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Tukhachevsky, Mikhail
Mikhail Tukhachevsky was a Soviet military chief responsible for the modernization of the Red Army prior to World......
Tunkin, Grigory Ivanovich
Grigory Ivanovich Tunkin was a Soviet legal scholar and diplomat who played a major role in formulating Soviet......
Turing, Alan
Alan Turing was a British mathematician and logician who made major contributions to mathematics, cryptanalysis,......
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan, landlocked country of Central Asia. It is the second largest state in Central Asia, after Kazakhstan,......
Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen, black servicemen of the U.S. Army Air Forces who trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama......
Tutu, Desmond
Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican cleric who in 1984 received the Nobel Prize for Peace for his role in......
Tuân, Phạm
Phạm Tuân is a Vietnamese pilot and cosmonaut, the first Vietnamese citizen in space. Tuân joined the Vietnam People’s......
Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, (Feb. 14–25, 1956), event notable as the first stage......
Twining, Nathan F
Nathan F. Twining was a U.S. Air Force officer who played a large part in directing the air war against Japan during......
Types of Landing Craft of World War II Infographic
During World War II, Allied forces employed a variety of landing craft—relatively small naval vessels used primarily......
Typhoon
Typhoon, British fighter and ground-attack aircraft used in the latter half of World War II. Conceived as a replacement......
Tōjō Hideki
Tōjō Hideki was a soldier and statesman who was the prime minister of Japan (1941–44) during most of the Pacific......
U-2 Incident
U-2 Incident, (1960), confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that began with the shooting......
U-boat
U-boat, (“undersea boat”), a German submarine. The destruction of enemy shipping by German U-boats was a spectacular......
U.S.-Iraq War
ARCHIVED TOPIC: This topic was archived on Dec. 31, 2011 and will no longer be updated. On March 20, 2003, a U.S.-led......
Ugaki Kazushige
Ugaki Kazushige was a Japanese soldier-statesman, who in the years before World War II headed the so-called Control......
Ultra
Ultra, Allied intelligence project that tapped the very highest level of encrypted communications of the German......
Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1961 until 1993.......
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam, popular symbol for the United States, usually associated with a cartoon figure having long white hair......
unemployment
unemployment, the condition of one who is capable of working, actively seeking work, but unable to find any work.......
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, flag of
national flag consisting of a red field with a crossed gold hammer and sickle in the upper hoist corner and beneath......
United Front
United Front, in modern Chinese history, either of two coalitions between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and......
United Kingdom
United Kingdom, island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom comprises......
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), administrative body (1943–47) for an extensive......
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), subsidiary agency created......
United States
United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that......
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, museum and memorial to the Holocaust, located in Washington, D.C., U.S.......
United States presidential election of 1932
United States presidential election of 1932, American presidential election held on November 8, 1932, in which......
UNSCOM
UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission), United Nations inspection agency established in April 1991 in the wake......
Uruguay
Uruguay, country located on the southeastern coast of South America. The second smallest country on the continent,......
USS Arizona
USS Arizona, U.S. battleship that sank during the Japanese attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Oahu island,......
USS Indianapolis
USS Indianapolis, U.S. Navy heavy cruiser that was sunk by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945, shortly after......
Ustaša
Ustaša, Croatian fascist movement that nominally ruled the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. In......
Ustinov, Dmitry Fedorovich
Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov was a Soviet military and political figure who was minister of defense from 1976 to 1984.......
Utah Beach
Utah Beach, the westernmost beach of the five landing areas of the Normandy Invasion of World War II. It was assaulted......
V-2 rocket
V-2 rocket, German ballistic missile of World War II, the forerunner of modern space rockets and long-range missiles.......
Van Fleet, James Alward
James Alward Van Fleet was a U.S. military officer who was a division and corps commander during crucial World......
Vance, Cyrus
Cyrus Vance was an American lawyer and public official who was secretary of state from 1977 to 1980 during the......
Venizélos, Eleuthérios
Eleuthérios Venizélos was the prime minister of Greece (1910–15, 1917–20, 1924, 1928–32, 1933), the most prominent......
Verdun, Battle of
Battle of Verdun, (February 21–December 18, 1916), World War I engagement in which the French repulsed a major......
Versailles, Treaty of
Treaty of Versailles, peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied and associated powers and by......
Verwoerd, Hendrik
Hendrik Verwoerd was a South African professor, editor, and statesman who, as prime minister (1958–66), rigorously......
Vichy France
Vichy France, (July 1940–September 1944), France under the regime of Marshal Philippe Pétain from the Nazi German......
Victoria
Victoria was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837–1901) and empress of India (1876–1901).......
Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture, building style of the Gothic Revival that marks the movement from a sentimental phase to......
Victorian era
Victorian era, in British history, the period between approximately 1820 and 1914, corresponding roughly but not......
Viet Cong
Viet Cong (VC), the guerrilla force that, with the support of the North Vietnamese Army, fought against South Vietnam......
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, national monument in Washington, D.C., honoring members of the U.S. armed forces who......
Vietnam War POWs and MIAs
On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, officially bringing to an end the American war in Vietnam.......
Vietnam War Timeline
The Vietnam War was one of the most complex and controversial conflicts of the 20th century. Here’s a timeline......
Vittorio Veneto, Battle of
Battle of Vittorio Veneto, decisive Italian victory and the final offensive launched on the Italian Front during......
Vlasov, Andrey Andreyevich
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov was an anti-Stalinist military commander who, captured by the Germans early in World......
Vo Chi Cong
Vo Chi Cong was a strongly anti-French Communist revolutionary who was among the earliest fighters for Vietnam’s......
Vo Nguyen Giap
Vo Nguyen Giap was a Vietnamese military and political leader whose perfection of guerrilla as well as conventional......
Voroshilov, Kliment Yefremovich
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov was a military and political leader of the Soviet Union who served as head of state......
Vrba, Rudolf
Rudolf Vrba was a Slovak Jewish biochemist, one of five Jewish prisoners to ever escape Auschwitz, the most lethal......
Vught
Vught, small German Nazi concentration camp near the town of Vught, 2 miles (3 km) south of the city of Hertogenbosch,......
Vyshinsky, Andrey
Andrey Vyshinsky was a Soviet statesman, diplomat, and lawyer who was the chief prosecutor during the Great Purge......
Wagner Act
Wagner Act, the most important piece of labour legislation enacted in the United States in the 20th century. Its......
Wainwright, Jonathan M.
Jonathan M. Wainwright was a U.S. Army general who won distinction as the hero of Bataan and Corregidor in the......
Wake Island, Battle of
Battle of Wake Island, (December 8–23, 1941), during World War II, battle for Wake Island, an atoll consisting......
Waldheim affair
Waldheim affair, controversy concerning the military record of former Austrian diplomat and statesman Kurt Waldheim......
Walker, Walton H.
Walton H. Walker was an American army officer, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army during the difficult opening months......
Wallis, Jim
Jim Wallis is an American Evangelical pastor and social activist who was the founder and editor in chief of Sojourners......
Wang Ching-wei
Wang Ching-wei was an associate of the revolutionary Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen, rival of Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang......
Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference, meeting of Nazi officials on January 20, 1942, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan the......
War of Attrition
War of Attrition, inconclusive war (1969–70) chiefly between Egypt and Israel. The conflict, launched by Egypt,......
War Refugee Board
War Refugee Board (WRB), United States agency established January 22, 1944, to attempt to rescue victims of the......
War Resisters’ International
War Resisters’ International (WRI), an international secular pacifist organization with headquarters in London......
Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto, 840-acre (340-hectare) area of Warsaw that consisted of the city’s old Jewish quarter. During the......
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, resistance by Polish Jews under Nazi occupation in 1943 to the deportations from Warsaw......
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact, (May 14, 1955–July 1, 1991) treaty establishing a mutual-defense organization (Warsaw Treaty Organization)......
Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising, (August-October 1944), insurrection in Warsaw during World War II by which Poles unsuccessfully......
Watts Riots of 1965
Watts Riots of 1965, series of violent confrontations between Los Angeles police and residents of Watts and other......
Wavell, Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl
Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell was a British field marshal and government administrator whose victories......
Weapons of World War I
World War I is known for the savagery of its trench warfare, but the weapons available to the war’s combatants......
Weather Underground
Weather Underground, militant group of young white Americans formed in 1969 that grew out of the anti-Vietnam War......
Weddigen, Otto
Otto Weddigen was a German submarine commander whose feat of sinking three British armoured cruisers in about an......
Wedemeyer, Albert Coady
Albert Coady Wedemeyer was an American military leader who was the principal author of the 1941 Victory Program,......
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht, the armed forces of the Third Reich. The three primary branches of the Wehrmacht were the Heer (army),......
Weil, Simone
Simone Weil was a French mystic, social philosopher, and activist in the French Resistance during World War II,......
Wells-Barnett, Ida B.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was an American journalist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s.......
Wessel, Horst
Horst Wessel was a martyr of the German Nazi movement, celebrated in the song “Horst Wessel Lied,” which was adopted......
West Bank
West Bank, area of the former British-mandated (1920–47) territory of Palestine west of the Jordan River, claimed......
Westerbork
Westerbork, small refugee camp and transit camp for Jews during World War II, located near the village of Westerbork......
Western Front
Western Front, major theatre of World War I. The name refers to the western side of territory under the control......
Westmoreland, William
William Westmoreland was a U.S. Army officer who commanded U.S. forces in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. After......
Weygand, Maxime
Maxime Weygand was a French army officer who in World War I served as chief of staff under Gen. (later Marshal)......
What Is the Origin of the Term Holocaust?
Human history has few tragedies that rival the magnitude and moral bankruptcy of the Holocaust, the systematic......
White Rose
White Rose, German anti-Nazi group formed in Munich in 1942. Unlike the conspirators of the July Plot (1944) or......

The Modern World Encyclopedia Articles By Title