Author: US Army Corps of Engineers

World at War (WWII)

War had been brewing in the Far East and Europe for many years. Three dictators arose after World War I: Adolf Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy and General Hideki Tojo in Japan. They shared a hunger for power and land.

By the time the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor brought the United States to war, the German and Italian armies had swept over almost all of Europe and North Africa. Japanese forces had already seized most of China and were now attacking the rest of east Asia. Proud nations were captives, their citizens killed or suppressed.

Only England, battered on its island, and Russia to the east still stood on the fighting fronts. And Russia was at the edge of defeat as the German war machine tore through its heartland. Twenty million people would die in Russia alone.

In June 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England warned, “If we fail, the whole world, including the United States will sink into the abyss of a new dark age”.