World War II (1939–1945)

Global conflict that resulted in the deaths of 50 million civilians and combatants. World War II pitted the Allies, which included the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France, against the fascist forces of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The most widespread conflict in history, the war was waged on battlefronts from Europe to North Africa to the Pacific and prompted new debates over national security.

Background and Origins

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 at the conclusion of World War I, forced Germany to admit responsibility for the Great War, cede territory to its neighbors, reduce its military to a fraction of its former strength, and pay heavy reparations. The German people, who suffered greatly after the war, blamed the humiliation and severe economic consequences of the treaty on the new Weimar government.

The rising leader of the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) party, a man named Adolf Hitler, attributed German defeat in World War I to a stab in the back. Hitler won much popular support by vowing to amend the outrage committed at Versailles. Named Chancellor of the Reich in January 1933, Hitler helped suspend substantial elements of the Weimar constitution. He also directed German rearmament in violation of the peace agreements from 1935 onward, and that same year he reclaimed the Saar region, which had been ceded to France after World War I.

Germany's future allies, Japan and Italy, were likewise attempting to consolidate power and land holdings. Japan took over the Chinese region of Manchuria (Manchukuo) in 1931 to gain access to its resources and to south Asia. Italy invaded Ethiopia to try to establish an empire in Africa. In both cases, the League of Nations, the Western European powers, and the United States failed to take significant action—the former for fiscal reasons; the latter because of a retreat into isolationism.

In 1936, Germany, Japan, and Italy signed the anti-Comintern pact, which provided a basis for the Axis alliance. Facing little opposition, each country pursued particular strategies of expansionist rule, including Hitler's anschluss (union) with Austria to fulfill his dream of reuniting German-speaking peoples under one Reich. In September 1938, Hitler negotiated with representatives from Great Britain and France and gained control of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. The western powers hoped that Hitler would be appeased by these concessions. Instead, he effectively took over the rest of Czechoslovakia in early 1939. A nonaggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union completed Hitler's preparations.

The Opening Phases, 1939–1942

War was declared officially on September 1, 1939, when Hitler launched a devastating blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Poland. The attack combined tactics of speed, surprise, and divide-and-conquer maneuvers using the most up-to-date technology, stunning the world with its force.

Poland was invaded again by the Soviet Union on September 17 and surrendered on September 27. The Soviets next launched an attack against Finland in November and dictated a settlement in which Finland ceded some of its territory by March of 1940. Meanwhile, Germany took over Denmark in one day in April and then invaded Norway, creating a puppet state there by June to secure food and other supplies.

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