World War 2 for World History

The Ultimate Toll WWII Death Toll

Published on Feb 24, 2015

This presentation provides graphical representation of the death toll imposed on mankind by the second major worldwide conflict.

For American History

World War II - Attack on Pearl Harbor. Watch Full Documentary in Color

Published on Jun 10, 2015

Watch Full Documentary in Color: World War II - Attack on Pearl Harbor.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.

World War II picture gallery and little known facts

The 21 Biggest Misconceptions about World War Two
By John Kuroski on February 13, 2017

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/world-war-ii-myths#1

So ingrained is the widely accepted narrative of World War II that we can recount the conflict's history in a short series of mere phrases: Hitler rises, France falls, the Holocaust begins, Pearl Harbor burns, D-Day commences, the bomb drops.

However, this narrative -- even in its most fully fleshed-out form -- misrepresents why and when the war started, how and where it progressed along the way, and why and when it ended. This narrative likewise conceals both the greatest devastation committed by the war's "villains" and the greatest triumphs achieved by its "heroes."

Did you know, for example, that the war didn't begin in 1939 and didn't end because of the bomb? Did you know that Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't even the deadliest bombings of the war, that 400,000 Axis soldiers made it onto American shores, or that the body count of the Holocaust is about twice as big as you think it is?

The facts and photos above begin to reveal the story of the war as it actually happened, not the narrative propagated by its most powerful victors after the fact. These are 21 World War II myths that desperately needed to be debunked.

in order to peruse photo gallery, click here.

Today in 1936, Mussolini announced the Rome-Berlin "axis"

Speaking in Milan on this day in 1936, Benito Mussolini announced the establishment of a Rome-Berlin "axis."

"History Today" The following article is brief but worth the time to read. I learned a lot about Italy before the war that I did not know.

(English Subtitles) Mussolini's speech against Germany,in Bari 1934

(before he became Hitler's ally)

Today in history .... the Divine Wind ....

Today in 1944, the Japanese first began to try Kamikaze (divine wind) attacks. They were named after the typhoon's that stopped the Mongal fleet's invasion of Japan (under Kublai Khan) in 1274 and 1281.

The worst moment of Kamikaze attacks came in the Battle of Okinawa when as many as 20 planes at once dived bombed into the Destroyer Laffey. Some sailors went insane just thinking about it.

By the end of the war, there were 15,000 casualties due to Kamikazes, and the attacks figured significantly into Trumen's decision to use atomic weapons rather than a invasion.  From THE PERILOUS FLIGHT.

HD Stock Footage WWII Japanese Kamikaze Attack on U.S.

June 22, 1940 France surrenders to Germany

June 22, 1940

France signed an Armistice with Germany in the exact location where Germany had been humiliated by France in 1918.

Hitler met the French in the same railway carriage in which the 1918 Armistice was signed (removed from a museum and placed in the precise spot where it was located in 1918) and sat in the same chair in which Marshal Foch had sat. Hitler left the carriage after the reading of the Preamble in a calculated gesture of disdain to the French delegates.





Above, General Charles Huntizer signs on behalf of France.

Below, actual footage of Hitler visiting Paris on the same day.

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"No human in history..."

“No human in history has ever held the power for which you now ask. Not Caesar not Alexander--no man—ever.” ~Winston Churchill to Eisenhower, 1941.

When I teach American History, I like to use historical films to bring history alive for the students. There are two films that always grip the attention of the students; 13 Days with Kevin Costner and Roger Greenwood about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and “Ike; the Countdown to D-Day, with Tom Selleck as Eisenhower and Ian Mune as Churchill. Both movies lack action seens but rely on the drama of impending war to build the tension.

Tom Selleck does an excellent job of acting the part of Eisenhower. Selleck captures the concern for casualties and the required modesty for Eisenhower to deal with such huge egos such as Generals Montgomery and Patton, and far worse, De Gaul. As Churchill pointed out in the first minutes of the movie, “No human in history has ever held the power for which you now ask. Not Caesar not Alexander--no man—ever.” Huge stakes and thousands of lives rested on the decision of one man. Seventy years ago today, Eisenhower has to make a judgment call to invade in the face of bad weather, impatient generals and uncertain intelligence. He wrote a letter in advance to take full responsibility in the case of the failure of the invasion, and then went to smoke and chat with paratroopers who were expected to have casualty rates of as high as 75 percent.

Below is a 9 minute clip of the opening (and one of the best) scenes in the movie.