World War II was a global war which resulted in about 50 to over 70 million human deaths in most of the countries in the world. Lasting from 1939 to 1945, the most deadly war in history involved two major opposing military forces, the Axis and the Allies. Led by Germany, the major Axis nations included Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and many minor participating nations. On the other side, the Allies nations included the British Empire, the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, France, China, Poland, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Ethiopia, Brazil, the Netherlands, the Union of South Africa, among others.
Generally, World War II was caused by two major events. Firstly, there were lingering tensions and resentments among the participating nations in World War I. Secondly, a number of countries were struggling to recover from the devastating effects of the Great Depression. World War I ended with the defeat of Central Powers like Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. As outlined by the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost a significant part of its home territory as well as all overseas colonies. Spurred by Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Movement in Italy from 1922 to 1925, the leader of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler also sought to establish a fascist government in Germany. In 1933, he was appointed Chancellor of Germany, paving the way for WWII. The failure of League of Nations to prevent or halt Axis aggressions in the 1930s was also cited as a cause of the Second World War.
WWII was triggered by two major military aggressions which involved almost all the countries of the world. The first invasion was made in July 1937 when Japan took Beiping, the former Chinese imperial capital, pushing on to capture Shanghai and the capital Nanjing. On July 29, 1938, Japanese forces moved into the USSR but they were stopped in the Battle of Lake Khasan.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, signaling the beginning of WWII. A little later, the USSR also invaded Poland and demanded that the Baltic nations allow Soviet troops to be stationed in their countries. When Finland rejected the demand, the USSR launched an attack on the country in November 1939, going on to control all the neutral Baltic nations by June 1940.
In a strategic move to secure the supply of iron ore from Sweden, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940. The British responded by capturing Iceland and more significantly, Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister on May 10, 1940. By this time, Germany had already invaded Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. On June 10, Italy declared war on France and the UK, proceeding to invade France. At this time, the United States remained neutral but offered support to the Western Allies and China. The Germans tried to push forward into Western Europe but they were defeated in the Battle of Britain, effectively ending the campaign in May 1941. In November 1940, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia joined the Axis, mounting offensives against the USSR.
In 1941, the Germans attacked the Balkans and Yugoslavia surrendered. On June 22, 1941, Germany, Finland, and other European Axis members launched Operation Barbarossa to capture the Baltic region along with Moscow and Ukraine. With Japanese military operations reaching a stalemate in China, Japan moved towards the European colonies in Asia, culminating in the Pearl Harbor attack, the Battle of Hong Kong as well as landings in Thailand and Malaya on December 8, 1941. After these attacks, the United States declared war on Japan, along with Australia, Britain, and other Allied forces. By May 1942, the Japanese had captured the Philippines along with Burma, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Rabaul, and Singapore. In a show of naval supremacy, the Japanese even bombed the Allied naval base located in Darwin, Australia. In a decisive victory in November 1942, Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery of the British Commonwealth forces opposed German-Italian army invasion in North Africa, preventing Axis advance in the region.
With strong Soviet resistance and the invasion of Sicily by the Western Allies, the Axis forces suffered severe setbacks in 1943. Mussolini was arrested in July but he was rescued in September by a special German unit. On October 13, 1943, the Kingdom of Italy with Pietro Badoglio as Prime Minister declared war against Germany. In 1944, France was liberated along with Yugoslavia. By 1945, Soviet forces had taken Hungary from Germany and pressed into Poland. In April, Western Allies advanced into Western Germany and the Soviets attacked Berlin. Within this month, Mussolini was killed, US President Roosevelt passed away, and Hitler committed suicide. It signaled the downfall of Nazi Germany, effectively ending the war in Europe. In August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing an estimated 150,000 to 250,000 people. On September 22, 1945 Japan surrendered, bringing WWII to a close.
After the war, Germany lost up to 25 percent of its territory prior to 1937. Austria and Germany would be occupied by Allies administrations with Germany divided into East and West Germany. The United Nations was formed on October 24, 1945 to promote international peace. Albania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania became Soviet Satellite states. Japan and its former islands in the Western Pacific were occupied by the United States. Korea is separated into North and South Korea, with America occupying the South. On October 1, 1949, the communist state People’s Republic of China was formed.
WWII is remembered for the vast destruction of lives and property across many countries. War atrocities such as the Holocaust in which more than 6 million Jews were killed and the Rape of Nanjing where civilians were subjected to brutal acts of inhumanity exhibited the darkest evils of war.
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