Chiang Kai-shek

Final Battle for Burma, 1945

By William Stroock

By the beginning of February 1945, the British 14th Army was on the banks of the Irrawaddy River and poised to strike into central Burma. Read more

Chiang Kai-shek

Pearl Harbor: The Sleeping Giant Awoken

By Flint Whitlock

It was, as the phrase goes, another perfect day in paradise. As the sun rose above the Pacific in the clear, cloudless sky east of the Hawaiian Islands, on December 7, 1941, the giant U.S. Read more

Chiang Kai-shek

Japan’s Road to War

By Eric Hammel

Japan’s road to World War II was a long one. Throughout the late 19th century, the island nation broke out of its feudal past on a path to modernity with a ruthlessness and singlemindedness that would have scared Western nations had they been paying attention. Read more

Following a brutal assault, conquering Japanese troops parade triumphantly through the Chungshan gate that leads into Nanking, the capital of China.

Chiang Kai-shek

The Japanese Army’s “Rape of Nanking”

By Walter Zapotoczny Jr.

On August 15, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army bombed Nanking, the capital of China. These raids were unrelenting until December 13, when Japanese troops entered the conquered city. Read more

Chiang Kai-shek

The Fall of Beijing, 1937

By Jiaxin Du

Most people think that World War II broke out on September 1, 1939, when the Wehrmacht crossed the German-Polish border. Read more

Chiang Kai-shek

Douglas MacArthur’s Plan to Win The Korean War

By Blaine Taylor

In his 1964 book Gen. Douglas MacArthur (Gold Medal Books, Greenwich, Conn.), Bob Considine writes, “MacArthur’s final plan for winning the Korean War was outlined to this reporter in the course of an interview in 1954 on his 74th birthday. Read more

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum at Hyde Park is the premier research center for the FDR era.

Chiang Kai-shek

The FDR Presidential Library

By Blaine Taylor

It seems to me that the dedication of a library is in itself an act of faith.” The date was June 30, 1941, and the speaker was President Franklin D. Read more

Why, with Merrill's Marauders riddled with disease and fatigue, were they given the mission to attack Myitkyina? Story inside.

Chiang Kai-shek

Merrill’s Maurauders: Into Myitkyina

by Al Hemingway

Why, with the Marauders riddled with disease and fatigue, were they given the mission to attack Myitkyina? Stilwell and Merrill had to be aware that the unit was decimated. Read more

Chiang Kai-shek

Top Flying Tiger: General Claire Chennault

By Michael D. Hull

Laden with 500-pound bombs and incendiaries, 10 Japanese twin-engine Mitsubishi Ki21 Sally bombers took off from the Hanoi airfield in Indochina on the morning of Saturday, December 20, 1941. Read more

Japanese troops advance through the rubble of a destroyed building in Shanghai on October 29, 1937. Young Marine Captain Evans Carlson witnessed the onslaught.

Chiang Kai-shek

Creating the OSS: FDR’s Network of Personal Spies

By Peter Kross

One of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s longtime interests was the hidden world of espionage. In the months before the United States entered World War II, the commander-in-chief was dabbling in the covert world of intelligence-gathering, using a number of trusted personal friends as his own private eyes and ears around the globe. Read more

From Around the Network

  • By 1940, cruisers built under the post-World War I naval treaties were feeling their age. Anove, a captured Japanese photo- graph shows the HMS Cornwall succumbing to an air attack.

    WWII

    HMS Cornwall: a Symbol of British Naval Power
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  • Spitfire pilots are shown with their aircraft in Burma. Although commonly associated with the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire also saw service in British theaters of war around the globe in World War II.

    WWII

    The Supermarine Spitfire and the Battle of Britain
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  • The Liverpool ferryboat Daffodil rides alongside the cruiser Vindictive as Royal Marines disembark the cruiser’s battered decks in this painting by Charles J. de Lacy.

    Military History

    Zeebrugge: A Gallant Raid on Saint George’s Day
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  • American and Filipino troops raise their hands in surrender after emerging from Malinta Tunnel on the island of Corregidor. The victorious Japanese captured thousands of prisoners during the largest mass capitulation of U.S. military personnel in the nation’s history.

    WWII

    WWII Veterans: Donald L. Versaw, From Shanghai to Corregidor
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