The concise encyclopedia of world war II 2 volumes (greenwood encyclopedias of modern world wars) ( PDFDrive ) 979

Pact of Steel (May 22, 1939) PACIFISM See conscientious objection; Gandhi, Mohandas PACT OF STEEL (MAY 22, 1939) A 10-year nonaggression pact signed by Germany and Italy on May 22, 1939 It formalized the Rome–Berlin Axis alliance See also FALL WEISS; Tripartite Pact PAHLAVI, MUHAMMAD REZA SHAH (1919–1980) See Iran PAHLAVI, REZA SHAH (1878–1944) See Iran PAK (PANZERABWEHRKANONE) were towed Any German anti-tank gun Early versions PALAU ISLANDS A German colony before World War I, the Palau group was invaded by the Japanese in 1914 The League of Nations made it a Japanese Class C “mandate territory” after the war, which meant it was governed effectively as part of the Japanese Empire U.S forces invaded Palau in September 1944 They took the island of Peleliu after heavy fighting After the war the Palau group became part of the United Nations “Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,” administered by the United States PALESTINE Once part of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine became a League of Nations “mandate territory” after World War I, administered by the British Arabs and Jews each sparked and participated in sectarian riots and more targeted violence in the 1920s and 1930s Intense violence erupted from 1937 to 1939 It was repressed by British forces, often resorting to draconian measures That provoked retaliation by Jewish guerrillas in the Haganah and Irgun, and more spectacular violence by terrorists in the Stern Gang During the war the British regarded Palestine as the strategic flank of their position in Egypt and of the Suez Canal British and Arab Legion reinforcements were rushed from Palestine into Iraq to overturn a pro-Nazi government in Baghdad and put down an Iraqi Army revolt An influx of Poles from the Soviet Union added to the Jewish population in 1942 Some Palestinian Jews joined the Jewish Brigade and fought under British authority across North Africa into Italy and then Germany After 1942 military events moved away from Palestine and its strategic importance shrank In 1947 the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem declared an international city Britain walked away from the mandate on May 15, 1948, leading to a three-way partition: Israel, the West Bank to Transjordan, and Gaza to Egypt Many veterans of the Haganah became the nucleus of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and provided some of Israel’s top political leaders Most Irgun were 826