The countries of Europe spent most of the 1930s building toward war. On September 1, 1939, the German army invaded neighboring Poland. This was the event that finally led to the start of World War II. The war soon spread beyond Europe, however, to Asia and Africa. The United States entered the war in December 1941 after the Japanese attacked a U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The war ended shortly after the United States dropped two atom bombs on Japan in August 1945. By the time it was over, World War II had involved nearly every part of the world. Although the estimates are inexact, it is believed that between 35 and 60 million lives were lost. Some 6 million of those were Jewish victims of what became known as the Holocaust. This was an attempt by the German leader, Adolf Hitler, to destroy the Jewish people. Events leading to warThe Axis and Allied powersDuring the 1930s, Germany, Italy, and Japan formed a loose alliance based on shared interests. The leaders of these countries were military dictators. They wanted to increase the size and power of their own nations at the expense of other countries. In the years before World War II started, all three nations had strengthened and modernized their armed forces. During the war, Germany, Italy, and Japan (along with some other countries) were called the Axis powers. The most powerful countries opposing the Axis powers during World War II were the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China, and France. These countries, and the countries that joined them, were known as the Allied powers. Warlike actsJapan, Italy, and Germany committed a series of warlike acts in the 1930s. These acts were condemned by the League of Nations, a peacekeeping organization established after World War I. In each case, however, the league's protests were ignored. In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria, a part of China. Italy conquered the African country of Ethiopia in 1935. Germany and Italy sent military forces to fight on the side of another dictator, General Francisco Franco, in the Spanish Civil War. Japan began a full-scale war against China in 1937. The German leader Adolf Hitler and his political group—the National Socialist (or Nazi) party—wanted to retake German land lost after World War I. Led by Hitler, Germany began to seize areas along its borders. Hitler forced neighboring Austria to sign a pact of friendship. In March 1938 German troops marched into Austria and occupied that country. Hitler next claimed the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia that was home to many people of German origin. On September 30, 1938, Great Britain and France signed the Munich Agreement with Germany. The agreement allowed Hitler to take over the Sudetenland. Great Britain and France had hoped the agreement would keep Europe out of war and end Hitler's demands for more land. This willingness to grant Hitler's demands became known as the policy of appeasement. The policy did not work. Within six months Germany had taken control of all of Czechoslovakia. It was clear that Poland, on Germany's eastern border, would be the next target. In an attempt to save the Poles, Great Britain and France promised to help Poland if it were attacked. In August 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union signed a “nonaggression pact,” promising not to attack each other. Germany did this so that it would not have to fight on two fronts. That is, it did not want to have to fight against both the Soviet Union and the combined forces of France and Great Britain. Germany and the Soviet Union also agreed to divide Poland's land between them. War begins in EuropeThe invasion of PolandOn September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. As World War II began, Poland became the first country to experience the German military's blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” The blitzkrieg was a new type of military attack. It relied on fast-moving tanks and troops supported by warplanes. In response to the attack on Poland, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and South Africa soon joined the Allies. On September 17 the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east. Poland was overrun and divided between Germany and the Soviet Union before its allies were able to help. After Germany's conquest of Poland, other countries in Europe also expected to be invaded. During the winter of 1939–40, however, there were no further German attacks. This period of time—the uneasy calm before the next German invasion—became known as the “phony war.” Invasions in Western EuropeGermany's blitzkrieg continuesIn April 1940 the Germans invaded Norway and Denmark. Denmark accepted Germany's peace terms, but Norway declared war on the invader. Unable to defeat the Germans, Norway surrendered on June 9. It was then occupied by the German military. On May 10, German forces invaded the Low Countries of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Luxembourg was occupied immediately. The Belgians and Dutch resisted but were soon overwhelmed. The Dutch surrendered on May 14, the Belgians on May 27. Troops from the British and French armies that had assisted them were driven back into France. DunkirkWith the speed of their advance, the Germans had trapped the British and French troops in the port town of Dunkirk, France. The only hope for the Allied troops was to be rescued by sea. The British Navy, aided by volunteers in their own boats, crossed the English Channel to rescue the troops. To save as many men as possible, all of the heavy military supplies were left behind. More than 300,000 Allied troops were rescued from the beaches. The rescue at Dunkirk took place from May 26 to June 4. The fall of FranceAlthough German troops had crossed into France in mid-May, the major battle for France began on June 5, 1940. By June 14 the Germans had entered Paris. On June 22 France signed a peace agreement with Germany. German military forces occupied northern France and its Atlantic coast. Marshal Henri Pétain formed a new French government that was friendly with Germany. The town of Vichy served as the new government's headquarters. In opposition to Pétain's “Vichy government,” General Charles de Gaulle formed a “Free French” movement. The Free French continued the war against Germany from their base in Great Britain. As France was falling to the Germans, Italy's dictator, Benito Mussolini, declared war against France and Great Britain on June 10. Italy now entered the war on the side of Hitler's Germany. The battle of BritainHitler next wanted to invade the island of Great Britain. He first attacked the British Air Force in order to control the skies over Great Britain. The air war for that control became known as the battle of Britain. It was history's first major battle fought in the air. Starting in June 1940, the German Luftwaffe (air force) began bombing airfields and other targets in southern England. The German warplanes crossed the English Channel from airfields in France. With land-based radar stations guiding them to their targets, British fighter pilots attacked the German bombers and fighters. The British defeated the German Luftwaffe by shooting down many of its warplanes. By the battle's end, Germany had lost about 1,700 planes to Britain's 900. Unable to gain control of the sky, Germany cancelled its invasion of Britain. Later, the Luftwaffe switched to bombing cities and towns at night. These raids were especially damaging in London. The battle of the AtlanticThe British also fought Germany on the high seas. During much of the war, Germany threatened the supply ships providing Britain with food and war materials. German surface raiders and U-boats, as the German submarines were called (from the name Unterseeboote), were sinking ships at rates that endangered Britain's survival. As the war progressed, U-boats increased their success by attacking in groups known as wolf packs. To survive the attacks, supply ships traveled in groups known as convoys. The convoys were protected by naval destroyers and land-based airplanes. Early in the war, however, the protective escorts could not stay with the convoys for the entire trip. It was during this period that the U-boats attacked. In 1943 the Allies began to escort the convoys with small aircraft carriers. Warplanes from the carriers and long-range bombers from shore began to destroy large numbers of U-boats. In addition, shipboard radar became more successful in detecting the U-boats. With these improvements, the number of supply ships reaching Britain dramatically increased after April 1943. The North African campaignIn 1940 the war spread to North Africa, where the British wanted to keep control of the Suez Canal in Egypt. In the autumn of 1940 the Italians invaded Egypt from what is now Libya, but the British drove them back. The Axis forces were soon strengthened, however, by German tanks and troops. These troops, known as the Afrika Korps, were commanded by Erwin Rommel, one of Germany's greatest military leaders. Rommel led the Afrika Korps in a series of victories in 1941 and 1942. In July 1942, at the first battle of El Alamein, the British stopped the German advance into Egypt. At the end of August, Rommel attacked again. The British Army, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, defeated Rommel's troops. In October the British launched an attack that ended in a second British victory at El Alamein. By November 6 the British had driven the Germans from Egypt. Germany invades the Soviet UnionEarly successAfter conquering the countries on Germany's borders, Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union. The attack began on June 22, 1941. Italy, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania also declared war on the Soviet Union. Great Britain and the United States promised to aid the Soviet Union. German and other Axis armies advanced into the Soviet Union along a 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) line of battle. The heaviest attacks were aimed in the directions of three Soviet cities: Leningrad (now called Saint Petersburg), Moscow, and Kiev. The northern group of the German army reached the edge of Leningrad by autumn. By December the central group of the German army was in the suburbs of Moscow. The Germans were stopped from further advances by the bitterly cold winter. StalingradIn 1942 Hitler decided to attack the city of Stalingrad and some vital oil fields south of it. The oil fields were located in the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. One German army reached the oil center of Maikop in August. The attack against Stalingrad, however, failed. Stalingrad (now known as Volgograd) was the single greatest battle in World War II. The Soviets defended the city stubbornly. When winter began they counterattacked, surrounding the Germans and their Romanian allies. The surrounded troops surrendered at the end of January 1943. Germany's defeat at Stalingrad was the turning point in its war with the Soviet Union. From this point on, the Soviet army was the stronger military force. After Stalingrad, the Germans were forced to withdraw from the Caucasus. The Soviets gradually drove the Germans out of the Soviet Union. The Soviet army entered Poland at the beginning of 1944 and Romania soon afterward. Beginning of the war in the PacificWhen war broke out in Europe in 1939 Japan saw an opportunity to gain more territory in the Pacific region. Since 1937 the Japanese had occupied part of China, and they wished to expand further. At the time, Great Britain, France, and The Netherlands controlled many of the islands in the Pacific. Japan hoped to take advantage of the fact that those countries were fighting Germany and therefore would not be able to defend their territories in the Pacific. When Japan began to occupy some of these territories, the United States protested. The United States enters the warOn the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked U.S. warships at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. Their bombs and torpedoes sank or crippled six U.S. ships and killed more than 2,000 Americans. On the following day the United States Congress declared war on Japan. Three days later it declared war on Germany and Italy as well. The attack on the PhilippinesOn the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft attacked the Philippine Islands. Japanese troops then invaded the Philippines. U.S. and Filipino forces fought from Bataan and later Corregidor Island until they were overwhelmed by the Japanese. The Philippines surrendered in May 1942. The Japanese also launched air strikes on Australia. Other Japanese attacks left Japan in control of most of the Pacific islands guarding the sea routes to Southeast Asia. Doolittle's raid on TokyoThe Japanese were very successful during the early stages of the Pacific war. However, the United States struck back on April 18, 1942. The aircraft carrier Hornet launched bombers in an attack on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. Colonel James Doolittle trained and led the bombing mission over Japan. The raid did little damage, but it greatly boosted U.S. morale early in the war. Midway IslandThe war in the Pacific reached a turning point in June 1942. A strong invasion fleet of Japanese ships moved to capture Midway Island. Carrier-based warplanes from the U.S. Navy attacked the Japanese naval force and won a decisive battle, destroying much of Japan's fleet. North Africa and the defeat of ItalyAllied victory in North AfricaIn November 1942, Allied troops commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower landed on the coasts of Morocco and Algeria. The invasion's planners hoped to defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps. After fierce fighting the Allied armies defeated the German and Italian forces in May 1943. Sicily and the Italian campaignThe Allies followed up the North African invasion by capturing the Italian island of Sicily. Soon afterward, the Italian dictator Mussolini was overthrown. Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. Germany was now the only Axis force fighting in Italy. Allied troops landed in the south of Italy on September 3 and reached Naples by October. In January 1944 the Allies began another attack on the Germans by landing at Anzio. The Italian capital of Rome was taken by the Allies on June 4. Air attacks on GermanyGerman bombing attacks on Great Britain lessened after May 1941. At about the same time, British bombing attacks on Germany began, usually at night. Air raids were carried out on Berlin, Cologne, Essen, and other German cities. The chief targets included steel mills and factories making war supplies. German ports, oil refineries, and railroad freight yards were also bombed. Toward the end of 1942 U.S. bombers based in Great Britain joined in the attack. The heavy bombers flew in large formations and made long-range daylight raids. Later in the war, the bombers were escorted by long-range fighters. War in the PacificIsland warfareIn the Pacific, Allied ground forces began the difficult task of driving the Japanese back. To do so, U.S. troops advanced from island to island. Once an island was captured, an airfield was built on it. U.S. warplanes then attacked enemy-held islands nearer Japan. This military tactic became known as island-hopping. In February 1943, after six months of jungle warfare, the Japanese were driven from Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. The United States then captured Saipan in the Mariana Islands in July 1944. From Saipan, U.S. heavy bombers began bombing Japan. The PhilippinesIn October 1944 General Douglas MacArthur's forces landed on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. In late October U.S. naval forces engaged the Japanese in the battle of Leyte Gulf. In this important battle, the United States Navy destroyed much of the Japanese navy. MacArthur's troops then landed on Luzon in January 1945. They captured the Philippine capital of Manila in March. Iwo Jima and OkinawaIn February 1945 U.S. forces landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. There followed a similar attack on Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands in April 1945. The Iwo Jima and Okinawa assaults were among the bloodiest in the Pacific. The Japanese resisted fiercely. During the Okinawa campaign the U.S. Navy was attacked by kamikaze (suicide) bomber pilots. The Japanese fliers deliberately flew their planes into U.S. ships. Eventually, however, U.S. forces captured both islands. Allied invasion of EuropeD-DayThe Germans had long been expecting an Allied invasion of northern France. However, it was not clear where it would come. Early on June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion began on the beaches of Normandy. Paratroops were dropped behind the beaches. Waves of Allied aircraft attacked the German shore defenses. In the morning, the troops and tanks began landing on Normandy's beaches. During the invasion 156,000 troops were landed in Normandy. After fierce fighting, the Allied armies were able to move inland. Paris was taken on August 25. By mid-September the advancing Allies were joined by other Allied troops. British and Canadian armies advanced into northern Belgium. The U.S. troops kept farther south. Final attacks by the GermansIn mid-1944 the Germans began using a new weapon against the British. They launched flying bombs called the V-1 and V-2. The V-bombs injured and killed thousands of English civilians and caused great damage. The U.S. march toward Germany was halted in December 1944. German troops counterattacked in the Ardennes area of southern Belgium. Caught by surprise, the U.S. forces were pushed backwards about 65 miles (105 kilometers). This created a “bulge” in the line of U.S. troops. The Americans regrouped and the Germans were finally driven back. Known as the battle of the bulge, this counterattack was the German army's last major offensive in the war. After crossing the Rhine River in March 1945, the Allies drove rapidly into Germany. The end of the war in EuropeBy early 1945 it was clear that Germany could not fight for much longer. The Allied leaders—U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin—met in Russia for the Yalta Conference. While at Yalta, they planned for the final defeat and occupation of Germany. Meanwhile, Soviet troops pushed on through Germany. By April 25 the Soviets had surrounded Berlin. Adolf Hitler realized that the war was lost and committed suicide on April 30. Germany surrendered at midnight on May 8, 1945. The end of the war in the PacificWith the fall of Germany, the United States prepared to invade Japan. Military planners expected that the invasion of Japan would cost many lives. On July 26, 1945, the Allies demanded Japan's surrender, but it refused. The Allies then decided to shorten the war and save Allied lives by using the atom bomb. The atom bomb was a new weapon of immense power. It had been secretly developed in the United States. On August 6 a U.S. bomber named the Enola Gay dropped an atom bomb that exploded over Hiroshima, Japan. The blast killed 70,000 to 80,000 people and started fires that burned a huge area. On August 9 an even more powerful atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945. World War II was over. Settlements and resultsAfter the war's end, a conference was held in Potsdam, Germany, to prepare the way for the peace treaties. The chief Allied representatives were U.S. President Harry S. Truman (who became president after Roosevelt died in office), Stalin, and British prime ministers Churchill and Clement Attlee. (Attlee replaced Churchill as Britain's prime minister during the conference.) They divided Germany and its capital city of Berlin into four zones. The zones were to be controlled by Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union. Because of disagreements between the Soviet Union and the other three powers, Germany was eventually divided into two separate countries: East Germany, which had a Communist government, and West Germany, which was a democratic state. This marked the beginning of a new balance of world power between democratic and Communist countries. The United States became the most influential democratic nation in the world. The Soviet Union became the world's most powerful Communist country. Tensions between the two groups led to a situation known as the Cold War, which lasted until the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s. The human costWorld War II was a “total war.” Both soldiers and civilians were attacked by enemy forces. Civilians were also asked or forced to do “essential work.” In many countries civilians worked in factories to produce military supplies. Nazi Germany forced about 10 million people from the occupied countries to work as slave laborers. One of the best-known and most terrible aspects of the war was the Holocaust—a deliberate attempt by the Germans to exterminate the Jews of Europe. The 6 million Jewish people who were killed represented more than two thirds of those who lived in the areas occupied by Germany after 1939. The Germans killed an additional 6 million Roma (Gypsies), Slavs (such as Russian and Polish people), homosexuals, and disabled people as well. After the war many Nazi officials were arrested and punished for their participation in these acts of murder. The trials were held at Nuremberg, in Germany. |