World War II

World War II was like any other war, treacherous, bloody, and cruel. Unlike other wars, this involved many worldwide countries. Such as Germany, Great Britain, France, United States, Japan, Italy, etc. From strong minded dictators, to poor economic situations, World War II affected just about everyone in the world. Times were hard, people were unhappy about the end of World War I, and many governments were left in shambles.

The first major cause of WWII was the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed in the year of 1919. This treaty used Article 231, which was the war-guilt clause. Britain & France wanted to prevent Germany from beginning war again. This treaty created the League of Nations, took Germany’s territory, restricted their size of military, and put the fault of the war on Germany’s behalf. Germany is responsible for war, they lost their colonies, and had to pay $33 billion dollars to help pay for war damage. This treaty left Germany bitter and full of hate, colonial possessions were unhappy they didn’t get freedom and Japan and Italy did not gain as much territory as they wanted. The United States refused to join League of Nations, and they were too weak to be defensive/effective. The second cause was the rise of dictators. These dictators that were on a come up were Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. In Italy, 20 million people migrated out because of intense poverty and the mafia, they had a desire for a savior to make their country better. When Benito Mussolini took over Italy, he created fascism, which was the central control of government. Adolf Hitler, was the leader of the Nazi party, he wanted revenge for Germany’s loss in World War I, and was an intense believer in German Superiority. Joseph Stalin, was a communist leader, he wanted control of people’s aspect of life, and he eliminated ALL competition just so he can remain in power.

The official start of the war was when Germany made an unprovoked attack on Poland in September of 1939. Two days after this attack, Britain and France decided to enter war, even though they were unable to help Poland in time. Germany was able to conquer many countries, such as Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France rapidly. The Battle of Britain was Germany’s first military failure. As Germany attempted to launch a further invasion on Britain, their air force was not able to conquer Britain’s.

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