De Gaulle served as a junior officer during World War I, being wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans during the Battle of Verdun in 1916. During the interwar years he was on the staff of the Supreme War Council, authored several books on military subjects, and lectured at the French War College, working closely…
Goebbels was an early supporter of the Nazis, having developed nationalist and racist views before joining the Nazi Party in 1924. He became National Socialism’s main propagandist in 1929 as the party struggled to gain political ascendancy in Germany. Six weeks after becoming chancellor of Germany in January 1933, Hitler appointed Goebbels Reich Minister of…
One must not mince words when it comes to characterizing Heydrich: He was one of the nastiest creatures to emerge in Nazi Germany—birthplace of so many twentieth‑century nasties. Heydrich joined the SS (Schutzstaffel) in 1932, the year before Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Thanks to another Nazi nasty, Heinrich Himmler, head of the Third Reich’s…
Hirohito is better known outside Japan by his personal name, Hirohito, which means “abundant benevolence.” Among the Japanese he is now primarily known by his posthumous name, Emperor Shōwa or Shōwa Emperor, the name of the era (“Enlightened Peace”) that corresponded with his reign. He reigned as the 124th Emperor of Japan, from December 25, 1926,…
Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I, distinguished for his exploits on the Italian front. Between the two world wars he held battalion commands, served as an instructor at a war college, and authored several military textbooks, catching the eye of Hitler, who asked him to conduct a tour of Hitler Youth…
Montgomery saw service in France during World War I, rising to the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1919 he briefly commanded a battalion in the British Army of the Rhine. Later he saw service in India and in the British mandate of Palestine, where, promoted to major general in October 1938, he put down an…
Hermann Goering (or Göring) was a World War I fighter ace who joined the Nazi Party in 1923. He helped Adolf Hitler plan the Munich Beer Hall Putsch against the Bavarian government the same year, was wounded in the leg and groin on the afternoon of November 9 when police fired into the crowd at the Odeonsplatz in…
Roosevelt was elected president in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Roosevelt had served as Assistance Secretary of the Navy during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. After contracting polio in 1921 he fought to resume his political career in his native New York State and was elected governor in 1928. In 1932 he was…
Born into a military family, Tōjō was a career army officer with political ambitions. He was an arch nationalist and a leader of the Toseiha, political faction in the Japanese Imperial Army, active in the 1920s and 1930s, that wanted the army to have a more prominent role in Japan’s political life. He fully supported…
Like Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bradley graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1915 and held various staff and instructor positions in the interwar years. (The influenza pandemic and the armistice prevented Bradley from serving in Europe in World War I.) On several occasions Bradley taught at West Point. He served directly under Army…