The Second World war: A brief History
World War 2 was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It was the
most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in
military units. Marked by the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in
warfare, it resulted in over 60 million fatalities and remains the by far the
deadliest conflict in all of human history.
It was fought in Europe, Russia, North Africa and Asia between the
majority of the worlds nations. On one side were the Axis Powers,
including Germany, Italy and Japan. On the other side were the Allies, which
included Britain, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, the Soviet
Union, China and the United States of America.
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| Poona, India 20.03.44 |
Britain received help from
Commonwealth nations, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada as well as
countries in the British Empire such as India. Some countries stayed neutral
and did not join the war, including Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland.
World War 2 is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 with the
invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, and subsequent declarations of war on
Germany by France and Britain. Whilst Hitler wanted Germany to control Europe,
Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific and was already at war with the
Republic of China from 1937.
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| North West frontier |
By the summer of 1940 the Nazi forces had conquered Holland, Belgium,
France, Denmark and Norway. Enemy planes dropped bombs on cities in Britain and
Allied ships were sunk by submarines. Hilter wished to invade Britain as
quickly as he had taken France but this proved difficult. Germany, unlike
Britain, was not a sea power and the Channel was a formidable obstacle. In July
1940, German planes started bombing British coastal towns, defences and ships
in the English Channel in order to gain control of the skies in the South of
England. By mid-September 1940, after many battles, Germany postponed their
planned land invasion of Britain as the RAF effectively fought off the German
Luftwaffe during the The Battle of Britain.
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| VIC |
In 1941 the Soviet Union (Russia) was attacked by Germany. In 1941
America also joined the war, after Japan attacked the American naval base at
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
By 1943 the Allies were winning. One reason was that Allied factories
were building thousands of tanks, ships and planes. In 1944, a huge Allied army
crossed from Britain to liberate France. Then Allied armies invaded Germany. The
war in Europe ended with the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and
the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. The war in Europe
was over.
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| Body on cart |
The Pacific war went on until August 1945. There was fierce fighting on
Pacific islands and big naval battles at sea. The Allies used their nuclear
weapons and dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on 6
August, and Nagasaki on 9 August. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan by
invading Manchuria on the 9th August 1945. In the wake of the use of nuclear
weapons on Japan, and with an invasion imminent, the Japanese surrendered on 15
August 1945. World War 2 had ended.
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