History of World War II

World War Two was the greatest conflict of all history, only a generation after the first "War to end all Wars". But when Hitler's Germany smashed into Poland in September 1939, it became clear that the new European war would be no repeat of the 1914-18 stalemate. The Germans were now the masters of a revolutionary "lighting war".

The German invasion of Russia in June 1941 was intended as Hitler's ultimate triumph. Instead, it turned into his greatest disaster as World War Two became became truly global. But in December 1941, Hitler's divisions stood poised at the gates of Moscow, as, faraway in the Pacific, his Japanese allies stunned America with her fateful attack on Pearl Harbor.