The Second World War as it came to be known later on was the largest war in history fought between September 1939 and September 1945. The war was not a single unitary conflict blown out of proportions in one single event. It was n reality a number of different wars gradually drawing the world’s major powers between 1939 and 1941.How did the closing of World War I set the stage for World War II?
Germany took a major role in World War I. After the war, the nation is still a powerhouse and still got some grievances towards its imperial rivals in the region. Since, Germany was not physically occupied in the First World War it did bear the same burden as the other nations. Its infrastructure remained intact because no army occupied German soil. What followed was a country that is gradually gaining power and posing a threat to the European balance of power. But it had lost considerably a large tract of land to Lithuania, France and Poland, notable losses includes the Polish Corridor and the Danzig granted to Poland after the Versailles Treaty of 1919. The result of this loss of land was population relocation, bitterness among Germans, and also difficult relations with those in these neighboring countries.
The German demand for the return of Danzig and part of the Polish ‘corridor but Poland refused to agree to their demands. On September 1, 1939 overwhelming German forces launched the Polish campaign and invaded Poland. Britain and France had guaranteed Polish sovereignty, and in honor of that pledge first demanded that German forces withdraw but the diplomatic approach did not work and so the 3rd of September they declared war against Germany. The immediate cause of World War II would have to be the invasion of Poland by German forces. Britain and France had previously warned that they would honor their alliances to Poland and issued an ultimatum to Germany: withdraw or war would be declared. Germany declined, and World War II began.
This global conflict split the majority of the world's nation into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis Powers. The underlying dominance of these major powers caused the entire world to take sides. The Axis Powers were the three main countries of the Second World War: Italy, Germany, and Japan. A number of other nations also briefly joined the Axis Powers. Together, these powers managed to take control of other nations. A number of nations joined the Axis, often under pressure, including Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Thailand, and Yugoslavia. The Axis Powers also bolstered themselves with an assortment of puppet states: Imperial Japan in particular had a number of puppet states which it used to control much of Southeast Asia, including governments in Burma, Vietnam, and Inner Mongolia. Iraq and Finland both cooperated with the Axis Powers, offering resources, land, and expertise, although they signed no formal agreements. In opposition to the Axis Powers were the Allied Powers: the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, assisted by a number of other nations including Australia, Canada, Norway, Belgium, and a range of South American countries. What follows are a string of wars that had cost millions of lives and properties.
Some of the most significant wars would include the Russo-Finish War when Finland was defeated by Russia; the Blitzkrieg invasion of France when the German forces swept through Netherlands and Belgium; the Battle of Britain and the North African campaign where the Allies defeated Italian and German forces, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Normandy Campaigns when the Allies steadily advance winnings over the Axis Powers. The pattern of the war resembled a tidal flow. Until the end of 1942 the armies and navies of the Axis continually extended their power through Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Toward the end of 1942 the tide turned. The Allies won decisive victories in each theater. The World was enraged by the war where battles happen at sea, on land and even on air. By the end of 1944, Allied victory in Europe began to seem all but imminent, but a number of obstacles still stood in the way. Hitler's scientists had developed the V2 rocket, precursor of modern missiles, and Germany fired several of them against England. The Allies, meanwhile, relentlessly bombed German cities, bringing the Reich to its knees. The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest in December 1944 was the later major Axis offensive in Europe. The Axis Powers were losing.
With the Soviets surrounding Berlin, Hitler on April 30, 1945, committed suicide in his bunker with his mistress, Eva Braun. Two days earlier, Mussolini and his mistress, captured by Italian resistance fighters, had been shot. The Germans surrendered to the Allies on May 7. The Allied declared victory over Europe. In the Pacific, the surrender of Japan is inevitable. Instead of invading Japan, The Americans unleashed the result of the Manhattan project and had dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima and the second one on Nagasaki. The nation surrendered and so the Second World War ended with the defeat of all of the belligerent Axis Powers.
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SOURCES:
World War II. Retrieved October 15, 2008 from http://www.history.com/minisites/worldwartwo -
Axis Powers. Retrieved October 15, 2008 from http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/World_War_II
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