poniedziałek, 26 marca 2012

A World War 2 Biography: Supporting Roles

By Robyn House


Mention World War 2 Biography (WW2) in conversation and the first names that come to mind are Winston Churchill, Franklin D Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler. These are just three players in a major global conflict that involved 23 different nations. Who were the other movers and shakers that determined the course of history? world war 2 biography

Charles de Gaulle had seen action in World War I. During the second global conflict, he commanded the Free French Forces following France's 1940 surrender. De Gaulle fled to Britain, from where he continued to recruit and lead the resistance movement. Many North Africans joined the fight and by 1944 de Gaulle was in command of 400,000 Free French troops taking part in the Normandy landings.

The name Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) is synonymous with the authoritarian political philosophy promoting violence and war. The Italian dictator Mussolini was the Father of Fascism. After a bungled attempt to invade France, he was slain in 1945 and his body was hung upside down at a service station as proof that he really was dead.

William 'Mackenzie' King was the Prime Minister of Canada during WW2, during which he was forced to maintain a delicate balance between preserving his relationships with America and Great Britain while placating the French Canadians in Quebec, who did not want to fight in Europe. Canada's role in the conflict was mainly supportive, and King managed to keep the country together during the war years and in the preceding Great Depression.

The Japanese Emperor, Michinomiya Hirohito (1901-1989), was the country's longest serving ruler. He held power from 1926 until he died in 1989. His was a major role in the war, having ordered the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was also he who announced Japan's surrender from the conflict immediately in the wake of two nuclear attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. His thin, eerie voice was heard by his subjects for the very first time.

Sadly, President Roosevelt did not live to see the end of the war in 1945. He was succeeded by Harry Truman, who played a determining role in the World War 2 biography by authorizing the use of atomic weapons, ultimately forcing them to surrender.




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