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World War II Overview – Brief War in Context
PRE WORLD WAR II
During the 1920s the world saw the rise of totalitarianism in several countries. Totalitarian
governments that severely limit the civil rights of individuals and exert control over almost all aspects of
their citizen’s lives. In Italy the economic problems caused by the Great War led the Italians to expand
control into North Africa (Libya). In 1922, it attacked Ethiopia in a grossly mismatched war. The main
political party was the Fascist Party under Benito Mussolini. In Asia, Japan embarked on a campaign to
gain control over resources in eastern Asia. It expanded into China’s northeastern Manchuria, establishing
a puppet state called “Manchukuo”. Later, the world would protest, but do nothing to stop attacks in 1937
on Nanking and Shanghai. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, Francisco Franco would come to
power with the aid of both Italy and Germany. Adolf Hitler led the National Socialist or Nazi Party to
power in 1933. Tapping into the resentment of Germans for their treatment after the Great War, Hitler
blamed the Jews for the German economic problems and began a campaign of persecution against Jews.
NAZI GERMANY RISE IN AGGRESSION IN EUROPE
In 1936, the Rhineland was taken by Germany (an act forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles).
Austria joined Germany in 1938. In 1938, the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was signed away to
Germany by the Munich Pact. This would later be seen as only “appeasement” by the British and French of
a territory-hungry Germany which later seized the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939.
BEGINNING OF WAR IN EUROPE
In August, 1939 the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) was signed. On
September 1, 1939 the Germans launched a blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Poland. It fell quickly as did
most of Europe soon to follow. Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France fell to the
Germans. On the French coast at Dunkirk 334,000 French and English troops were hurriedly ferried across
the English Channel when they became trapped against the sea. They were evacuated, but their equipment
was taken. Southern France was not directly held by Germany, but “Vichy” France was ruled by French
puppets for the Germans.
BRITAIN STANDS ALONE – BATTLE OF BRITAIN
With the entire continent either taken or neutral, Britain remained the only democracy to fight the
Axis powers. In August of 1940, Hitler began the Battle of Britain. Though bombing was effective in
bringing heavy destruction to cities, civilian defenses (such as blackouts) helped keep casualties down.
British radar and major strikes against the Luftwaffe caused Hitler to cancel his planned assault of Britain
in September of 1940. Bombing continued until mid-1941.
NAZI GERMANY VERSUS RUSSIA
In June of 1941, Russia was the unsuspecting target of a 3 million man invasion by German, Finnish,
Hungarian and Romanian troops. Huge losses were suffered, but the Germans underestimated the intensity
of Soviet resistance and Russian winters. The United States, while still a neutral, had signed agreements
called Lend-Lease to get military aid to both the British and Soviets. German failure to take Leningrad and
U.S. aid to the Soviets at Stalingrad turned the tide against the Germans. The Atlantic Charter was also
signed, pledging to restore countries to free governments with no territorial aspirations by the Allies.
US ENTRANCE INTO THE WAR
The U.S. was attacked at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. It brought the United States into the war on
both European and Pacific fronts. The fear of cooperation with Japan led to the internment of 110,000
Japanese- Americans in camps across the west in early 1942.
US ROLE IN EUROPE DURING THE WAR
Allied forces under General Eisenhower and Patton fought and routed the German Africa Corps
under General Rommel (a.k.a. “The Desert Fox”). This opened up Sicily and the Italian peninsula to attack
in 1943. The 442nd Regiment of Japanese-Americans became one of America’s most decorated units for
their fighting in Italy. Italy fell and Mussolini was hanged. On June 6, 1944, the D-Day invasion of the
Normandy coast took place. Within weeks, hundreds of thousands of troops were landed and Germany was
forced out of France. The Germans were now pressed on both eastern and western fronts. The Big Three
(FDR, Churchill and Stalin) met at Yalta to decide upon early plans for post-war Europe. The Germans
launched a surprise offensive called the Battle of the Bulge, which merely delayed the Allied victory in
Europe. As Allied troops moved onto German territory, the grisly horror of the Nazi Final Solution for Jews
was exposed to the world. The “holocaust” showed man’s inhumanity to man. Six million Jews and five
million other “undesirables” died in Nazi “death camps”. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. VEDay was May 8, 1945.
US IN THE PACIFIC VERSUS JAPAN
In the Pacific, Japanese under Hideki Tojo took control of Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
78,000 defeated American and Filipino soldiers were forced on the Bataan death march of 65 miles.
Thousands died along the way. The Allies now took advantage of having broken the secret military codes of
the Japanese. Underestimating the resolve of the U.S. (and its still powerful fleet of carriers missed at Pearl
Harbor) the Japanese fought the U.S. in the Battle of Coral Sea, off the Australian coast in May, 1942. It
was the first time air power alone was used in a naval battle. Although neither side won clearly, it deterred
the Japanese from expanding further south. The Battle of Midway was a disaster for the Japanese. They
were caught off guard, ready to make an attack when they themselves were attacked. Gradually the Allies
began to take key Pacific islands in a “leap-frogging” or “island-hopping” strategy to approach closely
enough to the main islands of Japan to bomb it. Casualties were extremely high on both sides. Japanese who
were fiercely loyal to their emperor and took off on “kamikaze” (divine wind) missions to destroy highly
effective battleships and carriers.
US AND THE ATOMIC BOMB
The U.S. began working on a secret atomic bomb project known as the Manhattan Project. As
Americans got closer to mainland Japan, the fighting became fiercer. Truman, who succeeded FDR after his
death (in April, 1945) decided to use The Bomb to end the war sooner. It was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945 on
Hiroshima. In an instant, thousands died. The Japanese did not surrender immediately and another was
dropped on Nagasaki on August 9. The Japanese military, prompted by a rare announcement by the
Emperor, agreed to surrender. V-J Day was Aug 15, 1945. The war was over.