World War II
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
World War II was a war fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It was called a "World War" because many countries all over the world fought or helped in this war. Of all the wars ever fought, World War II involved the most countries and killed the most people. Thirty-five million people died. It lasted six years in Europe, from 1939 to 1945, but technically started in 1937 in Asia.
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[edit] The two sides
The Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan. These countries had signed an agreement called the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis Powers in 1937, where they agreed to help each other in wars.
The Allied Powers, or Allies, were Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. Canada, India, South Africa, and Australia were also Allies. They were part of the British Empire and were friendly with Great Britain. Other Allies included Poland, Greece, and Yugoslavia, and there were many more countries.
[edit] Why the war started
In Europe, there was a war in 1914-1918, World War I. Germany lost. After this war, Germany had to give up land and pay money for the damage they did. Areas along the Rhine River were occupied by France. Germany was forced to not have a large army and no air force or navy. Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazis, took control of Germany in 1933 and killed his enemies. He made the German army, navy, and air force larger. He wanted to take land from other countries. He also hated many groups of people including Russians, Jews, and people with black skin. In 1937, Germany attacked Czechoslovakia, a small country, but the Allies did not help. Great Britain and France made a deal with Germany to take part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. Hitler falsely agreed to stop attacking, but six months later he attacked again and took all of Czechoslovakia including the capital, Prague. The Allies learned that Hitler would not stop, and so they planned to protect Poland.
In Asia, Japan attacked China. The United States and Great Britain helped China, so Japan attacked them too.
[edit] Beginning of the War (September 1939 - August 1940)
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany. In a series of very fast battles, Germany controlled most of Europe by 1941, including France. Some French and British soldiers were able to escape from Dunkirk, across the English Channel, to England.
During this time, Japan was growing its empire to include China and some of the many islands in the Pacific Ocean.
[edit] September 1940 - May 1944
By September 1940, Hitler controlled large sections of Europe. He hoped that the British would ask for peace, but they did not. German airplanes bombed the city of London to weaken the British. The bombing runs lasted from September 1940 to May 1941, and were called The Blitz. The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, told the residents not to lose hope. By the time The Blitz ended, 27,450 British civilians were killed and the Royal Air Force lost 1,023 aircraft.
In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The Soviets joined the Allied Powers. The majority of German forces would spend the war fighting the Soviets. Adolf Hitler planned to capture the Soviet Union and place a blockade (not letting anything in or out) on Britain, creating a "Fortress Europe" that would be very difficult to invade. After capturing Europe, Hitler hoped that he could capture the United States later.
The invasion started on June 22, 1941. The German army captured large amounts of Soviet land and encircled Leningrad. By December the Germans advanced as far as Moscow, but were stopped by Russian army.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighters attacked an American port in Hawaii named Pearl Harbor. On December 11, the Axis Powers declared war on the United States. In November 1942, Allied forces started to land in North Africa. The battle fought there, named El Alamein, resulted in an Allied victory and put the Allies very close to Italy.
The German war machine needed more oil, as Germany only had the relatively small oilfields of Romania under its control. Therefore in 1942, when the Germans began advancing again in Russia, their target was the oilfields of the Caucasus. To secure this territory, the Germans needed to take the city of Stalingrad, but they were defeated in the Battle of Stalingrad, which was the turning point of the war in Russia. At the same time the Siege of Leningrad was relieved.
On July 10, 1943, Allied forces landed on the Italian island of Sicily, in an operation named Huskey. They were successful in taking the island, and Italy fell shortly after.
In the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese empire was getting bigger and bigger. The United States, now at war with the Axis, began to send out ships to attack the Japanese navy. The result of a large deployment, or sending out, of ships was the famous Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, which was an American victory. Hoping that Japan was weakened by this defeat, the Americans landed in Guadacanal on August 7, 1942. The result was another American victory, and a capture of a very important place.
[edit] June 1944 - September 1945
[edit] The Atlantic Front
As the war went on, the Allies saw that they would need to land in Europe to defeat Germany. They chose a small piece of coastline in France called Normandy for the invasion. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy and began the Battle of Normandy, code named Operation Overlord or D-Day. It was an Allied victory.
As the Allies fought to get to Berlin, the capital of Germany, the Germans attacked fiercely to defend their land. The resulting battle was named the Battle of the Bulge, and was a narrow Allied victory. In the spring of 1945, the Soviet Red Army closed in on Berlin and captured it, defeating Germany.
The Soviet general, Georgy Zhukov reached Berlin before the Americans, and won an unspoken "contest" between Generals to see who could get to Berlin first. General Eisenhower of the Americans said that there was no race to Berlin, though. The day that Germany officially surrendered (gave up), May 8, 1945, was a day marked with large celebrations. Today, the day is called V-E Day, or "Victory in Europe Day."
[edit] The Pacific Front
After the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal, the Japanese were being pushed slowly out of the Pacific. Many battles were fought in the Pacific. The United States went on an "Island Hopping" campaign to capture small islands that were under Japanese control. Of these small islands came some very large battles, such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. President Harry Truman of the Americans gave the order to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. On August 6, 1945, bombers dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, bombers dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. Only 6 days later, on August 15, Japan surrendered to the Allies. President Truman marked the end of the war on September 2, calling it V-J Day, or "Victory over Japan Day." Today it is sometimes called V-P Day for "Victory in the Pacific."
[edit] Products of the War
The war introduced new tactics, strategies, and technologies. Some of the new strategies were the Blitzkrieg (fast war maneuvers that used tanks, trucks, and planes, German for 'lightning war') and aerial assaults (use of many airplanes and rockets). Another major new technology was radar (finding airplanes by using radio waves).
The war also made weapons with far more killing power. The atomic bomb was first used by the United States during this war. President Truman ordered two atomic bombs to be dropped from airplanes on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No atomic weapons have been used in war since then.
