The Everything World War II Book: People, Places, Battles, and All the Key Events

380 Pages·2007·5.14 MB·English

by  David White

THE
EVERYTHING
®
World War II Book
2nd Edition
Dear Reader,
Unfortunately, more and more World War II veterans are dying every day, and
despite the millions of words already written about the devastating worldwide
confl ict in which they par ticipated, many of these veterans are taking their war
stories to their graves with them. These stor ie s go untold for a number of
reasons, a primary one of which is that they are too harrowing to relive.
Additionally, as more and more time goes by and more and more wars take
place, this particular war gets forgotten a little bit more, romanticized a little
more, and discussed a little less. All of these event s are unfortunate.
Many people know something about World War II but couldn’t carr y on an
informed conversation about the subject. While we’re not asking that you
become an expert in the subject (although those people are fading as well), what
we would like is that you take from this book a certain understanding of what the
world was like before, during, and after this mos t brutal of all wars. This book
can help guide you on that process, and it is our hope that you will continue your
study or, at the ver y least, have a greater grasp of the subject and its place in the
history of our planet.
The EVERYTHING Series
®
Editorial
Publisher Gary M. Krebs
Director of Product Development Paula Munier
Managing Editor Laura M. Daly
Executive Editor, Series Books Brielle K. Matson
Associate Copy Chief Sheila Zwiebel
Acquisitions Editor Lisa Laing
Development Editor Brett Palana-Shanahan
Production Editor Casey Ebert
Production
Director of Manufacturing Susan Beale
Production Project Manager Michelle Roy Kelly
Erick DaCosta
Prepress
Matt LeBlanc
Heather Barrett
Brewster Brownville
Interior Layout
Colleen Cunningham
Jennifer Oliveira
Erin Alexander
Cover Design Stephanie Chrusz
Frank Rivera
Visit the entire Everything® Series at www.everything.com
From the rise of the Third Reich to V-J Day—
all the people, places, battles, and
key events you need to know
David White and Daniel P. Murphy, Ph.D.
Donald Vaughan (first edition)
Copyright © 2002, 2007, F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
An Everything® Series Book.
Everything® and everything.com® are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc.
Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN-10: 1-59869-641-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-59869-641-7
eISBN: 978-1-44052-458-5
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
available from the publisher.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with
regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher
is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal
advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional
person should be sought.
—From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the
American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their
products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and
Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with
initial capital letters.
This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.
To my wife, who inspires my life and my work, and to my parents,
who started me on the road to appreciating history
Contents
Top Ten Things You Should Know about WWII
Introduction
Part One: Setting the Stage
1 Prelude to War
Hitler’s Rise to Power
Germany in Disarray
Fascism Takes Hold of Italy
Japanese Aggression
American Isolationism
Isolationism Following the First World War
2 Fanning the Flames
Germany Rearms
Hitler Takes Austria
Czechoslovakia Divided and Conquered
Hitler Pushes East
Hitler Takes Denmark and Norway
The Fall of France
Mussolini Joins the Fray
The Axis Expands
Japan Extends Its Military Might
3 The United States Enters the War
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
A Well-Planned Attack
Pearl Harbor Investigations
The American Response
Hawaii under Martial Law
The American Internment Camps
Part Two: The Major Battles
4 Europe
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of Britain
Germany’s Soviet Campaign
The Italian Campaign
The Normandy Invasion
The Battle of the Bulge
The Soviet Offensive
5 North Africa
Egypt
Germany Enters the African War
Great Britain Reorganizes
The Northwest Africa Campaign
The North African Assault
Allied Forces Work Together
6 The Pacific
The Battle of the Coral Sea
Wake Island
Midway
The Philippines
The Battle of Guadalcanal
The Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Okinawa
Part Three: The Major Players