World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Rising to power in an unstable Germany, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi Party) rearmed the nation and signed treaties with Italy and Japan to further his ambitions of world domination. Hitler’s invasion of Poland drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, and World War II had begun. The majority of the world's countries eventually formed two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Axis.

From the moment the leaders of the victorious Allied nations arrived in France for the peace conference in early 1919, the post-war reality began to diverge sharply from Wilson’s idealistic vision.

Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. Learn more about his rise to power.

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A blitzkrieg - a type of offensive warfare that strikes a swift, focused blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces - was often used in World War II.

The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 allowed the U.S. government to lend or lease war supplies to any nation before actively entering the fighting in World War II.

Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

Codenamed Operation Overlord, the invasion began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region during World War II. The operation was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and has been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

Examine President Franklin D. Roosevelt's role in World War II. Find out how he led the United States from isolationism to victory.

After the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. was thrust into World War II (1939-45), dramatically altering the social and economic lives of everyday Americans.

Some 350,000 women served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II, both at home and abroad. They included the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, who on March

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion helped boost the morale of millions of Americans during WWII.

Japanese internment camps were established during World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt through his Executive Order 9066. From 1942 to 1945, it was the

The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. Germany's defeat in the battle marked a turning point of the war in favor of the Allies.

Codenamed Operation Overlord, the invasion began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region during World War II. The operation was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and has been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

The Holocaust was the state-sponsored mass murder of some 6 million European Jews and millions of others by the German Nazis during World War II.

Harry Truman (1884-1972), the 33rd U.S. president, assumed office following the death of President Franklin Roosevelt. In the White House from 1945 to 1953, Truman made the decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan in World War II, helped rebuild postwar Europe, worked to contain communism and led the United States into the Korean War (1950-1953).

The Manhattan Project was the code name for the American-led effort to develop a functional atomic weapon during World War II. The controversial creation and

Learn the meaning of "kamikaze" and find out how Japan convinced thousands of kamikaze pilots to fly to their deaths.

The Battle of Midway was an epic WWII clash between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy that played out six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. Navy’s decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) dashed Japan’s hopes of neutralizing the United States as a naval power and effectively turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific.

The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers, etc., were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.