World War II
World War II was a war fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It was called a "World War" because countries from every continent became involved, and fighting took place all over the world. Of all the wars ever fought, World War II involved the most countries, cost the most money, and killed the most people. About 72 million died, making it the worst human disaster of all time. It ran from 1939 until 1945.
The two sides.
The Axis Powers at the start of the war were Germany, Italy and Japan. These countries made an agreement called the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis in the year of 1937, in which they agreed to help each other in military conflicts. This agreement, also called the Anti-Comintern Pact, was primarily aimed against the Soviet Union.
The Allied Powers, or Allies, were the United Kingdom and France at the outbreak of war in September 1939. The Soviet Union joined the Allies in June 1941 after being invaded by Germany, and the United States joined the war on the side of the Allies on 11th December 1941, four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when Hitler declared war on the US.
Canada, India, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand were also part of the Allied coalition as British Dominions.
Why the war started.
In Europe, World War I occurred during the years of 1914 through 1918. Germany faced the burden of defeat. In the aftermath, Germany had to surrender a select area of land and money as compensation for the damage done. Areas along the Rhine River were occupied by France for a time. Germany was informed that its army had to have less than 100,000 men. Germany was not allowed to have an air force or big ships in its navy. Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, took control of Germany in 1933. He prosecuted and persecuted others for whom he did not like. Hitler also expanded the size of the German air force, army, and navy. He wanted to take land from other countries, as well as hated many groups of people including Russians, Jews, and people with dark skin. In 1938, Germany threatened Czechoslovakia, a small country, but the Allies decided to stay neutral in this event. In fact the Britain and France made a pact with Germany, at Munich in September 1938, to take part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. Hitler promised that he would stop attacking, but six months later, he broke his promise and took over all of Czechoslovakia including the capital, Prague. The Allies, not including the United States, thought Poland would be the next country Hitler attacked. They promised to help Poland if it was attacked.
In Asia, Japan attacked China in 1937. To stop the United States defending its islands and other countries in the Pacific Ocean, Japan attacked the naval base on Hawaii named Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Beginning of the War (September 1939 - August 1940).
World War II began on September 1, 1939, in respone to the German invasion of Poland, with the aid of Russia. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany. By 1941, Germany had conquered Poland, France, Norway, Holland, Belgium and Denmark, controlling most of Europe.
Japan then started to begin to expand its country to include parts of China and some islands near the Pacific.
September 1940 - May 1944.
By September 1940, Hitler controlled large sections of Europe. He hoped that the British would ask for peace, but they did not. German aeroplanes bombed the city of London to weaken the British. The bombings lasted about two years. Winston Churchill played a major role in keeping citizens under control but by the time The Blitz ended many civilians lost their lives.
In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The Soviets joined the Allied Powers. The majority of German forces would spend the war fighting the Soviets. Adolf Hitler planned to capture the Soviet Union and place a blockade (not letting anything in or out) on Britain, creating a "Fortress Europe" that would be very difficult to invade.
The invasion started on June 22, 1941. The German army captured large amounts of Soviet land and encircled Leningrad. By December the Germans advanced as far as Moscow, but were stopped by Russian army.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighters attacked an American port in Hawaii named Pearl Harbor. On December 11, the Axis Powers declared war on the United States. In November 1942, the battle fought there, named El Alamein, resulted in an Allied victory and Italy and the Allies became close.
The German war machine needed more oil, as Germany only had the relatively small oilfields of Romania under its control. Therefore in 1942, when the Germans began advancing again in Russia, their target was the oilfields of the Caucasus. To secure this territory, the Germans needed to take the city of Stalingrad, but they were defeated in the Battle of Stalingrad, which was the turning point of the war. At the same time the Siege of Leningrad was relieved.
On July 10, 1943, Allied forces landed on the Italian island of Sicily, in an operation named "Husky". They were successful in taking the island, and Italy fell shortly after.
In the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese empire was getting bigger and bigger. The United States, now at war with the Axis, began to send out ships to attack the Japanese navy. The result of a large deployment, or sending out, of ships was the famous Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, which was an American victory. Hoping that Japan was weakened by this defeat, the Americans landed in Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. The result was another American victory, and a capture of a very important place. The war was very bad, both economically and socially.
The European Front.
As the war went on, the Allies saw that they would need to land in Europe to defeat Germany. They chose a small piece of coastline in France called Normandy for the invasion. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy and began the Battle of Normandy, code named Operation Overlord or D-Day. It was an Allied victory.
As the Allies fought to get to Berlin, the capital of Germany, the Germans attacked fiercely to defend their land. The resulting battle was named the Battle of the Bulge, and was an Allied victory. It was the last time in the war that the Germans were able to send a major attack against the Allies. In the spring of 1945, the Soviet Red Army closed in on Berlin and captured it, defeating Germany.
The Soviet general, Georgy Zhukov reached Berlin before the Americans, and won an unspoken "contest" between Generals to see who could get to Berlin first. The day that Germany officially surrendered (gave up), May 8, 1945, was a day marked with large celebrations. Today, the day is called V-E Day, or "Victory in Europe Day."
The Pacific Front.
After the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal, the Japanese were being pushed slowly out of the Pacific. Many battles were fought in the Pacific. The United States went on an "Island Hopping" campaign to capture small islands that were under Japanese control. Of these small islands came some very large battles, such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. President Harry Truman of the Americans gave the order to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. On August 6, 1945, bombers dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, bombers dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. Only 6 days later, on August 15, Japan surrendered to the Allies. President Truman marked the end of the war on September 2, calling it V-J Day, or "Victory over Japan Day." Today it is sometimes called V-P Day for "Victory in the Pacific."
Products of the War.
The war introduced new methods for fighting, approaches, and knowledge gained during the war. A major new technology was radar (finding airplanes by using radio waves).
The war also made weapons with far more killing power. The atomic bomb was first used by the United States during this war. President Truman ordered two atomic bombs to be dropped from airplanes on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No atomic weapons have been used in war since then.
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