Commanders of World War II  The Commanders of World War II were for the most part career officers. They were forced to adapt to new technologies and forged the direction of modern warfare. Some political leaders, particularly those of the principal dictatorships involved in the conflict, Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union), Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito Mussolini (Italy) and Emperor Hirohito (Japan), acted as supreme military commanders as well as dictators for their respective countries or empires. James Somerville  Émile Muselier Martial Henri Valin  Husband E. Kimmel Walter Short  Dušan Simović Milan Nedic  Masaharu Homma  Air force Stoyan Stoyanov