Ww II

The Second World War was the most deadly, destructive and consequential war in history. Seventeen million military personnel died in the war. Civilian deaths in the Soviet Union and China alone totaled 30 million.

Causes of the war can be traced back to the end of World War I. Germany, Italy, and Japan suffered deep economic problems. Inflation was rampant. However, by the late 1920s, economic order was being restored. This trend reversed when the United States entered the Great Depression. The citizens of what would be the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) supported nationalistic organizations which offered hope in the face of these problems. These organizations soon gave birth to tyranny, however. Totalitarian dictatorships arose in the Soviet Union, Japan, Italy, and Germany; these were led by Josef Stalin, Emperor Hirohito, Benito Mussolini, and Adolf Hitler, respectively. These leaders seized power by promising reform through unity. Under the dictatorships, however, terror reigned. Dictators used secret police, threats, imprisonment and even executions to eliminate their opposition.

Some consider the start of World War II to be Japan's invasion of Manchuria, a region in eastern China. Japan continued to demonstrate aggression, effectively conquering eastern China by 1938. Italy, meanwhile, conquered Ethiopia in 1936. Germany, in 1938, united Austria with itself. There was essentially no stopping this aggression, since the League of Nations lacked the power to enforce its treaties. (The League had been formed after World War I as an international forum for disputes.) In 1936, German and Italy allied. Japan joined in 1940, forming the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.

During this time, Spain was in civil war. General Francisco Franco led the rebellious army Nationalists against Spain's government. Hitler and Mussolini supported the revolution. The Spanish Civil War divided the world into those who supported Nazism and Fascism, and those who were against it.

Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain held several meetings to restore peace. They agreed that if Hitler took Czechoslovakia, he would not try to acquire more territory. Hitler defiantly broke his promise by invading Poland 11 months later, on September 1, 1939. Germany's blitzkrieg (lightning war) quickly overcame the large, but poorly equipped Polish Army. The blitzkrieg relied on speed and surprise. It was carried out flawlessly. Britain and France pledged their support for the Allied cause, but stood by while Hitler swallowed Poland. Journalists dubbed this the Phony War.

German forces then conquered Denmark and Norway, seizing vital ports. Following these invasions, Chamberlain resigned. He was replaced by Winston Churchill on May 10, 1940. Germany, on the same day, created another blitzkrieg, immediately taking Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The French hoped to hold off the aggressive Germans by use of the Maginot Line, a strip of defense along the French-German border. It proved futile, however, as the Germans simply proceeded around it and into France.