Background of World War II
The seeds of World War II are derived from a lame resolution post-World War I. The Peace Conference and the Versailles Agreement that ended World War I produced huge profits for the winner (the Allies), while the losing party (the central axis) received unfair treatment. Germany became the most disadvantaged country due to the Versailles Treaty.
In particular, political and economic instability in Germany due to the Treaty of Versailles pushed Adolf Hitler and his Socialist National Party (Nazis) to power in Germany.
After becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler quickly consolidated power. He named himself with the title of Führer (supreme leader) in 1934.
Hitler was very obsessed with the idea of the superiority of the pure German race called the Aryan race. He believes that war is only a way to get the living space needed for the race to develop.
In the mid-1930s, he began to rearm Germany secretly and violated the Treaty of Versailles. After signing alliances with Italy and Japan to fight the Soviet Union, Hitler sent troops to occupy Austria in 1938 and the following year annexed Czechoslovakia.
When Hitler's aggression was getting out of control, the United States and the Soviet Union were preoccupied with domestic problems, so the German problem was a little neglected. Meanwhile France and Britain (the two other countries most devastated by World War I) wanted to avoid confrontation, so they temporarily preferred to remain silent.
Outbreak of World War I
In late August 1939, Hitler and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. This agreement that sparked anxiety London and Paris.
Hitler had long planned an invasion of Poland, a country where Britain and France had guaranteed military support if attacked by Germany. The pact with Stalin guaranteed Hitler would not face war on two fronts when he invaded Poland and would instead receive assistance from the Soviets.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland from the west; two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany and marked the start of World War II.
On September 17, Soviet troops invaded Poland from the east. Under attack from both sides, Poland fell quickly. Entering early 1940 Germany and the Soviet Union had divided control over Poland.
The Stalin army then moved to occupy the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and defeat Finland which provided fierce resistance in the Russo-Finish War.
At sea, the British and German naval fleet fought a fierce battle. German submarines U-boats began attacking merchant ships bound for England, resulting in more than 100 ships sinking in just four months since the war began.
Six months after the invasion of Poland, news about the war has not been widely trusted. Even many Europeans thought the war was just a fake war. But this condition turned into panic after the war raged in Western Europe.
World War II in Western Europe (1940-1941)
On April 9, 1940, Germany simultaneously invaded Norway and occupied Denmark. This German invasion marked the beginning of a real war.
On May 10, German troops swept Belgium and the Netherlands in what became known as the "blitzkrieg" or lightning war. Three days later, Hitler's forces crossed the Meuse River and attacked French troops in Sedan which was located at the northern end of the Maginot Line. Keep in mind that the defense at Sedan is a complicated defense chain that was built after World War I and is considered an impenetrable defense barrier.
Nevertheless the Germans broke through the ranks with their tanks and planes and proceeded to move forward. British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were evacuated by the sea from Dunkirk in late May, while in the south of the French troops struggled to defend their territory.
When France was on the verge of collapse, the Italian fascist figure, Benito Mussolini, entered into a cooperation agreement with Hitler. Furthermore Italy declared war on France and Britain on 10 June 1940.
On June 14, German troops entered Paris. A new government formed by Marshal Philippe Petain (French hero of World War I), he then asked for a ceasefire two nights later.
France was finally divided into two zones, one under German military occupation and the other under the Petain government, which was based in Vichy.
After Paris was captured, Hitler now turned his attention to England. In contrast to France, England has a defensive advantage because it is separated by the English Channel.
To pave the way for an amphibious invasion, German aircraft began to bombard British territory throughout the summer of 1940. The German effort resulted in many civilians being victimized and damaging to industrial centers.
When the British conditions were pressed, there was a shock in the war in the West. The Royal Air Force (RAF) defeated the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) in the Battle of Britain. This German defeat made Hitler postpone his plans to occupy England.
Britain can breathe a little, when their resources are running low that America comes to help with the logistical shortcomings of the war.
Operation Barbarossa (1941-1942)
In early 1941, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria joined the Axis block. The joining of these countries was followed by German attacks on Yugoslavia and Greece in April.
Hitler's conquest of the Balkans was the first step towards an invasion of the Soviet Union. The vast area of the USSR is expected to be a living space for the development of the Aryan race.
In addition to being the first step to conquering the Soviet Union, the Balkan conquest was also part of Hitler's strategy to exterminate Jews in Europe. Many European Jews settled in the Soviet Union.
Hitler considered Jews to be the cause of economic and political instability that plagued Europe. As the planner of the genocide plan, he entrusted to Heinrich Himmler, the German police chief.
The Holocaust coincided with an attack on the Soviets. Over the next three years more than 4 million Jews were slaughtered in concentration camps established in Poland and Austria.
On June 22, 1941, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. Although the number of Soviet tanks and aircraft far exceeded Germany, their technology was outdated. As a result, Germany managed to approach Moscow in mid-July.
However, the misunderstanding between Hitler and his commander on the field was coupled with the Russian winter which was known to violently delay the progress of the German invasion.
Pacific War (1941-1943)
At a time when the Allies in Europe were overwhelmed by the German invasion, the United States was the only country capable of resisting Japanese aggression in Asia.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Prime Minister deployed 360 Japanese aircraft to attack the main US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack shocked Ameria and scowled more than 2,300 troops.
The attack on Pearl Harbor apparently succeeded in uniting American public opinion to support the US joining World War II. On December 8, Congress declared war on Japan. The joining of the US into the war was immediately responded by Germany and other Axis powers by declaring war on the United States.
After a series of Japanese victories, the US Pacific Fleet won the battle in June 1942. This victory is widely believed to be a turning point in the war.
On Guadalcanal, one of the southern Solomon Islands, the Allies successfully fought Japanese forces in a series of battles from August 1942 to February 1943.
In mid-1943, Allied naval forces began an aggressive counterattack against Japan. This attack involved a series of amphibious attacks on the main islands occupied by Japan in the Pacific.
This "island-jumping" strategy proved successful and the Allied forces moved closer to their final destination to attack the Japanese island.
The Allies Turn the situation around (1943-1945)
In North Africa, British and American forces defeated Italy and Germany in 1943. The Allies then severely beat Italy with invasions in Sicily and Italy. The Allied counterattack caused the Mussolini government to fall in July 1943.
On the Eastern Front of World War II, a Soviet counterattack launched in November 1942 ended the protracted Battle of Stalingrad.
The impact of winter, along with the reduced supply of food and medicine, ended the German forces. The last German troops on the Eastern Front surrendered on 31 January 1943.
On 6 June 1944 - celebrated as D-Day, the Allies began a full-scale invasion of Europe. Around 156,000 British, Canadian and American troops on the coast of Normandy, France.
As a form of response, Hitler concentrated all the remaining strength of his troops in Western Europe. This concentration made the Soviet Army free to advance to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. After gathering troops, Hitler attempted to drive the Americans and British back from Germany in the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945), the last major German offensive in the war.
An intensive aerial bombardment in February 1945 preceded the Allied ground invasion of Germany. German troops could not turn things around, their conditions became even more unclear after Berlin was surrounded.
Germany officially surrendered on May 8 Soviet troops occupied most of the country. Meanwhile German leader Adolf Hitler died after killing himself on April 30 in his Berlin bunker.
End of World War II
At the Potsdam Conference in July-August 1945, US President Harry S. Truman (who had served after Roosevelt's death in April), Churchill and Stalin discussed the ongoing war with Japan and the settlement of peace with Germany.
Postwar Germany will be divided into four occupation zones which will be controlled by the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States and France.
For the future of Eastern Europe, Churchill and Truman tried to discuss with Stalin, because they still needed Soviet assistance in the war against Japan.
The great casualties suffered by the Allies in the wars in Iwo Jima (February 1945) and Okinawa (April-June 1945) caused Truman to permit the use of new and powerful weapons - atomic bombs - in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August.
On August 10, the Japanese government issued a statement stating that they would accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. On September 2, US General Douglas MacArthur accepted the official surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
World War II proved to be one of the most devastating international conflicts in history. The war claimed around 35 to 60 million lives, including 6 million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis. Millions more were injured and many people lost their homes and property.
Post-World War II, Communism and Liberalism spread throughout the world. The spread of the two ideologies was followed by the emergence of two superpower countries, the United States and the Soviet Union which competed for competing influence in the world.
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