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Politics of World War II

  • Europe firstThe United States and the United Kingdom met in Washington during December 1941 to formalize a grand strategy that would define their war effort.
  • Restatement of Policy on GermanyIn 1946, American Occupation General Lucius D. Clay observed that Germans faced a stark choice between starvation and ideology.
  • German occupation of Estonia during World War IINazi Germany invaded Estonia between July and December 1941, marking the start of a three-year occupation. Most Estonians initially greeted German troops as…
  • Four PolicemenFranklin D. Roosevelt first voiced the idea of a global police force in August 1941 during his initial meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
  • Vichy FranceOn the 10th of July 1940, a joint session of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies gathered in the quiet spa town of Vichy.
  • Declaration by United NationsThe Allied nations first articulated their shared vision in the Declaration of St. James's Palace during June 1941. This agreement emerged from the First…
  • Potsdam AgreementOn the 17th of July 1945, three leaders gathered at Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam to decide the fate of Europe. Joseph Stalin represented the Soviet Union…
  • World War II by countryAlmost every country in the world participated in World War II. Most were neutral at the beginning, but relatively few nations remained neutral to the end.
  • Anglo-German Naval AgreementPart V of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles imposed severe limitations on Germany's naval forces. The treaty allowed no submarines, no naval aviation, and only…
  • Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)Germany's economy faced a severe crisis in 1937 as the Four-Year Plan strained foreign exchange reserves. The German government needed to import raw…
  • Morgenthau PlanIn early 1944, Henry Morgenthau Jr. held a meeting with Secretary of State Cordell Hull to discuss the future of Germany after World War II.
  • Anti-Comintern PactOn the 25th of November 1936, two men signed a document in Berlin that would reshape the geopolitical landscape of the coming decade.
  • Axis powersIn September 1923, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini wrote in a book preface that the axis of European history passes through Berlin.
  • AppeasementIn the early 1930s, a deep psychological scar from World War I shaped British foreign policy. The trauma of the Great War between 1914 and 1918 left a…
  • Armistice of CassibileOn the 25th of July 1943, the Grand Council of Fascism met in Rome to vote on a motion that would topple Benito Mussolini.
  • Allies of World War IIOn the 1st of September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and the world shifted into a state of total war. The League of Nations had been established after World…
  • Romani HolocaustIn the late 19th century, German public discourse began to link social differences with racial differences through pseudoscientific theories.
  • New Order (Nazism)Adolf Hitler first proclaimed a European New Order in a speech on the 30th of January 1941. This declaration marked the public articulation of plans that had…
  • Occupation of the Baltic statesEarly in the morning of the 24th of August 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed a ten-year non-aggression pact. This agreement contained a secret…
  • Atlantic CharterOn the 9th of August 1941, the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales steamed into Placentia Bay. Winston Churchill stood on its deck as it met the American…
  • Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity SphereIn the autumn of 1872, United States minister to Japan Charles DeLong explained to U.S. General Charles LeGendre that he had been urging the Government of…
  • Opposition to World War IIThe League of Nations formed its headquarters in Geneva after the First World War ended. Its goal was to prevent another global conflict through diplomacy…
  • Phoney WarAn 8-inch howitzer sat silent in France during the autumn of 1939. This image captures the stillness that defined the first eight months of World War II.