Shelf by Henry Lian

Why did World War Two start?

henrylian27 — 2024-02-07 14:03:52 UTC

The Treaty of Versailles which had brought the first world war to an end, left many unsatisfied. The Germans took the full brunt of the treaty, going through an economic crisis. This led to the rise of totalitarian leaders emerging, Adolf Hitler being one of them. He wanted more land and power, so he decided to invade Poland. With the use of blitzkrieg warfare, they took over Poland over a short amount of time.

Whom were the Allied and Axis powers?

henrylian27 — 2024-02-07 14:19:22 UTC

Great Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, thus becoming known as the Allies. With this alliance, they made plans to fight against Germany. Germany, Italy, and Japan had all formed an alliance becoming known as the Axis powers. America joined the war not long after, ending up in the Allied powers, as well as the Soviet Union.

Why did the US enter World War Two?

henrylian27 — 2024-02-07 14:30:49 UTC

America was reluctant to join the war at first. President Roosevelt assured the citizens that they would not be entering the war. However, Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. Not expecting this surprise attack, they suffered losses. They were not ready to defend against it, and Americans were angry. Expecting a formal declaration of war before the attack, America had been deceived. Roosevelt was furious, and America joined the war a day after.

How did we prepare for the war?

henrylian27 — 2024-02-08 14:16:46 UTC

After many losses from the attack on Pearl Harbor and joining the war, they decided to increase military spending sharply. With this spending, it was responsible for ending the great depression. Many people were able to find work in factories to help and make supplies for the military. For this mobilization effort, the leader was Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall. There were multiple units in the mobilization, women included in these groups. While the men had left the factories to join in the war as well, the women filled in for their jobs. Working women in the war had came to be known as "Rosie the Riveter" as a symbolic figure.

D-Day

henrylian27 — 2024-02-08 14:37:23 UTC

On D-Day, the Allied wanted to invade France. They launched Operation Overlord, settling on the beaches in Normandy in Northern France. The Americans took it over after a harsh battle with the cold and while running out of supplies. Thanks to the Germans delayed reaction, victory was seen.

The Holocaust

henrylian27 — 2024-02-09 13:59:35 UTC

The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War Two. The Nazi's singled out every Jews and mistreated them severely. This is due to anti-semitism, which means to hold hostility, or prejudice against Jews. With Hitler's rise in power, the attacks on Jew's became worse and worse. The "Final Solution" had been made, which is killing all Jews. Concentration camps had been created for these Jews as well. At some point the War Refugee Board had been created by President Roosevelt. With this, they were able to save around 200,000 Jews. After the war had ended, the Nazi's had faced trials. These are known as the Nuremburg trials.

War in the Pacific

henrylian27 — 2024-02-09 14:08:19 UTC

The Allies wanted to take the small island of Iwo Jima to have a bigger chance in winning the war. The fight was harsh and long. Japan attacked the American controlled parts of the Philippines that were defended by General Douglas MacArthur. They eventually retreated as they couldn't stand against Japan. Japan's military was strong, and they developed what was called the kamikaze attack. With loaded bombs on a pilots aircraft, they crashed it into an enemy ship. It didn't change the outcome much, but the Allied did begin to fear these suicidal attacks.

What was going on in the home front?

henrylian27 — 2024-02-09 14:13:04 UTC

Americans planted victory gardens in small towns and large cities to overcome the shortages of food and fuel in the US. It helped unite communities and showed big results. Movies had also been extremely popular during the war years. The Americans visited the theater every week, so the film industry became a major producer of Hollywood propaganda. Japanese Americans had also been discriminated against, and relocated forcefully causing the loss of many jobs and lives ruined. They stayed loyal however, and fought for America.

How did WW2 end?

henrylian27 — 2024-02-09 14:18:20 UTC

A meeting was held in a town in the Soviet Union called Yalta. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin met to make plans for the end of the war and for peace to follow. The key part of the Yalta Conference was to find how they should take care of Germany. They each ended up controlling parts of it. Hitler ended up committing suicide not too long after, and Germany's new leader surrendered. This marked the day of victory over Europe. This became known as V-E Day and was celebrated. Japan however, had not surrendered yet. So America had made the Manhattan Project, and developed atomic bombs. With these bombs, they won victory over Japan, considered as V-J Day as well.