World War II: The Global Conflict

Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, marked the beginning of World War II in Europe; Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later, on September 3.

Operation Overlord was the code name for the massive Allied amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy — the largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 160,000 troops crossing the English Channel on a single day.

General Douglas MacArthur made this famous promise when evacuating the Philippines in March 1942; he fulfilled his pledge by returning to Leyte Gulf in October 1944, famously wading ashore in his trademark field marshal cap.

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb on Hiroshima, instantly killing an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people and devastating the city.

The U.S. Navy sank four Japanese aircraft carriers at Midway from June 4 to 7, 1942, at the cost of only one American carrier, permanently shifting naval supremacy in the Pacific to the United States.

The Manhattan Project was the classified U.S. government research program, launched in 1942, that produced the world's first nuclear weapons; it employed over 130,000 people and cost approximately $2 billion.

German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered the remnants of his Sixth Army to Soviet forces at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943 — a crushing defeat that marked the turning point on the Eastern Front.

The Battle of Britain (July–October 1940) was history's first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces; the RAF's determined defense frustrated Hitler's plans and convinced him to abandon his planned invasion of Britain.

Rommel earned the nickname 'The Desert Fox' (Wüstenfuchs in German) for his daring and unpredictable strategies leading the Afrika Korps; even Allied commanders expressed open admiration for his tactical brilliance.

The Nuremberg Trials held 24 senior Nazi leaders accountable for war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity; 12 were sentenced to death, and the trials established landmark precedents for international law.

Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) on May 8, 1945, marked Germany's unconditional surrender; Churchill announced the news by radio, and jubilant crowds gathered in London, New York, and cities across the Allied world.

Mussolini adopted the title 'Il Duce' after seizing power in Italy in 1922; he was captured by Italian partisans and executed on April 28, 1945, just two days before Adolf Hitler's suicide in Berlin.

General Bernard 'Monty' Montgomery led the British Eighth Army to victory over Rommel's Afrika Korps at El Alamein — Britain's first major land victory of the war and the turning point in the North Africa Campaign.

Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, was the site of a grueling six-month campaign that proved the Allies could go on the offensive in the Pacific and was a crucial step toward rolling back Japanese gains.

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured this iconic image on February 23, 1945, showing six U.S. Marines planting the flag on Iwo Jima's highest peak; it later inspired the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.