When the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in December 1979, it set the stage for a decade-long quagmire, similar to the American War in Vietnam.   More »

Was Emperor Showa (“Hirohito” as he is typically referred outside Japan) a warmonger, pacifist, or both?   More »

In one of the saddest chapters of World War II History, the Siege of Leningrad led to a terrible famine and lasted an incredible 900 days.   More »

Red Air Force female pilot Lilya Litvak became a fighter ace and a Hero of the Soviet Union fighting the Germans.   More »

An armored struggle in the Ukraine in June 1941, nicknamed the Bloody Triangle, set the standard for the coming tank battles on the Eastern Front.   More »

German General Reinhard Gehlen set up an anti-Soviet espionage ring in 1945 and used it to the grief of both sides during the Cold War.   More »

Determined to preserve its access to the Suez Canal, Israel launched a surprise attack in the Sinai Peninsula, catching the Egyptian Army entirely by surprise.   More »

The Nazi Einsatzgruppen began the World War II’s most closely guarded operation: the annihilation of the Jews.   More »

On orders from Premier Josef Stalin, Red Army Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Ivan Konev raced to capture the Nazi capital of Berlin.   More »

By Jon Diamond
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto was not the only gambler in Imperial Japan’s military hierarchy. Lt. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, appointed commander of the Imperial Japanese Army’s (IJA) 25th Army on November 2, 1941, to lead the invasion of Malaya and Singapore, also took risks to capture the prized British territory   More »