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World War II
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Images, Videos & Interactives
World War II: Germany invading Poland Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin Atomic bombing of Hiroshima Adolf Hitler German tanks Stuka German aircraft production by year, 1933–39 Allied air strength, September 1939
View archival footage of German troops invading Poland and forcing Europe into war
Bismarck battleship
For Students
Germany invades Poland, September 1, 1939, using 45 German divisions and aerial attack. By September 20, only Warsaw held out, but final surrender came on September 29.
Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II
World War II: V-E Day
World War II summary
Quizzes
U.S. marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945
World War II Quiz
Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)
World Wars
D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.
A History of War
American soldiers in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.
Germany and World War II
Tecumseh. Battle of the Thames, Ontario, Canada, and the death of Tecumseh. Col. Richard M. Johnson with the Kentucky volunteers on left battle with Tecumseh and his Native troops. Native American Shawnee chief. North American indian. (See Notes)
Military History Buff Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
Aircraft spotter on the roof of a building in London with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background, ca. 1940 exact date unknown. Battle of Britain, The Blitz, World War II, Great Britain
75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain
Operation Barbarossa, German troops in Russia, 1941. Nazi German soldiers in action against the Red Army (Soviet Union) at an along the frontlines in the early days of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941. World War II, WWII
75th Anniversary of Operation Barbarossa
People celebrate in Times Square in New York City, New York on V-E Day (Victory in Europe), May 8, 1945.
70th Anniversary of V-E Day
Smoke billowing 20,000 feet above Hiroshima, Japan, from the first atomic bomb every dropped in World War II.
70 Years After Hiroshima
Aerial view of Asakusa, Tokyo heavily damaged by the World War II March 1945 US fire bombing raids of Tokyo.Tokyo famous for the Senso-ji a Buddhist temple that survived the air raids. Allied firebombing of Tokyo 1945. Fire bomb Tokyo. WWII, World War II
Anniversary of the Tokyo Firebombing
Discover
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
Confucius statue at a Confucian Temple in Shanghai, China. Confucianism religion
What is the Difference Between Daoism and Confucianism?
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
Secret Service Agent Listens To Earpiece
Secret Service Code Names of 11 U.S. Presidents
Plato (left) and Aristotle, detail from School of Athens, fresco by Raphael, 1508-11; in the Stanza della Segnatura, the Vatican. Plato points to the heavens and the realm of Forms, Aristotle to the earth and the realm of things.
Plato and Aristotle: How Do They Differ?
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

World War II: Media

1939–1945
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Videos

View archival footage of German troops invading Poland and forcing Europe into war
In September 1939 the Germans overrun Poland, forcing all of Europe into a state...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
See how German troops parachuted behind the Maginot Line as part of the blitzkrieg against Allied forces
The German invasion of France, May 1940; from The Second World War: Triumph of...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How the halt command saved British troops in Dunkirk
Overview of the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, 1940.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Learn how Nazi panzers wedged between French and British troops and trapped the latter at Dunkirk
The British Expeditionary Force being surrounded by invading Germans at Dunkirk and...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What was the Battle of Britain?
Learn about the Battle of Britain, between Britain's Royal Air Force and Germany's...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Bombings in World War II: The first war decided from the air
Overview of aerial bombardment in Europe during World War II, with a detailed discussion...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Maximn/Dreamstime.com
How World War II led to the end of the British Empire
Learn more about World War II and the end of the British Empire.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Follow the United States' path from isolationism toward joining the Allied powers in World War II
Still with the hope of not directly engaging in the war, the United States provided...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn how the Third Reich utilized U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic to destroy Allied supply convoys
In 1941 convoys bound for Britain from the United States face a perilous crossing,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Operation Barbarossa: Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union
Nazi Germany invading the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, June 22, 1941.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail NARA/U.S. Department of Defense
Why did the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 fall short?
Learn about Operation Barbarossa, the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union that...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Investigate devastation wrought by Japan on Manchuria and China during the Great Depression
In September 1931 the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Manchuria, and refugees fled...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn about Japan's pre-World War II invasions, joining of the Axis powers, and attack on Pearl Harbor
In September 1940 Imperial Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Watch Japanese dive-bombers attack the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor to spark the Pacific War
On December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes strike the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Find out how Japan failed to invade Port Moresby despite winning the Battle of the Coral Sea
In the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), U.S. naval airplanes thwarted Japanese...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Discover how the U.S. Navy defeated Japan's fleet to check Japanese expansion in the Battle of Midway
In June 1942, one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, U.S. naval airplanes stopped...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Examine how Stalin's Red Army defeated Hitler's Fourth and Sixth Armies in the Battle of Stalingrad
In the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–43), the advancing Germans were finally stopped...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The brutal Battle of Stalingrad explained
Overview of the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–43).
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
See how Allied commanders Eisenhower and Montgomery trapped Rommel to end Axis North Africa campaigns
An Anglo-American force landing in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942. By the following...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Witness the horrors of the Holocaust committed in Nazi concentration camps as Allied forces liberate survivors
U.S. soldiers, having defeated the German military, come face-to-face with the horrors...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Turning point of World War II: D-Day and its aftermath
Overview of the Normandy Invasion.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © 1962 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Learn about the Normandy Invasion planned by Dwight Eisenhower to give Allied powers a foothold in France
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, an Allied force led by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower launched...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
July Plot: A failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler
Learn about the July Plot of 1944, in which Claus, Count Schenk von Stauffenberg,...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1972-025-10 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Fate of Hitler's Home Guard
With German military losses mounting, Adolf Hitler ordered all able-bodied men between...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J31391 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Allied bombings of Germany during World War II
Allied strategic bombing over Germany escalating in 1943.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Hitler's final days in Berlin, April 1945
As Soviet troops entered Berlin and the Battle of Berlin raged on, Adolf Hitler committed...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Romannerud/Dreamstime.com; German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 183-18483-0001
Adolf Hitler's death and its impact on Nazi Germany
War in Europe ending with Germany's unconditional surrender, May 1945.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Department of Defense/National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Deciding Germany's future: The Potsdam Conference
Learn about the Potsdam Conference, attended by Winston Churchill, Harry Truman,...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The true story of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
J. Robert Oppenheimer became involved in nuclear research in 1941. His biopic, Oppenheimer,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; thumbnail © Universal Pictures
Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War
The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay took off from the Mariana Islands on August...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Understanding V-J Day and the end of World War II
Learn more about V-J Day, the Potsdam Conference, and the end of World War II in...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Witness Douglas MacArthur offering surrender terms to imperial Japan aboard the battleship USS Missouri
On the deck of the battleship USS Missouri, Gen. Douglas MacArthur inviting representatives...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What happened to German soldiers after World War II?
Discussion of German and Soviet POWs during World War II.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Sinking of MV Wilhelm Gustloff: World War II's deadliest ship disaster
The Soviet sinking of MV Wilhelm Gustloff in January 1945, one of the greatest...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Vladimir Kosov (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Key moments from World War II explained
World War II explained in five questions.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Consequences of World War II: Mass migration
As the Soviet army advances into eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands of Germans...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1978-063-29A (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Postwar Germany: Surviving and rebuilding after 1945
In the aftermath of World War II, many Europeans lacked adequate food, shelter, and...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Lieut. Michael M. Dean/Canada. Dept. of National Defence Library and Archives Canada/PA-140126
Post-World War II Germany: Integration of refugees and displaced people
Learn about the millions of refugees who migrated to Germany from the country's former...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-0927-501/Photographer: Krämer (CC BY-SA 3.0)
German invasion of Poland: Start of World War II
Overview of the German invasion of Poland (1939), which marked the beginning of World...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Examine the effects of U.S. Neutrality Acts on pre-World War II international relations
Simply by having to amend its own Neutrality Acts of 1935–37, the United States began...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Track the League of Nations' continual failure to check via diplomacy the Axis powers' pre-World War II rise
The 1930s consisted of many individual but significant events that bound the Axis...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Watch President Roosevelt outline his Four Freedoms and learn how Britain defeated Germany's Luftwaffe
The Royal Air Force fending off German bombers during the Battle of Britain in the...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn about the heroic life of the Bielski brothers and their Jewish resistance group, the Bielski partisans
An overview of the Bielski partisans, a Jewish resistance group during World War...
Video: Jewish Partisan Education Foundation (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Listen to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill address a joint U.S. Congress session after Pearl Harbor
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How antibiotics saved lives during World War II
Learn more about the development of antibiotics and their use in World War II.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How did the world's first programmable electronic computer work?
An overview of Colossus, the world's first large-scale electronic computer.
Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
A detailed video timeline of the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The impact of the German chain of command on D-Day
Hear Encyclopædia Britannica editor Michael Ray talk about the hierarchy of the German...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn how the nonaggression pact between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union sealed Poland's fate before World War II
Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, having negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Analyzing Joseph Goebbels's total war speech in Nazi Germany
Joseph Goebbels calling for total war before a crowd in Berlin, 1943.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Youth in Hitler's Reich: The abuse of a generation
Overview of the Hitler Youth.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Learn about the Jewish partisan and their activities during World War II
An overview of Jewish partisan activities during World War II.
Video: Jewish Partisan Education Foundation (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Listen to heart-wrenching stories of Kindertransport during WWII
Excerpts from the documentary film My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports...
Video: From the film My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (1996), directed by Melissa Hacker (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Learn about the founding of the National WWII Museum
An overview of the National WWII Museum (formerly National D-Day Museum) in New Orleans,...
Video: Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Learn about the Japanese bombing of the city of Darwin and Australia's participation in World War II
Learn about the February 19, 1942, Japanese bombing of the Australian city of Darwin,...
Video: © Behind the News (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Remembering Pearl Harbor: A day of infamy in American history
Remembering the Pearl Harbor attack, with a discussion of the USS Arizona Memorial.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Jldelawter/Dreamstime.com
Learn about the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, and the anti-Semitism they fomented in pre-WWII Germany
In 1933 Adolf Hitler's National Socialists were voted into power, and the campaign...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Konrad Adenauer's visit to Moscow: The return of German POWs
West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer negotiating the release of 10,000 German POWs...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Examine the role of communism and fascism in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Republicans, abandoned by the democracies and relying on aid from the communists,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Examine how the Allied powers dismembered the Central Powers of World War I by a treaty that failed to prevent World War II
U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson was among the statesmen who gathered in France in June...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Harry Truman's presidency: World War II, the atomic bomb, and the Cold War
An overview of Harry S. Truman.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hiroshima: The devastating effects of the atomic bomb
Learn more about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, by the United States during...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Listen to Franklin D. Roosevelt's reaction to the Pearl Harbor attack
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...
Video: Public Domain

Images

World War II: Germany invading Poland
Germany invading Poland, September 1, 1939.
Photos.com/Thinkstock
Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman, and Soviet...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
A gigantic mushroom cloud rising above Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, after...
U.S. Air Force photograph
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler reviewing German troops in Poland, September 1939.
Heinrich Hoffmann, Munich
German tanks
German Pz. IV (foreground) and Pz. III (background) tanks, 1942.
U.S. Army photograph
Stuka
German Junkers Ju 87 “Stuka” dive-bomber.
UPI/Bettmann Archive
Bismarck battleship
The Bismarck shortly after commissioning in 1940.
Courtesy of the Marineschule Murwik, Flensburg, Ger.
Maginot Line
Main entrance to the Schoenenbourg Fort on the Maginot Line, Bas-Rhin department,...
© Gerald Villena/stock.adobe.com
German invasion of Poland in World War II
German soldiers breaking down a barricade at the Polish border at the outbreak of...
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire, Britain's premier fighter plane from 1938 through World War...
Quadrant/Flight
U-218
Launching of U-218 at Kiel, Germany, in 1941.
From J.P. Mallmann Showell, U-Boats under the Swastika (1987)
Japanese expansion
Japanese expansion in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as seen from a Japanese aircraft during the...
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
K'un-ming, China, during World War II
Chinese line the streets of K'un-ming as the first supply convoy reaches the city...
U.S. Army photograph
Atlantic Charter
Atlantic Charter Conference, August 1941.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph
Battle of Guadalcanal
U.S. Marines landing on Guadalcanal, August 1942.
UPI/Bettmann Archive
Allied attack on Danzig harbour during World War II
Danzig harbour in flames after an attack by Allied bombers in World War II.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
execution during the Holocaust
German troops executing a group of Poles.
Dokumentationsarchiv des Oesterreichischen Widerstandes, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives
Henri Giraud, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, and Winston Churchill; Casablanca Conference
Allied leaders (from left) French Gen. Henri Giraud, U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt,...
U.S. Army Photo
Battle of Kursk
Soviet forces use signal flares to illuminate a night attack during the Battle of...
Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy
Atlantic Charter
(From left, seated) Canadian Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King, U.S. Pres. Franklin...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Ortona during World War II
The ruins of Ortona, Italy, after liberation from the German army by Canadian forces,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Tehrān Conference: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill
(From left) Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
U.S. Marines during World War II
U.S. Marines shelling Japanese positions on Cape Gloucester, New Britain Island,...
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Marines during World War II
U.S. Marines moving supplies and weapons during the battle for Cape Gloucester, New...
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943, during World War II.
U.S. Dept. of Defense
invasion of Tarawa by U.S. Marines
Aftermath of the bloody invasion of Tarawa by U.S. Marines, November 1943.
U.S. Department of Defense
Marshall Islands during World War II
U.S. Marines on the beach of Namur Islet, Kwajalein Atoll, the first of the Marshall...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
U.S. Marines taking a Japanese prisoner in the Marshall Islands
U.S. Marines taking a Japanese prisoner in the Marshall Islands.
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Marines on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944
U.S. Marines coming ashore under Japanese fire on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944.
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Marines on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944
U.S. Marines advancing against Japanese positions on Saipan, Mariana Islands, 1944.
U.S. Department of Defense
Nisei unit in Livorno, Italy, during World War II
U.S. soldiers, members of a Nisei unit attached to the U.S. Fifth Army, passing through...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn about the Allies' invasion routes and the German defenses in northern France during the Normandy Invasion
Overview map of the Normandy Invasion of June 6, 1944, during World War II.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel inspecting western German defenses, early 1944.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
D-Day; Sherman tank
Sherman tanks coming ashore at Juno Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini after the July Plot failed
Adolf Hitler (right) and Benito Mussolini (left) at the damaged Wolfsschanze (Wolf's...
Keystone—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
World War II: Caen, France
A British soldier helping an elderly woman amid the ruins of Caen, France, July 1944.
British Information Services
World War II: paratroopers
U.S. paratroopers landing in southern France, 1944.
U.S. Air Force photograph
Strasbourg, World War II
A U.S. light tank passing through Strasbourg, France, after the city's liberation...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Wernher von Braun: V-2 missile
Wernher von Braun holding a model of the German V-2 missile that he helped to develop...
MSFC/NASA
World War II: invasion of Mindoro, Philippines
Barrage rockets during the invasion of Mindoro, Philippines, in December 1944. Launched...
UPI/Bettmann Newsphotos
World War II: Allied forces recaptured Manila
Manila in the aftermath of its recapture by Allied forces in early 1945.
U.S. Navy
Yalta Conference
(From left) Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta...
AP Images
Mark V Panther tank
A U.S. soldier inspecting a damaged German Mark V Panther tank, Kelberg, Germany,...
U.S. Army Photograph
World War II: Allies entering bomb-damaged Nürnberg
U.S. tanks entering bomb-damaged Nürnberg, Germany, April 1945.
U.S. Army Photo
World War II: V-E Day
People in New York City celebrating the end of the European phase of World War II,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
World War II: Iwo Jima
U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels landing supplies on the Marine beachhead at Iwo...
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
injured U.S. Marines at the Battle of Iwo Jima
Injured U.S. Marines being treated at an aid station on Iwo Jima, 1945.
U.S. Department of Defense
Battle of Iwo Jima
U.S. Marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February...
Joe Rosenthal/AP
U.S. Marines on Okinawa
U.S. Marines battling for control of a ridge near Naha, Okinawa, May 1945.
U.S. Department of Defense
World War II: Okinawa
Japanese soldier, flushed from a cave by a smoke grenade, surrendering to U.S. Marines...
U.S. Department of Defense
World War II: total destruction of Hiroshima, Japan
Total destruction of Hiroshima, Japan, following the dropping of the first atomic...
U.S. Air Force photo
Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway, June 3–6, 1942.
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Battle of Midway
Panoramic combination of two photos depicting the Battle of Midway. The USS Yorktown...
2rd Class William G. Roy—U.S. Navy/NARA
Paulus, Friedrich: surrender at Stalingrad
German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendering at the Battle of Stalingrad, January...
German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), B 183-F0316-0204-005; photograph, Lipskerow
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) visiting the citadel of Jülich, March 1945.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower visiting Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 1951.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower inspecting troops from the 101st Airborne Division, March...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
German occupation of Paris
The German flag flying from the Arc de Triomphe during the German occupation of Paris,...
© Ann Ronan Pictures—Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Invasion of Poland
German troops invading Poland, September 1939.
Archivo ABC—Album/Alamy
Normandy Invasion
American assault troops in a landing craft during the Normandy Invasion, June 6,...
U.S. Army/National Archives, Washingon, D.C.
Pacific War
Japanese submarines, flying black flags of surrender, are anchored alongside a transport...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
USS Missouri: Japanese surrender
Japanese representatives, including Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru (with walking...
Army Signal Corps. Collection/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (Image ID: USA C-2719)
Douglas MacArthur signing the Japanese surrender agreement
Gen. Douglas MacArthur signing the agreement by which Japan surrendered to Allied...
Lt. C. F. Wheeler—Navy/U.S. Department of Defense
Japanese American internment: children
Japanese American children being relocated to internment camps, 1942.
Russell Lee—FSA/OWI/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USF33-013288-M1)
largest bombings during World War II
Infographic comparing the largest bombings during World War II.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
V-E Day celebration in Times Square
People celebrating in Times Square, New York City, on V-E Day, May 8, 1945.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Japanese American internment: removal
Removal of Japanese Americans from Los Angeles to internment camps, 1942.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USF34-072313-D)
Japanese American internment: dispossession
Restaurant “under new management” as a result of the U.S. government's relocation...
National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Dorothea Lange, photographer
bombing of Tokyo
Aerial view of Asakusa, heavily damaged by the World War II U.S. firebombing raids...
NARA
U.S. ration book
U.S. ration book used during World War II.
Bill Faulk
World War II; tank
A U.S. M10 Wolverine tank destroyer crossing a stream into German territory during...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
U.S. troops landing on Leyte Island in the Philippines during World War II.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Carentan during World War II
U.S. troops passing through Carentan, France, an important objective of the Allies...
U.S. Army Photograph
World War II
World War II recruitment poster for the U.S. Marine Corps.
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin pose with...
U.S. Army Photo
Matter, Herbert: World War II poster
World War II poster by Herbert Matter, 1941.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: cph 3g12483)
U.S. Army forces in Luzon, 1942
A U.S. Army Signal Corps map depicting the disposition of U.S. forces in Luzon, Philippines,...
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, (reproduction number LC-DIG-fsa-8b08336)
Compare the U.S. death toll during major events
Bar graph showing the death toll in the United States during major events.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
Learn the facts and timeline of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
The U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, was attacked by the Japanese...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
Learn more about the evacuation from Dunkirk to England during World War II
Between May 26 and June 4, 1940, some 340,000 Allied troops were evacuated from the...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
V-1 and V-2 strikes and the Poisson distribution
During World War II, British statistician R.D. Clarke demonstrated that V-1 and V-2...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Audio

Roosevelt, Franklin D.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, requesting a declaration of war from Congress...
Normandy Invasion: U.S. Army Ranger training
Elmer Vermeer, veteran of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, remembering ranger training during...

Interactives

German aircraft production by year, 1933–39
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
Allied air strength, September 1939
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
World War II: Pacific Theatre of Operations
The Pacific Theatre of Operations, 1941–45.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Manhattan Project interactive timeline
Major events and locations of the Manhattan Project.
National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Animation Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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