Mid-20th Century

During World War II, the Soviet Union allied with Britain, France, and the U.S. After the war, though, that relationship soured. Communist leader, Joseph Stalin refused to remove troops from European countries previously occupied by the Germans. Instead, he took over those countries, establishing Communist governments in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,…

During and after World War II, many people tried to ease the suffering of others, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. One such person was Gail Halvorsen. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised on small farms in Utah and Idaho, Halvorsen became a pilot during World…

As World War II ended, Americans looked forward to resuming their lives. For millions of people in Europe and Asia, though, life would never be the same. Over 55 million people worldwide had been killed (400,000 Americans) and millions were separated from their families or left homeless. Cities throughout Europe…

Victory in the Pacific Islands proved difficult. The Japanese were fierce, unrelenting fighters. Japanese Kamikaze pilots flew “suicide planes” loaded with explosives into American ships. The remote islands were hard to reach and once there, hard to get through because of the dense jungle. The Allies were forced to make…

In the spring of 1944, Churchill and Roosevelt were ready to begin the next step in their plan. The British countryside was filled with army personnel, supplies, and weapons. Under the direction of General Eisenhower, the troops planned to invade and free France before moving onto the rest of Europe.…

World War II officially began in September, 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany after it invaded Poland. For the next two years, the people of Europe endured hardship and destruction as the Na-zi regime bulldozed its way through one country after another. The United States joined the…

American leaders had tried to stay out of the trouble in Europe, but by 1940, they began to prepare for war. Mussolini had remained neutral as Hitler conquered most of Europe, until the Na-zis invaded France. Then Mussolini joined forces with Germany and France was defeated. Great Britain remained the…

World War I plunged Europe into crisis. Many buildings and homes had been destroyed. Jobs were scarce and both governments and individuals were without money. Many people were looking for a strong leader to solve their problems. This turned out to be a mistake as corrupt and violent men were…

From the mid-1800s, homesteaders and farmers in the Mid-West had plowed and worked the flat, treeless prairie land. Most of them had no understanding of the need to rest or restore the soil by adding compost, planting trees, or rotating crops. Slowly the soil lost the organic material that made…

As the Great Depression deepened, Americans looked for a new leader. Franklin D Roosevelt won a landslide victory over President Hoover in the 1932 election. Roosevelt’s critics thought he was “too feeble and wishy-washy” to make a difference, but he proved them wrong. During his inaugural address, he said, “Let…