It is a little known fact that women played a significant role in the armies of all countries battling against each other in the Second World War. As the military troops used up the rapidly depleting resources, there had to be people making and repairing new clothing, food and weapons. Lots jobs were left untaken since many men left to join the forces, thus placing women in non-traditional work roles, like truck drivers.

Land girls – The name given to women ploughing the fields in the WLA or Women's Land Army. Farms were left empty handed during both world wars and the WLA did attract a large number of members before its close in 1950. Workers and volunteers, many of these women were country-born natives, while over a third of field hands were attracted from the big cities, including London. The agency was created as the government's initiative to grow enough food for the army and the country in case of depletion due to the effects of war. Land Girls was there given name.

The United Kingdom is known to have produced notable figures during both of the World Wars. These figures were essential in either World War I or World War II, or even both while others were best known to have derived ways to bring the war to an end. One such common figure, not only in UK but in the entire world, is Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill popularly known as Winston Churchill, who was born on 30th November 1874 and died on 24th January 1965. He was a descendant of the renowned Churchill family who were royalties in Marlborough.

Churchill first came into the limelight as a war correspondent during the second Anglo Boer war that was undertaken by the Britons and South African self proclaimed Afrikaaners. Churchill was captured when Boer ambushed a train convoy of the British Army. He later on managed a high profile escape crossing the South African border on his way to Lorenzo Marques which is the present day Mozambique. The status achieved during this escape was used to form a solid political background that lasted for 61 years. At first, he was a Conservative Party member who is remembered to have “crossed the floor” and joined the Liberals. This saw him enter the cabinet during his early thirties. His initial career was unimpressive for he is one of the military and political engineers of the disastrous and tragic Gallipoli landings on Dardanelles in World War I. He was later described as “the Butcher of Gallipoli”. He was also involved in the Anglo-Irish 1921 treaty invasion that founded Irish Free State. In 1926, he was appointed Exchequer Chancellor under the reign of Stanley Baldwin. He is famed for the return of Britain to the precious Gold Standard. It has also been noted that he suggested machine guns to be used on miners that were striking. This was based on his argument that “either the country will break the General strike, or the General Strike will break the country”.

At the beginning of World War II, Winston Churchill was appointed as the First Lord of the Admiralty. Neville Chamberlain resigned in May 1940 and Churchill was appointed the Prime Minister and went ahead to form an all party government. Max Aitken was immediately made in-charge of aircraft production that later on made difference during the World War II. At this time, his speeches were a great inspiration to the beleaguered United Kingdom where he promised to do everything possible to defend his country and island at whatever cost. Churchill formed a good relationship with Franklin Roosevelt who was US president. UK then secured vital supply through the shipping routes of North Atlantic Ocean. He established SOE (Special Operations Europe) that endeavored guerrilla operations in France and registered notable success.

The Revolutionary War had main proceedings that ensured it took place. These events, according to the history of the Revolutionary War, were very essential in fronting the war between America and Britain at that time. It is also understood that the war took place in the mid 1770's. Some of these events were personal, while some of them were related to the treatment people of the involved parties faced from each other.

Let's get a closer look at one of the abovementioned events, which involves Arnold, the Traitor. General Benedict Arnold was branded a traitor by his native country, America, after it was discovered that he was more than willing to relent the independence of his country to the British in return for power and wealth. The name Arnold is synonymous to history in America in regard to treason. It was revealed after the capture of Major Andre, who was a general with the British army. Major Andre revealed that General Arnold had conspired with the British to turn his West Point command in their favour and in return, he was to be awarded money and other wealth and at the same time be made a British army general. As the events unfolded further, Andre was later hung as a spy, though reluctantly.

Based on proven evidence from historic sources, the career of General Arnold was headed for a nose dive after the Saratoga victory. After Arnold's second marriage, he could not avoid but found himself in lots of debt that he blamed on the government for not according him credit he deserved due to his military exploits. The British were aware of the personal problems he was facing, so they approached him. He was receptive of the idea of discarding his patriotic cause. In return, General Arnold demanded money as well as commission to serve in the British army as a major general upon giving up on his West Point command base.

The day of reckon was on 21st September when Major Andre came ashore near Haverstraw via HM Vulture in full uniform. At this point, he met Arnold to finalise the deal. Unfortunately, the Vulture came under fire from the Americans, which left Andre stranded. He changed into civilian clothes and made his escape down the Hudson courtesy of a safe pass from Arnold. He was captured near Tarrytown by militiamen and handed over to North Castle Commander. Andre was found with incriminating papers. On 23rd April, Arnold was notified of his capture and he opted to flee with boat to Vulture, later Andre was hung as a spy.

The Revolutionary War is one of the best known wars in the world. This war took place between 1754 and 1774. Basing on the history, there was no one major event that led to its commencement, which means that there are other several reasons that caused this war. However, historians attribute this war to the conflicting views of America and Britain. This is pertinent to the fact that Americans believed that they had full democratic rights of their colonies and other Englishmen. On the other hand, British believed that colonies of America were just colonies and that they were to be used and exploited in any best way that suited Great Britain. This conflicting factor made war inevitable. Here are some of the other notable causes of the Revolutionary War.

• 1754 Indian and French War

• 1764 New Taxes Imposed By Britain

• 1765 Quartering Act

• 1765 Formation of Sons of Liberty

• 1765 Stamp Act Congress

• 1766 Stamp Tax Repealed

• 1767 Townshend Acts Imposed

• 1767 Colonists Respond To Townshend Acts with Boycott

• 1768 Troops from Britain Land in Boston

• 1770 Boston Massacre

• 1770 Townshend Act Repealed

• 1772 Cutter Gaspee Burned

• 1773 Boston Tea Party

• 1774 Coercive Acts Imposed

• 1774 First Meeting of Continental Congress

It is worthy to note how the Boston Massacre led to this war. On the 5th of March 1770, British troops based in Boston and five colonists were killed, which was said to have been caused by taunts against soldiers allied to Britain in this area. This saw Britain respond with enormous force by firing at the Americans with their muskets. Three Americans were killed and 11 others wounded. Two of the Americans that were wounded later died. The death of these colonists which was later referred to as the Boston Massacre, changed Americans' opinion towards British. This is believed to be one of the main catalysts that led to the Revolutionary War.

The efforts made by a Boston engraver who was known as Paul Revere, also spearheaded this war. This was due to the fact that the engraver copied Henry Pelham's drawing; which was an illustration of this massacre. This drawing made its way to colonies and it stirred up America's anger towards Britain. The then renowned captain Preston, alongside four of his other men, were captured and charged with manslaughter. These soldiers were tried in court, where John Adams acted as the Defense Attorney. The soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and received severe punishment that included having their thumbs branded. Captain Preston was found not to be guilty for it became unlikely that he ordered to fire.

The Soviet Union is one country that took part in the World War II and helped to bring it to the end. The end of this war saw the Soviet Union become a world power. One person associated with involvement of Soviet Union in World War II is Joseph Stalin whose real name is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. He was also referred to as “Koba”, a name referred to a Folk Hero in Georgia. His name “Stalin” is a corrugated version of various names, which is actually derived from Russian “stal”, which means steel with Lenin. Initially, this was a conspiracy name that later started to stick to him. He even continued to call himself “Stalin” after the Russian Revolution. Stalin is reported to have used dozens of other names for secret communication.

Stalin was vocal during World War II. In 1939, he made a pact with Nazi Germany. This pact was known as Molotov-Ribbentrop, which saw Eastern Europe divided between these two powers. In 1941, Hitler went against the pact and attacked the Soviet Union. Stalin, who was then the leader of Soviet Red Army, fiercely resisted though they were overpowered by the Nazi forces that were advancing. Stalin was wary of the Germans and did not allow his armies to embark on defensive positions. He retreated with hopes that the earlier signed pact would be respected, buying time to strengthen and modernize his forces. In December, Germans were spotted on the outskirts of Moscow though, and early winter as well, counter offensive tactics by the soviet stopped them. During the Stalingrad battle of 1942-43, the Red Army sacrificed over one million men and it was able to regain the war initiative. Soviet forces allies offered military and equipment offered so they were able to regain lost territories and at the same time, their enemies were pushed back to Germany.

In the end of 1944, sections of eastern Germany were now under the occupation of Stalin's Soviet Union, and on 2nd May 1945, Berlin, the capital of Germany, was taken. Basing on the estimates of the history of World War II, one quarter of the population in Russia was wiped out during this war. This then led to a huge shortage in the generation of men of fighting age in Russia. To date, World War II is vividly remembered in Russia, while 9th May, which is Victory Day, has become one of the biggest national holidays.

Douglas MacArthur was an American general born on 26th January 1880 and died on 5th April 1964. He is best known for his influence and role in Asia during, and after the end of World War II. MacArthur was the son of General Arthur MacArthur who was a civil war hero. Douglass grew up on an army base where his father lived, making it easy for him to be accepted in the US military academy based at West Point in 1898. He graduated in 1903 as the first in his class.

During World War II, Douglas served with the 42nd division in France. While in France under the same division, he was promoted to brigadier general, an award he received as the youngest ever in the history of US army. He took up the task as 84th infantry brigade commander. During the inter-war period, he served on different assignments, especially in Philippines. In 1937, he left the US army to command the Philippines army, though returned later on in July 1941 as US forces commander in Philippines.

During World War II, Douglas MacArthur fought against Japan in South East Asia. His weak forces were defeated in Philippines, and later on he was made Supreme Commander of Allied forces based in Southwest Pacific. He took command of British, American and Australian forces that defended Australia. These forces mainly fought in Solomon Islands, as well as New Guinea, which was a larger island. In 1944, the allied forces under MacArthur overran Japanese resistance. Thereafter, in October 1944, they took over Philippines. In September 1945, he received a formal surrender from Japan on its surrender; this led to the end of the World War II. He continued to serve as the Allied Powers Supreme Commander based in Japan till June 1950.

In 1950, there was a surprise attack of the North Korean communist army which led to Korean War. The United Nations General Assembly, which was five years old, sanctioned UN forces to quickly re-unify the Korean Peninsula. This was to be done in October. MacArthur is said to have led the UN coalition that was mainly made of American military as well as troops from another 21 UN member countries that had accepted the challenge to release their forces. This coalition force derived the use of counter offensive and amphibious landing at the back of North Korean army lines at Inchon. As the UN forces led by MacArthur approached the China-Korea border, China warned that it would get involved. On 25th October 1951, PLA attacked transversely Yalu River forcing UN military to retreat. He sought to extend the conflict into China and in April 1951, Truman relieved him off his duties. He was replaced by Matthew B. Ridgway, who was instrumental and stabilized the situation at the 38 parallel.

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on 29th July 1883 and died on 28th April 1945 when World War II was coming to an end. He was the fascist dictator in Italy from 1922 to 1943. Through propaganda, he was able to create a fascist and anti-democratic state in Italy. He had control of local media and used that opportunity to disassemble the democratic government system that existed in peace.

Mussolini was very aggressive during the Second World War. According to the history of World War II, when this war approached, he made it clear that he wanted to annex Corsica, Malta and Tunis. After a brief struggle in April 1939, he occupied Albania. It is also said that he failed to realize that he would gain more by holding on power balance in Europe but instead opted to rely on bluff and bluster policy to provoke Western democracies to heed to his growing territorial demands. Italy's military buildup began before other world powers, and was at more of a disadvantage. This is because by this time, Italy's military invasion was becoming obsolete. When Adolf Hitler invaded Poland leading to World War II, his army was unprepared and hence opted to remain ‘nonbelligerent'. This is because he wanted to be quite certain of the side that would win before he committed to his next move.

After the fall of France, Mussolini declared war on 8th June 1940, with hopes that the war had only some few weeks before its end. He attacked Greece in October, which was said to have been a military disaster. His position in Greece was threatened, thus the need for assistance from German troops. Following in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler, in June 1941, Mussolini declared war on the Soviet Union and later, in December the same year, he declared war on the United States. Italy was defeated on all fronts, which later culminated to the landing of Anglo-Americans in Sicily in 1943. Following this defeat, Mussolini's colleagues who included Conte Ciano, as well as his son-in-law, turned against him during Fascist Grand Council meeting on 25th July 1943. This gesture made it possible for the King to dismiss, and later arrest him. He was sent to Gran Sasso, which was a mountain recovery in the center of Italy (Abruzzo) where he was isolated.