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  3. World War II

World War II

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.

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Into the Jaws of Death

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World War II

World War II, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history, involved more than 50 nations and was fought on land, sea and air in nearly every part of the world.

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World War II Battles, WWII Timeline

World War II Battles: Timeline

Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. Over the next six years, the conflict took more lives and destroyed more land and property around the globe than any previous war.

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D-Day Landings: A view from inside one of the landing craft after US troops hit the water during the Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy, France. The US troops on the shore are lying flat under German machine gun resistance.

D-Day

D-Day was the name given to the June 6, 1944, invasion of the beaches at Normandy in northern France by troops from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries during World War II.

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"We Can Do It!" Rosie the Riveter PosterA World War II color poster depicting 'Rosie the Riveter' encourages American women to show their strength and go to work for the war effort by J. Howard Miller in circa 1940. (Photo courtesy National Archives/Getty Images)

Rosie the Riveter

Rosies in the Workforce While women during World War II worked in a variety of positions previously closed to them, the aviation industry saw the greatest increase in female workers. More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943, making up 65 percent of the industry’s total workforce (compared to just 1 […]

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World War II History

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American Women in World War II

It was all hands on deck as Americans pitched into a second World War effort after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

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3:27 minTV-PG

Japanese-American Internment

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Government issued executive order 9066, which empowered the military to round up anyone of Japanese ancestry and place them in prison camps.

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Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan was an example of “good deed foreign policy” designed to rebuild Western European economies in the wake of WWII.

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Could Pearl Harbor Have Been Prevented?

A look back at the intelligence failures and oversights that led to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

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Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor?

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.

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Armed with light machine guns, Soviet troops attack the German forces in the vicinity of the Red October plant in Stalingrad on November 26, 1942.

How Germany’s Defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad Turned WWII Around

Hitler’s 1942 decision to attack the city named after the Soviet leader proved devastating and fateful.

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Four Alaska Territorial Guardsmen being sworn in for an assignment in Barrow, Alaska.

How Native Americans Protected Alaska During WWII

After the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands, Indigenous volunteers helped form the Alaska Territorial Guard.

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Black Americans Who Served in WWII Faced Segregation and Second-Class Roles

Black Americans Who Served in WWII Faced Segregation Abroad and at Home

Some 1.2 million Black men served in the U.S. military during the war, but they were often treated as second-class citizens.

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1942

In brutal reprisal, Nazis annihilate Czech village of Lidice

World War II
1945

Nazis trap more than 1,000 Jews in a burning barn in Gardelegen massacre

World War II
1948

Mildred Gillars—aka “Axis Sally”—pleads not guilty to treason

World War II
1942

Japanese American Fred Korematsu is arrested for resisting internment

World War II
1943

Operation Tidal Wave: U.S. forces attempt risky air raid on Axis oil refineries

World War II
1943

Zoot Suit Riots begin in Los Angeles

World War II
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