The World War II Multimedia Database

Benito Mussolini was the recognized leading dictator of Europe when Hitler was a still a local politician leading a group of thugs against the Weimar Republic. Mussolini had solidified his power across all of Italy through murder, blackmail, and slander campaigns against Italy's press, politicians, and leftists.

The invasion of Sicily was the preliminary step in the invasion of the Italian mainland. The Allies hoped to knock Italy out of the war.

The Allies were flushed with excitement over the possibility of the Italians surrendering. The 82nd Airborne Division prepared for a drop on Rome and Allied planners thought the Italian Campaign would be over in a matter of weeks.

Throughout the Nineteenth Century, Japan dealt with a population that it could not sustain with its national food production by encouraging immigration. Thousands of Japanese traveled abroad. Many settled in the Hawaiian Islands, and on the American Pacific Rim.

Quentin Tarantino's recent ode to classic movies offers a fictionalized take on World War II. Either a remake or an homage to The Dirty Dozen, Tarantino's story is about Brat Pitt's elite squad fighting Nazis behind the lines. Knowing his films, expect lots of blood and gore and little plot or character development in favor of cinematic style.

Inglourious Basterds | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Once the Pearl Harbor operation was completed, there was a lack of strategic long term planning to identify concrete goals for the First Air Fleet. Nagumo and his naval force were national heroes, and as 1942 dawned, they were given tasks that both sapped their strength and did not acknowledge that the US carriers were still afloat.

When England went to war on September 3, 1939, the Dominions had the right to decide in their legislatures whether to fight. Ireland remained neutral; Canada waited a few days to show their independence. India, with colonial status, had no such choice. India went to war when England went to war.

In 1941, Hitler's strategic dilemma of invading and destroying the Soviet Union, a much larger country, led him to seek warriors from fascistic dictators across Europe. Spain, Italy, Romania and Hungary answered his call and sent forces.

Anti-Semitism had been around in Europe for hundreds of years. Pogroms, attacks on Jewish communities, took place long before the Nazis took power.