Download Who Were The Major Players In WW2

Who Were The Major Players In WW2?
Allied Powers:
Axis Powers
United Kingdom
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
United States of America
France before its defeat in 1940 and after
Operation Overlord in 1944
China
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Czechoslovakia
Ethiopia
Greece
India
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
The Philippine Commonwealth
Poland
The Union of South Africa
Yugoslavia
Italy
Germany – consisting of Austria,
Czechoslovakia and Poland.
Japan
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Yugoslavia
San Marino
Finland
Iraq
Thailand
Manchuria
Burma
India
Philippines
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Slovakia
Serbia
Albania
Macedonia
Croatia
Greece
Vichy France
* note most of these countries are occupied
and forced to fight against the allies.
Germany
Adolph Hitler: Nazi Fuhrer of Germany
Joseph Goebbels: Nazi propaganda minister
Herman Goering: Luftwaffe chief and Nazi party leader - Goering was
a WWI flying ace who transformed the German air force, the Luftwaffe, into
a formidable force. Was the heir apparent to the Fuehrer, but was captured
in the closing days of the war. While on trial for war crimes at Nuremburg
after the war, he committed suicide in his cell.
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Erwin Rommel: General and Field Marshall - Scored early victories in
the war in France and became famous for leading his Afrika Corps against
the British in North Africa. Implicated in a plot against Hitler later in the
war, he was given the “opportunity” to commit suicide rather than be shot
by firing squad.
Japan
Hideki Tojo: General and Prime Minister - Tojo was a leader in the
military junta that controlled Japan. He led the Japanese army in its war
with China and became Prime Minister just before the bombing of Pearl
Harbor. He was complicit in war crimes against those living in Japanese
controlled areas of Asia, which included human experimentation. He was
captured, tried, and in 1948, hanged.
Hirohito: Emperor – The Emperor at first sought to avoid war with the
West, but was eventually swayed by the army and navy. Ordered the
Japanese surrender of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki against the will of many military commanders, some of who
attempted a coup which failed. Somewhat controversially, was not
implicated or charged with any war crimes though some claim many of these
were committed with his knowledge and even at his behest. Died in 1989.
Isoroku Yamamoto: Admiral - Yamamoto was the admiral who devised
the Pearl Harbor attack plan. He had opposed virtually all of Japan’s
aggressive maneuvers prior to that, including the invasion of Manchuria and
the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, but in loyalty to his country
fought on anyway. While his famous “all we have done is awaken a sleeping
giant” quote, referring to the attack on America at Pearl, is likely apocryphal,
he is documented as warning, “I can run wild for six months … after that, I
have no expectation of success.” Yamamoto was killed when his plane was
shot down by American P-38’s while inspecting forward units
Italy
Benito Mussolini: Fascist dictator of Italy - Mussolini was really the
inventor of fascism, though his brand was initially a much less racist version
than Hitler’s. Like Hitler, a talented orator and motivator. Il Duce, as he
was called, invaded Ethiopia and what is now Somalia in Africa. Italy was
not a strong military power, and had to be bailed out by Germany on several
occasions. After things deteriorated for Italy during the war, Mussolini was
dismissed as Prime Minister and arrested by order of King Emmanuel. He
was later rescued by German special forces and set up by Hitler as a kind of
puppet ruler in northern Italy. Captured by communist partisans while
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attempting to flee Italy at the close of the war, he and his mistress were
executed and their bodies hung upside down from a gas station.
Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin: Communist dictator - Stalin initially made a pact with
Hitler and jointly invaded Poland with the Nazis. Pact ended when Germany
invaded Russia. Suffering early reversals, in no small part due to a depleted
Red Army officer core due to his paranoid purges, Stalin employed a
scorched earth policy as his predecessors had done when invaded by
Napoleon and Charles XII of Sweden. Ironically framed the war against the
Nazis as the Great Patriotic War and this morale booster coupled with the
victory at Stalingrad helped to turn the tide. Stalin was a thorn in the allies
side immediately following Germany’s surrender, refusing to give up territory
his Red Army occupied to its rightful possessors. Tensions soon escalated
into the Cold War. Stalin died in 1953 as a result of a stroke.
Georgy Zhukov: General - Though he briefly fell out of favor with Stalin
early in the war, his defense of Moscow put him back in good graces.
Zhukov was instrumental in many of the crucial Red Army victories,
including Stalingrad, Leningrad, Kursk, and the invasion of Germany itself.
He died in 1974.
Vyacheslav Molotov: Foreign Minister - Along with Joachim von
Ribbentrop, the foreign minister of Nazi Germany, concluded the pact
between Germany and the Soviet Union which called for the partition of
Poland and the dividing up of the Baltic states. In the resulting SovietFinnish war of 1939 the Fins coined the term Molotov cocktail for homemade
bombs. Throughout the wider war, Molotov was a tough negotiator with the
other allies and secured their promise of a second front in Europe. He died
in 1986 at the age of 96.
Great Britain
Winston Churchill: First Lord of the Admiralty & Prime Minister Politically isolated before the war and one of the few who saw the danger of
Hitler early one, became First Lord of the Admiralty when the war broke
out. Not long after was appointed Prime Minister. Lead Britain with a steely
resolve in the face of seemingly hopeless times, including during the Blitz
and the Battle of Britain. Pressed President Roosevelt for help, which helped
lead to the Lend Lease Act. Kept Britain in the fight until the US finally
joined the war in 1941.
Bernard Law Montgomery: General - Skilled and boastful, Montgomery
commanded the British army in North Africa to the first major allied land
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victory of the war, El Alamein. He was in command of armies that invaded
Sicily, where he and US general George Patton developed a rivalry that
wasn’t always friendly and which was further fueled by Montgomery’s actions
and comments during the Battle of the Bulge. Operation Market Garden, a
plan to cross into Germany via the Rhine River in Holland was his operation,
though it was poorly planned and he ignored key intelligence. The operation
was an allied disaster, despite Monty’s claim of it being “90% successful.”
His armies did eventually cross the Rhine and Montgomery accepted the
surrender of Germany in Denmark and Holland.
United States
Franklin D. Roosevelt: President - Though the US was neutral at the
war’s outset, Roosevelt did everything short of actual fighting to aid the
allies. The Lend-Lease Act which provided Britain with badly needed
supplies and equipment and the oil embargo on Japan in response to their
aggression in Asia were major components of his policy. His most
controversial act as President was Executive Order 9066 which called for the
internment of those of Japanese descent on the West Coast. Met with
Churchill, Stalin, and China’s Chang Kai-shek on various occasions to discuss
strategy and post-war plans. Died after being elected to a fourth term in
1945.
Harry S. Truman: Vice President & President - Taking office after
Roosevelt’s death, Truman initially very little about FDR’s war policies. He
had been largely kept in the dark. A hard worker and quick learner, he
rapidly got up to speed. Alone made the decision to drop two atomic bombs
on Japan to force their surrender.
Dwight D. Eisenhower: General - Commander of all allied forces in
Europe. Presided over D-Day invasion of Normandy and was prepared to
take full responsibility had it failed. Had to manage enormous personalities
and egos in the likes of Patton and Montgomery. After the war became
NATO commander and then President of the United States.
George S. Patton: General - Brilliant, eccentric, and controversial. A
skilled tank commander, notoriously profane and religious. Commanded a
huge dummy army in England prior to the Normandy invasion. Drove his
tank battalions across central Europe after breaking out of France, all the
way to Czechoslovakia. Famously slapped a soldier in a military hospital
who was suffering from shell shock and called him a coward. He was forced
to apologize for the incident. Died from injuries suffered in a car crash in
1945.
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Douglas MacArthur: General - His qualities as a leader and a fighting
soldier emerged in France during World War 1. Showing incredible dash and
courage on the battlefield, he received several decorations for bravery. He
also won the promotion of major to Brigadier General. He was commander of
the Allied forces in the Pacific. He came up with the strategy of ‘Island
Hopping’.
France
Paul Reynaud – Prime Minister - The Battle of France began less than
two months after Reynaud came to office. France was badly mauled by the
initial attack in early May 1940, and Paris was threatened. On 15 May, five
days after the invasion began, Reynaud contacted his British counterpart
and famously remarked, "We have been defeated... we are beaten; we have
lost the battle.... The front is broken near Sedan. As France's situation grew
increasingly desperate, Reynaud accepted Philippe Pétain as Minister of
State. Pétain, an aged veteran of the First World War, advised an armistice.
Soon after the occupation of Paris, there was increasing pressure on
Reynaud to come to a separate peace with Germany. Reynaud refused to be
a party to such an undertaking, and resigned on 16 June rather than sign it.
he was given to the Germans, who kept him prisoner until the end of the
war..Reynaud was liberated by Allied troops on 7 May 1945
Philippe Petain – Chief of State for Vichy France. - Signed the
armistice on 22 June. In 1940, aged 83, Petain agreed to head the Vichy
government. Officially neutral, in practice the regime collaborated closely
with Germany, and brought in its own anti-Semitic legislation.. Petain fed to
Switzerland after the Normandy landings but when he returned in April,
1945, he was arrested and charged with treason. Petain was found guilty of
and sentenced to death for aiding the German enemy. The sentence was
later commuted to life imprisonment. Henri-Philippe Petain died in prison in
1951
Charles de Gaulle – General – criticized France's reliance on the Maginot
Line for defence against Germany and advocating the formation of
mechanised armoured columns. His advice went unheeded and, in June
1940, German forces easily overran France. As under-secretary of national
defence and war, de Gaulle refused to accept the French government's truce
with the Germans and escaped to London, where he announced the
formation of a French government in exile. Lead the Free French Forces in
WWII.
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