World War II

Bernard Montgomery

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Bill Halsey

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Charles des Gaulle

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Chester Nimitz

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Douglass MacArthur

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Emperor Hirohito

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Erwin Rommel

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Georgy Zhukov

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Henry Putin

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Omar Bradley

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Battle of Stalingrad

A major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943. It was the largest battle on the Eastern Front and was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties. The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a turning point in the war. After the Battle of Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their earlier strength, and attained no further strategic victories in the East.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. In 1923 he attempted a coup d'état, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, in Munich. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf.

Neville Chamberlain

Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. When Stanley Baldwin retired in May 1937, Chamberlain took his place as Prime Minister. Chamberlain is known for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of the Second World War.

Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was also a five-star general in the United States Army. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe; he had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. His goal during WWII was to make America the "Arsenal of Democracy" which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March 1941, Roosevelt provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany with Britain. With very strong national support he made war on Japan and Germany after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, calling it a "date which will live in infamy".

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 and later held the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. In 1928, Stalin replaced the New Economic Policy of the 1920s with a highly-centralised command economy and Five-Year Plans that launched a period of rapid industrialization and economic collectivization in the countryside.

Operation Barborossa

Operation Barbarossa was Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War 2 that began on 22 June 1941. Over 3.9 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km, the largest invasion in history. The Red Army repelled the Wehrmacht's strongest blow, and Adolf Hitler did not achieve the expected victory. The Germans won victories and occupied some of the most important economic areas of the country, mainly in Ukraine. However, the Germans were pushed back from Moscow and could never mount an offensive along the entire strategic Soviet-German front again.

Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden (17-25 September 1944) was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time. Field Marshal Montgomery's goal was to force an entry into Germany and over the Rhine. Crossing the Lower Rhine would allow the Allies to encircle Germany's industrial heartland in the Ruhr. It made large-scale use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow a rapid advance by armored units into Northern Germany.

Operation Torch/Operation Gymnast

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942. An attack on French North Africa was proposed, which would clear the Axis Powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943. President Franklin D. Roosevelt suspected the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943 but agreed to support Winston Churchill.

Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War, resulting in an Allied victory. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. The Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland. The battle has been referred to as the "Typhoon of Steel". The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater.

Battle of the Atlantic

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade.The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and aircraft of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) against Allied merchant shipping. The convoys, were protected by the British and Canadian navies and air forces. The Germans were joined by submarines of the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina).

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium and France and Luxembourg on the Western Front. The Wehrmacht's code name for the offensive was Operation Watch on the Rhine. Germany's goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp and then forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers' favor. Allied reinforcements, and improving weather conditions, which permitted air attacks, sealed the failure of the offensive.

Battle of France

The German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phony War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and surround the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium. During the fighting, the British Expeditionary Force were evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo. In the second operation, Fall Rot (Case Red), executed from 5 June, German forces outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France.

Battle of Leningrad/Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. The siege started on 8 September 1941, when the last land connection to the city was severed. Although the Soviets managed to open a narrow land corridor to the city on 18 January 1943, lifting of the siege took place on 27 January 1944. It was one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history and overwhelmingly the most costly in terms of casualties.

Battle of Britain

The air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force. The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. Germany's defeat in this battle postponed Hitler's launch of Operation Sea Lion.

Dunkirk Evacuation/Operation Dynamo

The evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk. Winston Churchill in his We shall fight on the beaches speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".

Operation Normandy/D-Day

The invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France, during Operation Overlord in 1944. It was the largest amphibious operation in history. The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments. The "D-Day" forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth.

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a British Conservative politician known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. He served as Prime Minister twice (1940-45 and 1951-55). Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States. Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history.

Battle of Berlin

The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre. Starting on 16 April 1945, the Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Vistula-Oder Offensive. The Battle in Berlin lasted from 20 April 1945 until the morning of 2 May. Before the battle was over, German Führer Adolf Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. The city's defenders finally surrendered on 2 May.

Battle of Guadalcanal

The Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought in the Pacific Campaign between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against Japan. Guadalcanal marked the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the beginning of offensive operations, including the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that resulted in Japan's eventual surrender.

Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February-26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States captured the island of Iwo Jima from Japan. The battle was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands. Iwo Jima was also the only U.S. Marine battle where the American overall casualties exceeded the Japanese. The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of Mount Suribachi by five Marines and one Navy Corpsman.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and possibly the largest naval battle in history. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar from 23-26 October 1944, between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. The U.S. aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in South East Asia, and depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Battle of Leyte Gulf is also the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out kamikaze attacks.

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway is one of the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, the United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy attack against Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. The Japanese plan was to lure the United States' aircraft carriers into a trap. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji and Samoa. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser were sunk for a cost of one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer.

Battle of Moscow

The Battle of Moscow is two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km sector of the Eastern Front. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow. The German strategic offensive named Operation Typhoon was planned to conduct two pincer offensives. As the German offensives were halted, a Soviet strategic counter-offensive and smaller-scale offensive operations were executed to force German armies back to the positions around the cities of Oryol, Vyazma and Vitebsk.