The Most Devastating Conflict in World History
We now finally enter into one of the darkest chapters in our planet's history. World War II (1939-1945) was unparalleled in its death count, and savagery. The First World War claimed roughly 9 million lives, while the Second World War claimed about 55 million. It happened for many of the same reasons as its predecessor, including the key components of Militarism, Nationalism, and Alliances. On top of all those old reasons, we have a new one as well: anger over the Treaty of Versailles. Many countries were hurt, ignored, or humiliated during that conference, including Germany, Austria, and Japan. Not to mention, the severe economic hardships following the war left many countries in ruin, such as Germany and Italy, and they turned to dictators to solve the problem; many who did so through military force.
The world tasted what kind of warfare could result from the new technology created during the Industrial Revolution in World War I, but they had twenty years to improve their weapons and make them even more deadly. Planes would now serve a serious military purpose, aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the head of navies, tanks were more heavily armored with bigger guns and faster engines, artillery could fire longer distances with more damaging shells, submarines were upgraded, and by the end of the war, we saw the emergence of long-range rockets and the Atomic Bomb. After this conflict ended, the United States and the Soviet Union would become the two world superpowers, and would compete in a global nuclear arms race for dominance, called the Cold War. These events directly contributed to the world we live in today, and would not only define an entire era of history, but also how countries deal with one another in the present.
The world tasted what kind of warfare could result from the new technology created during the Industrial Revolution in World War I, but they had twenty years to improve their weapons and make them even more deadly. Planes would now serve a serious military purpose, aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the head of navies, tanks were more heavily armored with bigger guns and faster engines, artillery could fire longer distances with more damaging shells, submarines were upgraded, and by the end of the war, we saw the emergence of long-range rockets and the Atomic Bomb. After this conflict ended, the United States and the Soviet Union would become the two world superpowers, and would compete in a global nuclear arms race for dominance, called the Cold War. These events directly contributed to the world we live in today, and would not only define an entire era of history, but also how countries deal with one another in the present.
There is so much to talk about....how can we?
Unfortunately, there is no way we could cover the entire war in depth, which would be an extremely interesting endeavor. The most we can do is discuss the major battles, events, political figures, alliances, and how this conflict shaped the post-war world. Rest-assured though, World War II will still take quite some time to get through, due to how vital it is to our past.
To give a brief review and then overview, World War II lasted from 1939-1945. Last unit, we talked about the aggression of totalitarian rulers, and how, during the 1930's, countries started to defy the Treaty of Versailles. Japan attacked Manchuria and China in order to form a larger empire, Italy launched an invasion of Ethiopia, and Germany grew their military again, reoccupied the Rhineland, and annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia. These moves were mainly met with appeasement by the League of Nations, and only encouraged the totalitarian rulers to become more bold in their strategies.
In a shocking move, Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact, and agreed to split the territories between Germany and the Soviet Union among one other. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, while Russia attacked the other sides and the Baltic states. This set in motion the same kind of alliance system that caused the First World War. Poland was an ally of both Great Britain and France, and when Germany attacked, they were obligated to enter the war on Poland's side. World War II had begun.
To give a brief review and then overview, World War II lasted from 1939-1945. Last unit, we talked about the aggression of totalitarian rulers, and how, during the 1930's, countries started to defy the Treaty of Versailles. Japan attacked Manchuria and China in order to form a larger empire, Italy launched an invasion of Ethiopia, and Germany grew their military again, reoccupied the Rhineland, and annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia. These moves were mainly met with appeasement by the League of Nations, and only encouraged the totalitarian rulers to become more bold in their strategies.
In a shocking move, Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact, and agreed to split the territories between Germany and the Soviet Union among one other. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, while Russia attacked the other sides and the Baltic states. This set in motion the same kind of alliance system that caused the First World War. Poland was an ally of both Great Britain and France, and when Germany attacked, they were obligated to enter the war on Poland's side. World War II had begun.
What were these alliances called?
The Axis Powers On May 22, 1939, Germany and Italy signed a defense pact, and formalized the Axis alliance. In it, they would help one another in war and would aid each other whenever possible. The final piece to the puzzle was, when shortly after the war began, Japan signed as well to form a Tripartite Pact, on September 27, 1940. The Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan was born. Other countries were included as well, but these were the three main members of the alliance.
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The Allied PowersWe use the term "Allied Powers," or "Allies" loosely, because it was not really called that. Before the war, the "anti-German coalition" consisted of France, Poland, and Great Britain. Poland and France were both marginal members after their defeats in 1939, and 1940, respectively. Soon thereafter, they were joined by the British Commonwealth (India, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). The Soviet Union would become a member after being invaded by Germany in June, 1941, and then the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. China had already been at war with Japan since 1937, but joined the Allies with the U.S. after they declared war on Japan. Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States would dominate Allied policy, and China would eventually as well. On January 1, 1942, this new alliance was called The United Nations.
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