An aerial photograph of Hiroshima, Japan, shortly after the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb was dropped, 1945. (Credit: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

French Marshal and Vichy leader Henri-Philippe Petain (1856 - 1951, left) and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945, right) share the famous 'handshake at Montoire' while interpreter Colonel Schmidt watches, October 1940. Thus Petain announces officially that Vichy-France is prepared to collaborate with the German Reich.

WAVE cheerleaders at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during World War 2. Sept. 13, 1943. - (BSLOC 2014 17 174) - Image ID: F2B5F7 (RM)

Japanese-American infantrymen of the 442nd Combat Team hike up a muddy French road to their new bivouac area, October 14, 1944.

Hiroshima, Then Nagasaki: Why the US Deployed the Second A-Bomb

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The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. The war ended when U.S. forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under Communist control two years later.

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World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. Explore the battles, leaders and atrocities from the war and its impact on geopolitics and humankind.

World War II was fought from 1939 to 1945. Learn more about World War II combatants, battles and generals, and what caused World War II.

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Hiroshima, Then Nagasaki: Why the US Deployed the Second A-Bomb

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This Day in History

U.S. Olympian Louis Zamperini’s plane goes down in the Pacific

American bomber drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima

Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party

Battle of Midway ends

Germans advance in USSR

France to surrender to Nazis