Thousands of historical articles on both British and world history for all levels of knowledge and interest.

Apr 15, 2024 · The United States of America officially declared its involvement in WW2 in December 1941, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December. In his famous “Day of Infamy” speech before Congress on 8 December, President Franklin D Roosevelt called for a declaration of war against Japan – crucially, Roosevelt did not also declare against Adolf Hitler's Germany. In this way Germany and ...

While 2 September 1945 is generally recognised as the final, official end of the Second World War, in many parts of the world fighting continued long beyond that date. And, given the vast scale of the war, which involved troops from every part of the world, it did not simultaneously come to an end everywhere. Instead, it ended in stages. Historian Keith Lowe explains how and when the war ...

Jun 24, 2020 · With at least 505 confirmed kills during the Winter War of 1939–40 between Finland and the Soviet Union, Simo Häyhä (1905–2002) has been labelled the deadliest sniper in history. Here, Tapio Saarelainen shares the story of the Finnish sniper and how he achieved his nickname 'White Death'...

Nov 6, 2023 · The fighting on the Eastern Front, however, was just as brutal and the casualties were actually often higher there than on the Western Front. The trenches themselves were similar, but their sophistication depended on the terrain on which they were built. For instance, breastworks [hastily constructed fortifications built to breast height] were often located in marshy areas. Read more about how ...

Apr 9, 2021 · But for the achievement of the Australian and New Zealander Army Corps (Anzac) in carving out a small bridgehead at Anzac Cove, the WW1 campaign to seize the Gallipoli peninsula was a disaster, says Peter Hart. Writing for BBC History Magazine, the author of a 2011 book on the disastrous First World War campaign offers his explanations for the Allies' failure in …

Jan 16, 2025 · By the early 1920s, the swastika, an ancient religious symbol, had been adopted by Adolf Hitler to represent the German Reich. How did it become the symbol of the Nazi party?

Jan 3, 2020 · Here, Professor Neil Wynn presents a guide to the causes, crime and considerable impact of this policy on American society during the prohibition era…

Mar 31, 2022 · Why did the Falklands War happen? From an Argentine point of view, the war was sparked less by an ‘invasion’ and more by a reclamation of territory that was, by rights, theirs. The history of the Falklands is rather convoluted. France was the first nation to establish a colony on East Falkland in 1764, before the British claimed West Falkland as its own the next year. Five years after that ...

Sep 27, 2022 · In 1945, the USSR was an ally of the west in the fight against Nazi Germany. But a mere 17 years later the two sides stood poised to obliterate each other in a nuclear apocalypse. David Reynolds describes how a relationship turned ugly