Historical Overview
With so much violence and so many deaths, World War II was one of the most tragic wars known to America and much of the World. Involving every high ranked power in the world, World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, and killed an estimated 17 million casualties. But not everyone knows the whole story behind World War II. The sparks that built up the war, during the war, and the outcome following the war, are some of the things that I’d like to share with you.
After being defeated in World War I, Germany, Italy, and Japan were anxious to restore their power by adopting a form of Dictatorship. At the same time, the Great Depression had swept the states, causing conflicts, mistrust, and rivalries to break out throughout different nations. The great depression was a time of economic crisis where the stock market had crashed in 1929 (. Not only did it weaken the League of Nations, but also gave time for Adolph Hitler to set up his army and restore their strength. Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. (Elson, Robert T. & Editors of Time-Life Books. Prelude to War. New York: Time Incorporated.1977)
Adolph had fought the breakout of the Spanish Civil war from 1936- 1939 and helped Francisco Franco to victory. Adolph had annexed Austria, gained power over Czechoslovakia, and by then, British and French policy towards appeasement had come to its highest peak. Britain and France abandoned the appeasement, and began preparing themselves for war. They made allies with Turkey, Greece, Romania, and Poland, when suddenly; Germany was ready to break out an attack against Poland.
World War 11 had finally broken out on September 1, 1930 when Germany had gone into Poland, and attacked without a declaration of war. Britain and France had declared war two days later, following the Commonwealth of Nations. The attack on Poland was very fast and lasted a short period of time. With the new technology and air fighting, Germany had stomped Polish defenses. Germany had fought with all of their powers they had in store. Britain and France spent their first year of war blockading Germany in their surrounding seas.
Germany was still on a roll and conquering many new countries. From April 9,
1940 to May 10 of the following year, Germany had gained power of Denmark,
Norway, and Luxembourg. They invaded Netherlands and Belgium. Germany was
looking unstoppable until they fought the Battle of Britain, which was fought
entirely in the air. ( Wheeler,
Keith & Editors of Time-Life Books.
Determined to stay neutral, The U.S. gradually was pulled into by the harsh events Germany was pulling off. The American people protested on going to war, and prayed that President F.D. Roosevelt would stay out. But it wasn’t until December 7, 1941 that changed many American’s views on the war. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, and it wasn’t long after that United States had declared war on Japan. Within a few days, Italy and Germany declared war on the United States.
Japan had conquered the Philippines, and things were looking good for Germany, Japan, and Italy. 1942 was probably the darkest year of the war for our side. But it wasn’t long before the turning point of the war took place. On February of 1943, German’s 6th army was forced to give up. The allies (U.S. France, and Britain) also invaded Italy, which forced surrender also. In the Sea, virtually all submarine threat was ended in the summer of 1944.
After the obvious turning point in the war, Allied victories had begun to spread out throughout Europe. All air warfare had seemed to be won by the Allies. Many German Cities were destroyed and industries. The invention of the V-1 and V-2 rockets gave the allies a huge advantage in air warfare.
Allies had begun to take over. Hitler had committed suicide on April 30,
1945, and crashed the powers of Germany, leaving them right where they started
at the beginning of the war. Huge victories in the Pacific showed America’s
true power after regaining the Philippines, Mariana Islands, and Iwo Jima. On
August 6, 1945, the united States were the first to use the atomic bomb and
dropped it on Hiroshima. Three days later, the second bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki. On August 14th, Japan had announced their Surrender. (Sears
W. Stephen. And Editors of History Magazines.
Even though the war was fought long, and much blood was shed, it helped bring down one of the most feared leaders in all of history, Adolf Hitler. He had killed more than 15 million Jews in his time of power. With the assistance of America and their allies, we helped conquer Germany, and take down their leaders. Without the help of the U.S., I believe Germany would have taken over, and made things more worse, and our nation wouldn’t have been the same.