World War II Posters, Prints, Charts & Maps, pg 1/2
for the social studies and history classroom, home schoolers and history scholars.

History of World War II

Political and Military Leaders, Maps, Timelines, Statistics

World War II Aircraft
Aerei - della seconda guerra mondiale
Avions militaires - de la decuxiteme guerre mondiale

• more Aviation posters

Beginning on September 7, 1940, Nazi Germany bombed London for 57 nights in a row. Known as the Blitz, the sustained bombing of Britian lasted till May 10, 1941 and resulted in the deaths of 43,000 civilians, 1 million injured, and in London alone, more than a million houses destroyed or damaged.

The word “blitz” is German for “lightning”, or “very fast”, and referred to the Blitzkrieg, the German battle strategy in WWII.

Pearl Harbor

The morning of December 7, 1941, dawned clear and cold. Though World War Two as more that two years old, for most Americans it remained a remote war. On that afternoon, many Americans were engaged in a weakly habit - listening to the New York Philharmonic give its Sunday coast to coast radio concert. Suddenly, a breathless voice broke in: "One moment please." There was a brief pause, and then: "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States naval base ... in the Hawaiian Islands." At that moment, the war became more than background noise for Americans. It became a national cause - a cause that would eventually claim nearly 300,000 American lives and cost roughly $300 billion.

On December 8, the United States entered the costliest and most destructive war in history. But as tragic as World War Two was, U.S. entry into the was did have two positive long-range affects on the nation. First, the massive war effort pulled America out of the depths of the Great Depression, which had left the U.S. economy in a shambles. Secondly, with a single thrust Pearl Harbor deflated the growing isolationist movement in America. Before that infamous December afternoon, nost Americans were content to stay out of the world's troubles. But by the time the war ended four years later, the United States was the world's dominant economic power and one of its two greatest military powers. The establishment of the United Nations in 1945 symbolized the new U.S. role on "the world's policeman" - a role that our nation has played, sometimes reluctantly, ever since.

The Greatest Generation
D-Day Landing Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944

• more France posters

Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima

Joe Rosenthal's photograph of Marines Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, Rene Gagnon, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, and U.S. Navy corpsman John Bradley, raising the U.S. flag atop Mt. Suribachi on the fourth day of the Battle of Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945, is possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time.

• History Through a Lens posters
• Flag posters
• Historic Documents / Images

Survivors at Ebensee

• Holocaust posters
• Elie Wiesel posters

Badges of Hate - After Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1939 ...

Japanese Internment was the relocation of people of Japanese ancestry who lived along the Pacific Coast of the United States and British Columbia, Canada, during World War II.

In 1988, legislation was passed that said government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership", with an apology and reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.

• more Japan posters

Colossal Turbine

“Business Goes All Out” was the caption on this 1942 photo of a giant Westinghouse turbine. The Office of War Information noted that the 150-ton turbine would generate 2,400,000 horsepower to run the machines that would produce material and equipment for the war effort.

• more Machine Trades posters

Rosie the Riviter -
We Can Do It!

While men were at war, six million women replaced them at industrial jobs.

Howard Miller created the “We Can Do It” posters series for the Westinghouse War Production Co-Ordinating Committee, based the image on a United Press International (UPI) picture of Geraldine Doyle working at a factory. The attachment to Rosie Riveter came later because of the popular WW II song and Norman Rockwell's painting of Rosie.

Rejoicing Crowds Celebrate Victory in Europe
Wednesday, May 9, 1945

End to German War Declared

• more Historic Headlines posters

Kissing the War Goodbye,
Times Square, New York,
May 8, 1945

• New York posters
• Alfred Eisenstaedt posters

The first atomic bomb ever dropped as a weapon, code name “Little Boy”, was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:16 in the morning on August 6, 1945; the second bomb, “Fat Man”, was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, 11:02 am.

In a blinding flash of light, the world was changed forever - the Atomic Age had begun. The atomic bombs were the result of the Manhattan Project headed up by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The Japanese accepted unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, with the formal surrender on board the USS Missouri on September 2nd. Both August 14, and September 2, are known as VJ Day (Victory over Japan).

• more cloud posters
• more Inventions That Changed the World posters