World War II

The Second World War was a global conflict that took place from 1939 to 1945 and it came just two decades after the Great War. The Second World War is considered to be the deadliest and most widespread war in history. This conflict involved 30 countries and ended up with more than 50 million deaths. After a huge global war the instability in Europe would mix up with a rise of a economical and political power in Germany called the Nazis which would lead to a worst conflict than the last one.

With the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, taking power in Germany the idea of a pure superior German race, the Aryan race, needing space and an expansion in its territory he started to rearm its army secretly break the Versailles Treaty. Hitler signed a alliances with Italy and Japan respectively and started to expand its territory starting with Austria in 1938 and then with Czechoslovakia after. Because of the great instability the Great War had left on Europe France and Great Britain had no intent nor desire of confrontation at the time so these violent acts from Germany without mentioning the violation of the Versailles Treaty passed almost ignored by these while the Soviet Union and the United States where concentrated in internal politics and restoration payed no attention to these events.

In 1939 Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact which led to Germany invading Poland with no fear of a war from both sides. Two days after the attack France and Great Britain declared war against Germany honoring their agreement of giving military protection to Poland. After a few days Germany and the Soviet Union had divided Poland and each would have control of a half of the territory. Afterwards each one of these European powers started to expand their territory. The Soviet Union occupied the Baltic States and Finland while Germany concentrated its attacks in Great Britain. In 1940 Germany invaded Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Netherlands by using a confrontation technique known as “blitzkrieg" which means lighting war. The German army would invade territories in a matter of days and this would give no time for the enemy to react.

While Germany started an offensive against France Italy honored its Pact of Steel and declared war against France and Great Britain. After German forces entered Paris the French surrendered and made a deal giving full control to Germany of  half of its territory while half would still maintain its french control but with no offensives against German forces. After this Hitler was determine to gain control of Great Britain, which had not been able to do and he would never achieve. The Royal Air forces would overcome the German Air force after months of attacks and devastating bombs against London and the entire British territory. After this huge British victory Great Britain started receiving a very important aid from the United States.

With the expansion of German territory increasing more and more Hitler saw the need of invading the Soviet Union and with this giving his Aryan race the territory they needed and destroying Jews with a German occupied Europe. The German forces attacked the Soviet Union and because its high tech in air forces and the element of surprise they got into 200 miles from Moscow but then they found themselves with a huge counterattack from the Soviet forces.

With a huge war going on in Europe the United States had to help in counterattacking the rise of Japan who was dominating in the East. With a Japanese attack to the American Air base of Pearl Harbor the United States of America declared war to Japan officially entering to the Second World War. And in 1942, after a lot of confrontations in the Pacific the United States defeated Japan. Afterwards in 1943 the United Sates and Allied forces defeated Italy after months of attacks in North Africa and Italy itself. Meanwhile, the Soviet forces defeated completely the German offensive.

In 1944 the allied forces took back France leading a huge offensive in Normandy obligating Hitler to move his troops and concentrate them in the West while leaving the East unprotected allowing the Soviet forces to advance freely and when the allied forces got to German territory the Soviets would have already major control of the country.And finally in May 8 of 1945 the German forces formally and officially surrendered.

Sources:

• "World War II History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.