The American people had not wanted to go into World War One - America did not join in until 1917 and when the war ended they rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. This is called 'isolationism' - the desire to keep out of foreign affairs. WW2 was fought between two major alliances and that was the Axis Powers including Germany, Italy and Japan. Also the Allies, including France, China, the UK and some of its commonwealth (e.g. Canada, Australia and New Zealand). World war 2 started because on the 1st of September of 1939, over a million of Nazi troops then invaded Poland. The UK and France had promised to help the Poles if they were attacked so that gave Hitler an ultimatum by threatening war if his troops did not withdraw by the 3rd of September. Hitler ignored this threat and so war was declared.
War in Europe- German Invasion of Poland
On the 1st of September in 1936, German forces bombard Poland on land and from air, as Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War 2 begun. The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war, which that led to the blitzkrieg strategy. Blitzkrieg was a German term for lightning war. Its a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower.
Holocaust
The Holocaust was the murder of six million Jews by the Nazi and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so called German racial community. In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most European Jews lived in countries that Nazi Germany would occupy or influence during World War 2. The term "genocide" did not exist before 1944. It is a very specific term, referring to violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the existence of the group. Aryans was a name originally given to a people who were said to speak an archaic Indo-European language and who were thought to have settled in prehistoric times in ancient Iran and the northern Indian subcontinent. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany established about 20,000 camps to imprison its many millions of victims. These concentration camps were used for a range of purposes including forced-labor camps, transit camps which served as temporary way stations, and killing centers built primarily or exclusively for mass murder.The Nazis and their helpers used the most terrible methods of murdering Jews, gypsies and other “undesirable” population groups. The Nazis began by using mass shootings, then used gassing trucks (in the first extermination camp, Chelmno) and ended up by constructing large industrialised facilities of mass destruction as in Auschwitz-Birkenau, where the highly effective Zyklon B gas was used.
Ann Frank
Anne Frank was born to a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929. When, in 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany, her family thought they would be safer in Holland, so went to live in Amsterdam. For a few years they were safe. However, in 1940, the Germans occupied Holland. The family was once again living under Nazi control. Anne’s father, began making plans to hide himself and his entire family until the War was over. By August 1944 Anne Frank and her family had been in hiding for just over two years. The Franks were then betrayed. On 4 August 1944, the Nazis found out about the hiding place and raided the office, arresting all eight people. All were sent to Westerbork, a transit champ near Amsterdam. On her 13th birthday, she had gone into hiding by then, Anne was given a diary as a birthday present. For the two years she was in hiding Anne wrote a detailed diary. She invented an imaginary friend, Kitty, who was the person she imagined telling her thoughts to. Anne wrote about life in hiding, her family relationships, the other people in hiding with her and her own physical and emotional development. It is a very moving personal record of what happened during the Holocaust.
Pearl Harbor- America Enters the War
On December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted two hours, but it was devastating. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. Axis Powers including Germany, Italy and Japan. Also the Allies, including France, China, the UK. On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, which became known as the Axis alliance. Even before the Tripartite Pact, two of the three Axis powers had initiated conflicts that would become theaters of war in World War 2.
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He initiated World War II and oversaw fascist policies that resulted in millions of deaths. On June 22, 1941, Hitler violated a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin, sending 3 million German troops into the Soviet Union. The invading force seized a huge area before the German advance was stopped outside Moscow in December 1941. Around April 29, 1945 Hitler was informed of the assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Afraid of falling into the hands of enemy troops, Hitler and Braun committed suicide the day after their wedding, on April 30, 1945.
Fascist Italy Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini created the Fascist Party in Italy in 1919, eventually making himself dictator prior to World War II. In March 1919, formed the Fascist Party—the movement proclaimed opposition to social class discrimination and supported nationalist sentiments, hoping to raise Italy to levels of its great Roman past. Capitalizing on public discontent, Mussolini organized a para-military unit known as the "Black Shirts," who terrorized political opponents and helped increase Fascist influence. By 1922, as Italy slipped into political chaos, Mussolini declared that only he could restore order and was given the authority. He gradually dismantled all democratic institutions, and by 1925, had made himself dictator, taking the title "Il Duce", "the Leader". To his credit, Mussolini carried out an extensive public works program and reduced unemployment, making him very popular with the people. He overextended his forces during World War II and was eventually killed by his own people, on April 28, 1945, in Mezzegra, Italy.
Communist Soviet Union Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. He ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. Stalin aligned with the United States and Britain in World War II (1939-1945) but afterward engaged in an increasingly tense relationship with the West known as the Cold War (1946-1991).