World War II took place from 1939–1945. On September 1, 1939 Germany, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland. This lead to Britain and France declaring war on Germany. The next year, in May and June, Germany successfully invaded France. Britain and her Commonwealth (including Canada!) alone stood against the might of Hitler. The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies of England between Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) and the German Luftwaffe (air force) as Germany tried to gain air superiority in order to invade England. The RAF was able to beat the Luftwaffe and save Britain. Hitler then turned to the east, invading the Soviet Union in June 1941.
On December 7, 1941, a date that U.S. President Roosevelt said would "live in infamy," Japan bombed the American naval base Pearl Harbor. This brought the United States not only into the war against Japan, but also into the war against Germany. Many bitter battles were fought in Europe – including the battles of Stalingrad, Kursk (the largest tank battle the world has seen), Leningrad, Falais, and the invasion of the Balkans. Even Northern Africa and the Mediterranean were brought into the conflict. Meanwhile the British and German air forces bombed each other's countries, causing many civilian deaths. Over on the other side of the world, the battle of Midway in June 1942 was a turning point of the war in the Pacific. The Japanese navy suffered a devastating defeat, losing four aircraft carriers and hundreds of airplanes at the hands of the U.S. Navy. After the defeat, the United States slowly took island after island away from Japan's recently acquired imperial empire, freeing the Pacific from Japanese rule.
On June 6, 1944, after much planning and preparation, Britain, the United States, and Canada launched a huge invasion over the English Channel into occupied France (D–Day). After a few months of fierce fighting they had liberated France! Hitler was now in trouble – Anglo-American forces were pushing into Germany from the west and Soviet forces were quickly advancing from the east. Germany fought to the bitter end, and eventually even fought in the streets of Berlin against overwhelming Soviet forces. On April 30, 1945 Hitler committed suicide, and May 8 marked VE–Day, the day of victory in Europe! It was then discovered that millions of Jews and other "undesirables" had been killed in German death camps during the war under Hitler's orders (the Holocaust).
Japan still needed to be defeated, however. The United States had been successful in liberating the islands of the Pacific and was now faced with the daunting task of invading Japan itself. Casualties were sure to be very high if an amphibious invasion was to be launched against Japan. The alternative was a revolutionary weapon just developed by the United States: the atomic bomb. They chose the bomb. On August 6, 1945 an airplane dropped the atomic bomb Little Boy on the undamaged city of Hiroshima. Three days later the atomic bomb Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki. These were the first and last atomic bombs to ever be dropped on a city. The majority of both Japanese cities were destroyed and over 100,000 people died from the two bombs. The Japanese reluctantly surrendered and their unconditional surrender was formally accepted on September 2, 1945. The world's most deadly and devastating war had ended.
A new world order emerged in the aftermath of World War II. The Soviet Union's occupation of Europe and their development of nuclear weapons to match the U.S. resulted in the the Cold War, the Iron Curtain, and the infamous Berlin Wall. The United States and Canada came out from WWII as strong industrial nations. Civil war rocked the country of China. Some countries, like India, soon gained independence from Britain and other European countries. The country of Israel was formed. The world tried to recover from the many millions of military and civilian deaths and the destruction of entire cities. The world recovered, but it would never be the same.
© The World War Two Blog
