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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Both nations viewed civilian morale as essential to victory, but Germany shielded its people from many wartime hardships while Japan demanded far greater sacrifice.
Allied military leaders knew that casualties could be staggeringly high. Historians are still calculating the toll.
On June 6, 1944, more than 156,000 American, British and Canadian troops executed the largest amphibious landing in history. Five veterans share their stories from that day.
The grueling 1944–45 Allied offensive reopened the crucial overland supply route to China and dealt the Japanese army one of its worst defeats of the war.
From the man who led the evacuation of USS Arizona to the fighter pilot who took to the skies in his pajamas, learn the stories of eight of the many servicemen who distinguished themselves on one of the darkest days in American military history.
Gale-force winds wreaked havoc with paratroopers and gliders during World War II's Operation Husky.
The Combined Bomber Offensive helped the Allies gain air superiority, crippled Germany's war machine and paved the way for D-Day—but at an enormous human cost.
Austria’s national squad had been known as the 'Wunderteam,' but when conscripted to play for Germany, they were less impressive.
