supplies traversed the Mother Road throughout the early 1940s.
The G.I. Bill— officially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944—was created to help veterans of World War II. It established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools.
Under cripplingly cold winter conditions, American troops proved their mettle.
The fire prevention icon was born of national paranoia about enemy-initiated wildfires.
Both nations viewed civilian morale as essential to victory, but Germany shielded its people from many wartime hardships while Japan demanded far greater sacrifice.
The tennis club's center court even took a direct hit from a 500-pound German bomb.
A look back at one of the most hard-fought battles of World War II.
Austria’s national squad had been known as the 'Wunderteam,' but when conscripted to play for Germany, they were less impressive.
The Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19 – March 26, 1945) was an epic military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan during World War II. American forces succeeded in securing the island, which was considered to have great tactical importance for its airfields.
