Invasion of Sicily

Capitulation of the German and Italian divisions in Tunisia in May 1943 meant ending hostilities only on one theatre of the Second World War. The victory in North Africa only then would be valuable if followed by an invasion on the European continent and the ultimate defeat of the "Axis" forces. African ports had enlarged the basis for the would-be invasion forces. The Allies were already preparing the next powerful blow. The blow that would shake the so-called Festung Europa ("Fortress Europe"), the pride of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. More >>>

Organization and strength of the army

For military administration France was divided into 20 military districts, each corresponding to an army corps command.

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Rescue operation

Emergency signals, radioed by the torpedoed Athenia in the Royal Navy's code, within more or less 15 minutes were received by the radio-stations in north-western Ireland. After that captain James Cook ordered to repeat the message in open text. This time almost immediately responded the Norwegian tanker Knute Nelson. She was steaming some 40 miles south-west to the site of torpedoing, and responded that she was changing her course and hastening with help. More >>>

Belgium

The offensive in the West was originally planned for 12 November 1939. It had to be carried out by 67 divisions organized in three army groups. Yet controversies in the command of the German armed forces, shortages of war materials, and severe winter caused that the date of invasion had to be postponed; and it was postponed 29 times. Eventually, when bad weather conditions put air forces' operations in question, and made it impossible to attack on 17 January 1940, the date of the offensive was postponed till the spring. Troops, designated for the invasion, were kept on alert, rotated occasionally for their rest. Constant menace from the German side forced the Allies to expect an attack at any moment, and that, as the time past, lowered psychological resistance of the Anglo-French troops. More >>>

Battle of Himara

After the withdrawal of the VI Assault Brigade from the coast Vlora - Saranda, the Supreme Command of the National Liberation Army extended the control of the XII Assault Brigade to the whole area between Gjirokastra and the coast. As the partisan troops required regrouping along stretched positions, their pressure on the German forces eased. The German command decided to use the lull in the fights to regroup in southern Albania, and especially reinforce their garrisons along the coast - in Shenvasi near Saranda, in the castle of Borsh and on the Qeparoi Mountain, in Spile near Himara, and in Llogara. The goal of those reinforcements was to enable free movement of troops along the coastal road Vlora - Himara - Saranda and clear the region of Kurvelesh of the partisan forces. More >>>

Battle of Madrid

Years 1919-1939, commonly called "years of peace", in fact were abundant in armed conflicts, and even wars of different scale and intensity. Among the biggest ones was the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Its classification among the biggest military conflicts of the inter-war period came out of both its intensity, and political significance. In that war clashed large regular armies; it also became a shooting range, where were tested new weapons and equipment, as well as new tactical concepts of warfare. In particular, it was the German Wehrmacht that treated Spain as an excellent range, furnishing an opportunity to test the military doctrine on the eve of preparations for the war for the European and world domination. More >>>

Joseph Stalin

Great Soviet statesman, theoretician and activist of the international revolutionary movement, supreme commander of the Soviet armed forces, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union.

Born on 6 (18) December 1878 in Gori, Georgia, as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, son of a cobbler. His official birthday used to be observed on 21 December. More >>>

Winston Churchill

Great British politician and statesman, he served as prime-minister twice, most notably in 1940-1945, gaining the fame of one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century. A respectable orator, historian, writer and an artist, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army. More >>>

Franklin Roosevelt

Great American politician and statesman, 32nd president of the United States and lawyer was born on 30 January 1882 in one of the oldest families of New York State. He attended prestigious schools, and in 1904 entered Columbia Law School. In 1907 he was admitted to the New York State Bar, and in 1908 took prestigious job in a Wall Street law firm. More >>>

Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising in August - October 1944 was an event in many ways spectacular. It was th greatest battle fought on the Polish territory behind the frontlines. It was the greatest and longest lasting urban uprising during the Second World War in Europe, comparable only to the popular uprisings in the Balkans and Slovakia. That comparison comes out of the scale of engaged forces, materiel, more than two months of duration of intensive combat, as well as above all, persistent and determined course of the fights. More >>>