Allied Military Leaders
United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1884-1972):
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Commonly know as FDR, born in January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, New York, U.S.. Franklin was the only child of his wealthy parents, James and Sara Delano Roosevelt. He was educated by private tutors and elite schools and early on began to admire and emulate his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, elected president in 1900. While in college, Franklin fell in love with Theodore’s niece. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and "they married in 1905. The couple had a daughter, Anna, followed by five sons, one of whom died in infancy" [2]. Roosevelt "attended law school at Columbia University and worked for several years as a clerk in a Wall Street law firm. In 1910, he entered politics, winning a state senate seat as a Democrat in the heavily Republican Dutchess County. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson named Roosevelt assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. He would hold that post for the next seven years, traveling to Europe in 1918 to tour naval bases and battlefields after the U.S. entrance into World War II" [2]. Roosevelt "increased his support of Great Britain with passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 and met with Prime Minister Winston Churchill in August aboard a battleship anchored off Canada" [2]. On December 8, 1941 "the day after Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress, which declared war on Japan. The first president to leave the country during wartime, Roosevelt spearheaded the alliance between countries combating the Axis, meeting frequently with Churchill and seeking to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union and its leader, Joseph Stalin" [2]. Roosevelt was re-elected for his fourth term in the White House. The following February he met up with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill for "in the Yalta Conference, where Roosevelt got Stalin’s commitment to enter the war against Japan after Germany’s impending surrender" [2]. On April 25,1945, Roosevelt had died of a massive Cerebral Hemorrhaging.
Commonly know as FDR, born in January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, New York, U.S.. Franklin was the only child of his wealthy parents, James and Sara Delano Roosevelt. He was educated by private tutors and elite schools and early on began to admire and emulate his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, elected president in 1900. While in college, Franklin fell in love with Theodore’s niece. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and "they married in 1905. The couple had a daughter, Anna, followed by five sons, one of whom died in infancy" [2]. Roosevelt "attended law school at Columbia University and worked for several years as a clerk in a Wall Street law firm. In 1910, he entered politics, winning a state senate seat as a Democrat in the heavily Republican Dutchess County. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson named Roosevelt assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. He would hold that post for the next seven years, traveling to Europe in 1918 to tour naval bases and battlefields after the U.S. entrance into World War II" [2]. Roosevelt "increased his support of Great Britain with passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 and met with Prime Minister Winston Churchill in August aboard a battleship anchored off Canada" [2]. On December 8, 1941 "the day after Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress, which declared war on Japan. The first president to leave the country during wartime, Roosevelt spearheaded the alliance between countries combating the Axis, meeting frequently with Churchill and seeking to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union and its leader, Joseph Stalin" [2]. Roosevelt was re-elected for his fourth term in the White House. The following February he met up with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill for "in the Yalta Conference, where Roosevelt got Stalin’s commitment to enter the war against Japan after Germany’s impending surrender" [2]. On April 25,1945, Roosevelt had died of a massive Cerebral Hemorrhaging.
Soviet Union, Russia, Joseph Stalin (1878-1953):
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Joseph Stalin was born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili on December 18,1878, or December 6, 1878, according to the Old Style Julian calendar (although he later invented a new birth date for himself: December 21, 1879), in the small town of Gori, Georgia, then part of the Russian empire [3]. Stalin "grew up poor and an only child. His father was a shoemaker and alcoholic who beat his son, and his mother was a laundress. As a boy, Stalin contracted smallpox, which left him with lifelong facial scars" [3]. After leaving school Stalin "became an underground political agitator, taking part in labor demonstrations and strikes" [3]. He adopted the name Koba after a fictional character and "joined the more militant wing of the Marxist Social Democratic movement, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. Stalin also became involved in various criminal activities, including bank heists, the proceeds from which were used to help fund the Bolshevik Party. He was arrested multiple times between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to imprisonment and exile in Siberia" [3]. In 1939, "on the eve of World War II, Joseph Stalin and German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) signed a nonaggression pact. Stalin then proceeded to annex parts of Poland and Romania, as well as the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He also launched an invasion of Finland" [3]. Then, "in June 1941, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet pact and invaded the USSR, making significant early inroads. (Stalin had ignored warnings from the Americans and the British, as well as his own intelligence agents, about a potential invasion, and the Soviets were not prepared for war.) As German troops approached the Soviet capital of Moscow, Stalin remained there and directed a scorched earth defensive policy, destroying any supplies or infrastructure that might benefit the enemy" [3]. In the Battle of Stalingrad, August 1942 to February 1943 then drove out Germany from Russia. As the war went on "Stalin participated in the major Allied conferences, including those in Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945). His iron will and deft political skills enabled him to play the loyal ally while never abandoning his vision of an expanded postwar Soviet empire" [3].
Joseph Stalin was born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili on December 18,1878, or December 6, 1878, according to the Old Style Julian calendar (although he later invented a new birth date for himself: December 21, 1879), in the small town of Gori, Georgia, then part of the Russian empire [3]. Stalin "grew up poor and an only child. His father was a shoemaker and alcoholic who beat his son, and his mother was a laundress. As a boy, Stalin contracted smallpox, which left him with lifelong facial scars" [3]. After leaving school Stalin "became an underground political agitator, taking part in labor demonstrations and strikes" [3]. He adopted the name Koba after a fictional character and "joined the more militant wing of the Marxist Social Democratic movement, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. Stalin also became involved in various criminal activities, including bank heists, the proceeds from which were used to help fund the Bolshevik Party. He was arrested multiple times between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to imprisonment and exile in Siberia" [3]. In 1939, "on the eve of World War II, Joseph Stalin and German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) signed a nonaggression pact. Stalin then proceeded to annex parts of Poland and Romania, as well as the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He also launched an invasion of Finland" [3]. Then, "in June 1941, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet pact and invaded the USSR, making significant early inroads. (Stalin had ignored warnings from the Americans and the British, as well as his own intelligence agents, about a potential invasion, and the Soviets were not prepared for war.) As German troops approached the Soviet capital of Moscow, Stalin remained there and directed a scorched earth defensive policy, destroying any supplies or infrastructure that might benefit the enemy" [3]. In the Battle of Stalingrad, August 1942 to February 1943 then drove out Germany from Russia. As the war went on "Stalin participated in the major Allied conferences, including those in Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945). His iron will and deft political skills enabled him to play the loyal ally while never abandoning his vision of an expanded postwar Soviet empire" [3].
France, Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902-1947):
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Philippe François Marie de Hauteclocque was born on 22 November 1902 at Belloy-Saint-Léonard in the department of Somme. He was the fifth of six children of Adrien de Hauteclocque, comte de Hauteclocque (1864–1945) and Marie-Thérèse van der Cruisse de Waziers (1870–1956). During World War II, he joined the Free French forces immediately after the fall of France in June 1940, and rapidly made his way to London only a week after the French surrender.[4] He rejected service in the Vichy France army and escaped from German hands twice during his escape from France.[4] He adopted the Resistance pseudonym "Jacques-Philippe Leclerc" in order to protect his wife and six children from German reprisals.[4] Charles de Gaulle upon meeting him promoted him from Captain to Major (commandant) and ordered him to French Equatorial Africa as governor of French Cameroon from 29 August 1940 to 12 November 1940. In 1940, the leaders of most of French Equatorial Africa and the French Congo had declared themselves for Free France, providing Leclerc
with a starting point.[4] Leclerc then captured Gabon (whose local leader backed Vichy France), and then
commanded the column which attacked Axis forces from his base at Fort Lamy (now N'Jamena) in Chad,[4]and, having marched his troops across West Africa, distinguished himself in Tunisia. In February 1941, Leclerc invaded italian-controlled Libya, capturing the Italian fort at the oasis at Kufra for Free France.[4] In
1942, Leclerc's Free French forces and soldiers from the British Long Range Desert Group captured parts of the Libyan province of Fezzan. At the end of 1942, Leclerc moved his forces to join United States and British forces in Tunisia.
Philippe François Marie de Hauteclocque was born on 22 November 1902 at Belloy-Saint-Léonard in the department of Somme. He was the fifth of six children of Adrien de Hauteclocque, comte de Hauteclocque (1864–1945) and Marie-Thérèse van der Cruisse de Waziers (1870–1956). During World War II, he joined the Free French forces immediately after the fall of France in June 1940, and rapidly made his way to London only a week after the French surrender.[4] He rejected service in the Vichy France army and escaped from German hands twice during his escape from France.[4] He adopted the Resistance pseudonym "Jacques-Philippe Leclerc" in order to protect his wife and six children from German reprisals.[4] Charles de Gaulle upon meeting him promoted him from Captain to Major (commandant) and ordered him to French Equatorial Africa as governor of French Cameroon from 29 August 1940 to 12 November 1940. In 1940, the leaders of most of French Equatorial Africa and the French Congo had declared themselves for Free France, providing Leclerc
with a starting point.[4] Leclerc then captured Gabon (whose local leader backed Vichy France), and then
commanded the column which attacked Axis forces from his base at Fort Lamy (now N'Jamena) in Chad,[4]and, having marched his troops across West Africa, distinguished himself in Tunisia. In February 1941, Leclerc invaded italian-controlled Libya, capturing the Italian fort at the oasis at Kufra for Free France.[4] In
1942, Leclerc's Free French forces and soldiers from the British Long Range Desert Group captured parts of the Libyan province of Fezzan. At the end of 1942, Leclerc moved his forces to join United States and British forces in Tunisia.
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Great Britain, King George VI (1895-1952):
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King George VI, born Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on December 14, 1895, in Norfolk, England, was the second son of King George V and Victoria May, the Duchess of York (Mary of Teck). His childhood years was rough since his father was very harsh and his mother was not affectionate at all. His tutors "forced him to write with his right hand, though he was naturally left handed. He developed a stammer around age 8, and suffered the indignity of wearing leg braces to correct his knock knees. Often ill and easily frightened, George VI was somewhat prone to tears and tantrums—traits that he carried throughout much of his adult life" [5]. The royal couple "were resolved to stay in London at Buckingham Palace, despite intense German bombing raids. King George and Queen Elizabeth then undertook many morale-boosting visits to Britain’s bombed-out cities, touring hospitals and visiting with wounded troops. In 1943, the king visited British troops in North Africa. He later visited troops at Malta, bestowing on the entire island the honor of the George Cross, instituted by King George VI to honor exceptional acts of bravery by civilians. In June 1944, 10 days after the D-Day invasion, the king visited the troops in Normandy. He also suffered personal tragedy
during the war when both his wife’s nephew and his youngest brother were killed" [5]. King George VI was not enamored with the selection of Winston Churchill as prime minister after Neville Chamberlain’s resignation. Nevertheless, focused on a common goal, the two men quickly developed a strong working relationship and deep respect for each other. During the victory celebration at the end of the war in Europe, the king invited Prime Minister Churchill to appear with him on
the balcony of Buckingham Palace, just as he had done with Neville Chamberlain [5]. On the morning of February 6, 1952, at the age of 56, George VI was discovered dead in bed. It was later determined that he had died of a coronary thrombosis. After his death, George VI's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, took the throne, becoming Queen Elizabeth II [5]
King George VI, born Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on December 14, 1895, in Norfolk, England, was the second son of King George V and Victoria May, the Duchess of York (Mary of Teck). His childhood years was rough since his father was very harsh and his mother was not affectionate at all. His tutors "forced him to write with his right hand, though he was naturally left handed. He developed a stammer around age 8, and suffered the indignity of wearing leg braces to correct his knock knees. Often ill and easily frightened, George VI was somewhat prone to tears and tantrums—traits that he carried throughout much of his adult life" [5]. The royal couple "were resolved to stay in London at Buckingham Palace, despite intense German bombing raids. King George and Queen Elizabeth then undertook many morale-boosting visits to Britain’s bombed-out cities, touring hospitals and visiting with wounded troops. In 1943, the king visited British troops in North Africa. He later visited troops at Malta, bestowing on the entire island the honor of the George Cross, instituted by King George VI to honor exceptional acts of bravery by civilians. In June 1944, 10 days after the D-Day invasion, the king visited the troops in Normandy. He also suffered personal tragedy
during the war when both his wife’s nephew and his youngest brother were killed" [5]. King George VI was not enamored with the selection of Winston Churchill as prime minister after Neville Chamberlain’s resignation. Nevertheless, focused on a common goal, the two men quickly developed a strong working relationship and deep respect for each other. During the victory celebration at the end of the war in Europe, the king invited Prime Minister Churchill to appear with him on
the balcony of Buckingham Palace, just as he had done with Neville Chamberlain [5]. On the morning of February 6, 1952, at the age of 56, George VI was discovered dead in bed. It was later determined that he had died of a coronary thrombosis. After his death, George VI's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, took the throne, becoming Queen Elizabeth II [5]
China, Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975):
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Born in the coastal province of Chekiang on October 31, 1887, Chiang ran away from home after his father died and joined the provincial army. He received formal military training at the Paoting Military Academy in northern China, and later in Japan [6]. Chiang sought to institute a modest program of reforms, including financial and educational reforms, infrastructure improvements and a revival of Confucianism, supported by the “New Life Movement” campaign [6]. Chiang also "Chiang initially focused on the communist threat rather than confront Japan directly, a choice that angered many of his supporters. In the Sian (Xian) Incident of December 1936, one of his generals seized Chiang and held him captive for two weeks until he agreed to ally with Mao Zedong’s Communist forces against Japan" [6]. Japan "invaded China the following year, sparking the Sino Japanese War. China fought Japan on its own for more than four years, until the Allies (with the exception
of the Soviet Union) declared war on Japan in 1941. For its efforts, China earned inclusion among the Big Four powers, and Chiang’s international reputation skyrocketed. In 1943, his Western-educated wife, Soong Mei-ling, became the first Chinese and only the second woman to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, when she asked for increased U.S. aid for China in the Sino-Japanese War" [6]. At the same time, however, Chiang’s government was losing a good deal of support within the country itself, thanks to his relative passivity toward Japan and increasingly conservative policies that favored landowners and mercantile interests and alienated peasants (who made up nearly 90 percent of the Chinese population) [6].
Born in the coastal province of Chekiang on October 31, 1887, Chiang ran away from home after his father died and joined the provincial army. He received formal military training at the Paoting Military Academy in northern China, and later in Japan [6]. Chiang sought to institute a modest program of reforms, including financial and educational reforms, infrastructure improvements and a revival of Confucianism, supported by the “New Life Movement” campaign [6]. Chiang also "Chiang initially focused on the communist threat rather than confront Japan directly, a choice that angered many of his supporters. In the Sian (Xian) Incident of December 1936, one of his generals seized Chiang and held him captive for two weeks until he agreed to ally with Mao Zedong’s Communist forces against Japan" [6]. Japan "invaded China the following year, sparking the Sino Japanese War. China fought Japan on its own for more than four years, until the Allies (with the exception
of the Soviet Union) declared war on Japan in 1941. For its efforts, China earned inclusion among the Big Four powers, and Chiang’s international reputation skyrocketed. In 1943, his Western-educated wife, Soong Mei-ling, became the first Chinese and only the second woman to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, when she asked for increased U.S. aid for China in the Sino-Japanese War" [6]. At the same time, however, Chiang’s government was losing a good deal of support within the country itself, thanks to his relative passivity toward Japan and increasingly conservative policies that favored landowners and mercantile interests and alienated peasants (who made up nearly 90 percent of the Chinese population) [6].