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WWII was an Anti-Semitic and nationalistic fueled genocide against the Jewish population from 1939-1945. Nazi Germany forced the world’s hand as they carried out the systematic and unjust slaughter of the Jewish people and whoever they deemed inferior. This legacy is now taught to us as a means of prevention of these crimes against humanity.

Green - Vince

Purple - Hannah

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From top left: Stalin, Hitler, Kim Il Sung, Mussolini and Mao Zedong

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Totalitarianism dug its roots in post World War 1 Italy, led by Benito Mussolini, Germany, led by Adolph Hitler, and Russia, (also called the Soviet Union), led by Joseph Stalin. It dug its roots because of discontentment from how the war was resolved. This was mainly due to dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles. A totalitarian government consists of an oppressive leader called a dictator who opposes all opposition and strips away all rights from their nation and enforcers their law as they see fit. Driven by nationalistic values, each country was taken over by these dictators and turned into an instrument of war and oppression.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PYaM2StEs7s&pp=ygUeVGhlIHNwcmVhZCBvZiB0b3RhbGl0YXJpYW5pc20g

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(From left) Italian leader Benito Mussolini, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, a German interpreter, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meeting in Munich, September 29, 1938.

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Policy of Appeasement is a diplomatic strategy wherein a country bends the knee to the demands of the aggressor and concedes to what the aggressor wants. This strategy was mainly used by Britain near the almost start of WWII in the 1930’s. Britain caved to Nazi Germany’s demands and stayed out of their affairs due to having their own Great Depression. Germany began rearming themselves and violating the Treaty of Versailles and Britain stayed out of it and didn’t punish them in any way, shape or form, opting to negotiate. This led to a much larger Navy than agreed upon for Germany in tandem with their newly built Air Force and the remilitarized zone of the Rhineland on the border of France. Policy of appeasement led to a cowering superpower as Nazi Germany grew and expanded while building up to the execution of their grand plan of the “Final Solution”.

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3 Jewish children marked by Nazi Germany with the Star of David 

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A big part of the persecution of the Jewish people was a long standing belief of Antisemitism in Europe. Antisemitism combined with need for a scapegoat for the problems caused my Germany’s defeat from WW1 created the perfect way for the Nazis to weaponize hate and capitalize on unrest to use against the Jewish people. This would then lead to Nazi persecution of the Jews due to another belief that Germans were of the “Aryan” race, the perfect and superior race. This ideology, pushed by the Nazis, became the center point where all different forms of persecution split from and how the Nazis spread Jewish hate.

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The document of Hitler’s “Final Solution” plan

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The “Final Solution” was Hitler’s plan to carry out the genocide of the Jewish people. Also called “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was the final stage of the Holocaust being put into action from 1941-1945, where the mass killings of the Jewish people took place in the forms of concentration camps, and killing squadrons of the police force. At these concentration camps, Jews and other “enemies of the state” (LGBTQ people, black people, disabled people, etc…) would be put to manual labor everyday, working themselves to death with barely any food or water. This would lead to the slaughter of 11 million victims, 6 million of which were Jewish.

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After experiencing the horrors of World War 1, Americans wanted to distance themselves from international conflicts. Thus, America returned to isolationism. In 1919, U.S congress refused to join the League of Nations out of fear the league would control the U.S by tying it too closely to Europe and impact national politics. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he attempted to change this by reaching out to other nations, including the Soviet Union. However, congress disagreed with Roosevelt, passing the Johnson debt default act in 1934, prohibiting foreign aid to countries who hadn’t paid back their debts in WW1. Congress also passed a series of neutrality acts to prevent U.S involvement in future wars.

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Despite congress trying its best to keep the U.S out of international affairs, Roosevelt soon realized that neutrality was impossible. When Japan started launching attacks on China in 1937, Roosevelt decided to have the U.S send reinforcements to China because there was technically no need to enforce the neutrality acts if Japan had not declared war on China. When German began to invade Poland, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, leading more Americans to wish for the defeat of Nazi Germany. However, most Americans were still opposed to U.S involvement in the current war. September of 1939, Roosevelt convinced congress to pass the “cash-and-carry” provision, which allowed the warring nations to buy U.S arms as along as they provided cash and transportation for the arms. By this time, the U.S was already beginning to stray away from neutrality, as the U.S mainly provided support for Great Britain and France. Germany took notice of this, and U-Boats attacked the U.S supply ships, shrinking as much as 350,000 tons in a month. In June of 1941, Roosevelt allowed the navy to attack german U-boats in self defense. Japan, as an ally of Germany, had its eyes set on the U.S, and the moment Japan launched an air raid on Pearl Harbor, the U.S officially joined the war.

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Women in the Military and Military Production 

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Women in the Military and Military Production 

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In order to meet wartime production needs, The Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was formed by law on May 15,1942 officially inviting women into the workforce. At first, women were not given the same benefits as the men, but it became abundantly clear that the patriotic spirits of the women who enlisted would not be deterred by the inequality. In 1943, the members of the WAAC were now the Women’s Army corps, and given the same benefits as the men.

The WAC replaced the workforce of what would typically be men, working as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators and electricians. More than 1000 women who had received pilot training formed the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, transporting supplies, moved aircrafts between bases and tested new planes.

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Internment of Japanese Americans citizens

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Internment of Japanese Americans citizens

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U.S government officials began to suspect that immigrants of German, Japanese, or Italian descent were spies for their countries of origin after the war had begun.

However, following the Pearl Harbor incident, tensions for the Japanese Americans in the U.S reached an all time high. In 1942, the war department mass evacuated all Japanese Americans in Hawaii to internment camps before ordering all Japanese Americans to internment.

Japanese Americans continued to fight for their rights in court. 1944, in Korematsu v. United States, the supreme court decided that the internment of the Japanese Americans was justified due to “military necessity” under the constitution.

Organizations also formed to fight for their cause of the Japanese Americans, such as the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)

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During the midst of the battle of Stalingrad, Stalin pressured Great Britain and the U.S to invade Western Europe, which would force hitler to divert his troops from the soviet front.

Due to not having enough troops, the Allies decided to launch operation torch, an invasion of North Africa controlled by the Axis powers lead by general Dwight D. Einsenhower.

Control of this territory was significant because it would protect the shipping lanes that would supply the British with oil.

The battle had begun in June 1940 following the fall of France, where throughout the battle, the Germans fought a back and forth battle against the British for control of North Africa throughout 1941 and 1942.

In November of 1942, around 107,000 allied troops landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers in North Africa, chasing after Rommel (German general)’s Africa corps.

In may 1943, however, the allies had successfully captured North Africa.

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General Dwight D. Einsenhower commanded the Allied invasion of Normandy, or operation Overlord. While general Omar Bradley lead the American forces in the mission.

The Allies had a force of nearly 3 million British, American and Canadian troops.

On June 6th, 1944, was the first day of the invasion. Two American divisions and one British division parachuted behind German lines. Despite the Allies attempt to overwhelm Germany, Germany did not back down. However, the Allies invaded Normandy in a week.

By September 1944 allies freed France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

from this point on, The Allies had captured part after part of Germany, forcing Hitler into a corner.

The Battle of The Bulge remained one of Hitler’s last ditch attempts to overpower the allies, as eight German tank divisions created a massive bulge in the lines that allowed Germany to move forward. This battle lasted for a month.

However, when the battle was over, the Germans had lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and assault guns along with 1,600 planes.

Following this massive loss, Nazi germany had no choice but to retreat.

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Since 1941, Japan had occupied the Philippines. But that was quickly ended on September 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered aboard the USS Missouri.

After the Philippines are freed, president Roosevelt called upon the Filipinos, promising them freedom if they join the military.

On July 26, 1941, The US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and consisted of 100,000 Filipino soldiers and 20,000 American soldiers.

their main task was to delay the Japanese troops on the mouth of Manila bay. But the troops were only placed on half rations. Despite promises by Commanding General MacArthur that backup was coming, no help came.

Soon, they were captured by the Japanese.

Majority of troops died from disease and starvation when they surrendered on April 9th, forced to walk to prison camp miles away with no food, water, or shelter. If they couldn’t go on, they were beaten and killed.

This event is known as the Bataan Death March, where the USAFFE soldiers delayed the Japanese Army by holding onto the Bataan Peninsula for 99 days.

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Iwo Jima was an air base located between the Mariana Islands and Japan, which the U.S invaded on February 19, 1945.

Over the course of 5 weeks, the Japanese turned the volcanic island into a death trap, mounting fierce defenses.

In the course of 36 days, approximately 70,000 U.S marines invaded the island with approximately 18,000 Japanese soldiers in order to root the Japanese out of caves and other strongholds.

The island was secured on March 26, 1945, and held strategic importance throughout the war, serving as a right flank for a future American invasion of Okinawa and provides air fields to support longer fighter escorts for bombing missions.

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The Manhattan Project and Hiroshima and Nagasaki 

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The Manhattan Project and Hiroshima and Nagasaki 

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Launched in December 1941, the Manhattan Project was an incredibly secret government program during WWII, stationed in Manhattan, that focused on the development of atomic weapons. The project sprung as an arms race to combat Germany and for America to acquire capable atomic weapons before the Nazis could. This all came to fruition when the US created the two atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man. On August 6th, 1945, to push for surrender from Japan, the US dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima and On August 9th, 1945, the US dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, Japan, killing upwards of 200,000 civilians. Japan would then declare surrender, officially, on September 2nd, 1945.

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The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials that tried the Nazi leaders and high ranking officials for their crimes against humanity. These trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany and were presided over by the allied powers: Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States alongside the International Military Tribunal. 199 defendants were tried, 161 were guilty and 37 were sentenced with the death penalty. Those who were tried acknowledged their crimes, but considered themselves not guilty because they were obeying the commands of those in higher power.

https://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/

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WWII has left behind a blood soaked legacy on the entire world. With estimated deaths between 70-85 million, around 3% of the global population at that time. WWII did bring economic opportunity, however, bringing women into the workforce with around 6 million women working with 85% wishing to stay working after the war. The US and Western Europe would then band together to form NATO as a countermeasure against war and as a way for nations to support one another.

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Overall, this project was an informative journey that helped us understand the different parts of WW2 such as the plight of the civilians involved, the battles fought, and the way the war reshaped society that we would not have previously understood without research.

Specifically, we thought the lack of guilt the defendants of the Nuremberg trials felt despite admitting to their crimes interesting. Most defendants defended their case by attesting to the fact that they were just following orders given to them. This displays the moral grayness and dedication to upholding the image of the self seen through these trials, showcasing Hitler as such a force of power that all his subjects were forced to submit to his whims.

We also found that despite the allies having more power during D-Day due to their bombardment of all sides, Germany was still not at a complete disadvantage interesting as it shows the dedication of Hitler to the war and the potent military power he acquired.

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https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-united-states-isolation-intervention

“Totalitarianism and Expansionism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 17 Mar. 2025, www.britannica.com/event/Nazism/Totalitarianism-and-expansionism.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nuremberg-trials. Accessed 4 Apr. 2025.

“Search Thousands of Historical Documents from the Nuremberg Trials.” Nuremberg, nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Michal. “The Holocaust: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 7 May 2024, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/holocaust.

“Daily Life in the Camps.” Yad Vashem. The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/camps/daily-life.html. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

“Holocaust Misconceptions.” Illinois Holocaust Museum, 23 Dec. 2024, www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/holocaust-misconceptions/

.“The Most Fearsome Sight: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/atomic-bomb-hiroshima. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

DeSimone, Danielle. “Over 200 Years of Service: The History of Women in the U.S. Military.” United Service Organizations, The USO, 28 Feb. 2023, www.uso.org/stories/3005-over-200-years-of-service-the-history-of-women-in-the-us-military.

Malloryk. “Liberation of the Philippines 1945: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 31 Aug. 2020, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/liberation-of-philippines-cecilia-gaerlan.

“The Enduring Impact of World War II.” National Museum of the Pacific War, www.pacificwarmuseum.org/about/news/the-enduring-impact-of-world-war-ii#. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.