World War Two
World War 2 began on September 1, 1939, the day that Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, on September 2, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Although the official start of World War 2 was in 1939, many other countries like Japan, had already been in multiple wars such as the second Sino-Japanese War.
Before 1939, Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi political party. He wanted control of Germany. He planned on starting a revolution to gain a large army then take over the world. Hitler and his fellow Nazis hatched a plan to kidnap the German leaders and force them to make Hitler their leader at gunpoint. This plan was put into effect during a large gathering of businessmen and German leaders in a beer hall in Munich, Germany. Hitler burst into the beer hall with a pistol. He fired a shot at the ceiling, “Silence!” he yelled. He ran to the podium and threatened to bring machine guns into the hall. He said that the military and police were marching under the Nazi swastika. None of this was true, however the men in the beer hall could not see outside and didn’t know any better. This was known as the Beer Hall Putsch. It was an important event for Germany before the Nazi revolution.
Hitler took the three German leaders into a back room. He told them there was going to be a Nazi revolution and he wanted them to be a part of the government. He thought that they would be tempted to help him because he offered them positions in the new government, and because he was pointing a gun at their heads. To Hitler’s surprise they refused to talk. Hitler grew frustrated. He could not kill them because people would lose faith in him. Thinking quickly, he dashed out of the room and announced that there was now a new government. He thought that he was going to be the new leader of a Nazi empire and take over the world. Then, when the next day came, nothing had happened. Hitler then organized a march on the city that was unsuccessful. He escaped the police but knew he was soon to be killed or arrested. The next day he was arrested and it was announced that a public trial would be held for him.
Hitler had a hard time getting into office in Germany, luckily for him in 1930 Hindenberg, The President of Germany, was growing old and announced that he was not going to run for another term. When Hitler announced that he was running for President, Hindenberg decided that he had to run again because he didn’t want Nazis running Germany. Hindenberg won the election, just not by the majority that he needed, so a re-election was held the next month. The next month came and Hindenberg gained the majority he needed. The Nazi party was losing momentum. Important Nazis were leaving the party. Then Hitler went to Hindenberg and demanded to be named Chancellor of Germany. He was denied, even so he continued to ask and to be turned down. Hindenberg began to hear rumors of him being overthrown. He grew nervous of being killed and appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany.
During World War 2, there were two groups of allies; the Axis, and the Allies. Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria formed the Axis. The Allies were a much larger group of countries, the United States of America, The Soviet Union, China, France, Britain, and many more. The Allies were countries that were attacked by Axis forces. The first Allies were the countries that Adolf Hitler invaded, Poland, France, and Britain. Most of the Allies only entered the war because they were attacked by the Axis. For example, Mexico was not part of the war until several Mexican ships were sunk by Axis submarines. This attack by the Axis brought many South American countries into the war. It also prompted a rise in anti-submarine technology. Similar to most of the Allied countries, the South Americans never actually fought in the war.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the president during most of World War 2. Some people believe that he wanted to enter the war for a long time before the Attack on Pearl Harbor. In fact some people think that he wanted to enter the war so much that he was trying to prompt an attack by sending lots of weapons to other Allied countries. This was true, however he had to be very carful to maintain his positive image, so he was hesitant to declare war on any of the Axis countries.
Roosevelt wanted to enter the war because he feared that France and Britain could not hold off Germany by themselves. Then Germany would become a superpower and destroy the United States. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, had similar thoughts and decided to join in the war right after Russia was attacked by Germany.
The United States, like most of the Allies, was not involved in World War 2 until after the attack of Pearl Harbor by the Japan. There was a lot of controversy surrounding why the United States became involved in World War 2. Some people thought that the president wanted to get involved from the beginning of the war and was using Pearl Harbor as an excuse. Others disagreed and thought that the United States should enter the war and help France and England fight off the Nazis.
The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked America. Internment camps were created by the government all over the country. Every Japanese-American person in the United States were sent to the camps. Even Japanese people with American citizenship were sent to the internment camps. The people that were sent to the camps lost everything: houses, businesses, and money. Some people worried that the camps were making the United States look bad. They thought that people would think they were beginning to think like Nazi Germany and kill of all of the minorities.
Hitler successfully invaded Austria and then decided to continue to move into Czechoslovakia. There was a large German population in Czechoslovakia making it an easier target. Hitler split the country in three parts, Bohemia and Moravia, which were German states, and the Slovakia Republic which was a German ally. During this, Italy had invaded Albania. These invasions were supposed to help the Axis countries get a head start before any other countries became involved.
This was all before World War 2. What most people consider the official start of World War 2 was the day that Hitler invaded Poland. Before the invasion of Poland, France and Britain threatened to declare war on Germany if they proceeded to move into Poland. Hitler didn’t listen to France or Britain. When Germany invaded Poland, France and Britain provided little military support. Germany eventually broke through Poland and began to take over. Russia had also began to enter Poland and helped hold of Germany. Italy was making its way up through southern Europe by convincing Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria to join the Axis.
After Germany had been stopped by the Russians in Poland, they decided make a peace treaty with Russia. Germany then moved on to attacking west Europe. France and Britain began to fortify the French-German border while Hitler gathered his forces. Germany waited to attack France while they marched into Denmark and Norway. After taking Denmark and Norway Germany broke into northern France, forcing the Allied forces into southern France and North Africa. Then, Germany began air attacks on Britain. Britain held them off and persuaded Greece to join the Allies. This helped the Allies gain a foothold near Italy. Axis forces then came through Yugoslavia and forced the Allies out of Greece.
In the next few months, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and brought the United States into the war. The United States, joined forces with many countries in the Asian Pacific to stop Japan. But, Franklin D. Roosevelt was more interested in stopping Hitler in Europe. The United States sent multiple task forces to North Africa to assist the French in holding off Germany. During this time Germany gained complete control of France.
Italy launched an attack on North Africa soon after the United States arrived in Africa. Italy’s attack failed, which then led to Hitler sending troops to Italy. The United States, France, and Britain began to take over Italy. Slowly they gained control of Italy while the Russians began to push Germany out of Russia. The United States held their ground in Italy while Britain launched a large air strike on Germany. Britain did not gain any ground on Germany but on June 6, 1944, Britain and the United States invaded the Normandy and Nazi-occupied France. Almost 9,000 soldiers died. But over 100,000 continued to march on the Nazis. This day was known as D-day. After D-day, the rest of Italy was captured by the Allies.
The D-day soldiers continued to march into France. There were many air strikes and infantry marches. The Allies finally began to gain control of France. The Allied forces in Italy began to attack Southern France. It wasn’t long before the Allies had complete control of France. During the Allies’ invasion of France, the Russians began to push Germany out of Poland. The Allies continued to push Axis countries back to Germany from every angle. Russia was attacking through Poland. American and British forces were coming through Italy, and more American, British, and French soldiers were coming through France. These three groups eventually made it to Germany where they began to destroy the Nazi empire. When the Allies broke into Germany, Hitler killed himself. Most people thought that the defeat of Germany was the end of World War 2.
After World War 2, Germany was split into four parts, one to be overseen by each of the main Allies: Russia, France, Britain, and America. As a result during this time Germany eventually split into two sections, east and west. The West was every section except Russia’s. This led to the building of the Berlin wall and many other political difficulties in Germany.
Some people think that World War 2 wasn’t over until Japan was defeated. Because even after the defeat of Germany, they continued to attack Allied countries. However, the United States had been developing a secret weapon of mass destruction during World War 2. This project, called the Manhattan Project, created the first atomic bombs. On August 5, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb, known as Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima. The bomb destroyed the entire city. It killed more than 100,000 people. About 40% died from the initial blast and the rest from radiation related sickness. After the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the second bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. After the bombs were dropped Japan finally surrendered. The Americans took over Japan and began to demilitarize them so they would not begin to attack anyone else. General Douglas MacArthur led the take over in Japan. He became the self-imposed Emperor to help rebuild Japan.
At the end of World War 2, the United Nations was formed. The goal was to create world peace and form international laws. The United Nations, or UN, created the International Human Rights and many other laws or agreements. The UN helps with much more than just wars, it also helps developing countries grow. The formation of the UN was the beginning of a long recovery from World War 2.
