World War Two was the most glorifying war in history. It had the most killings of any other war ever in history. It was the first time ever to use nuclear bombs. Almost every country was in someway involved in this war. One of the most influential
ones was Europe, without Europe there may have not been a war. They were involved from the start when they declared war on Germany. Europe is still affected from the aftermath of World War Two.
The modern world is still living with the consequences of World War 2, the most titanic conflict in history. Just over 68 years ago on September first 1939, Germany invaded Poland without any warning at all. By September third, Britain and France were at war with Germany and within just a week, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa had also joined the war. The world had been plunged into its Second World War in less then twenty five years. Six long bloody and horrifying years of total war, fought over many thousand of miles followed. The war stretched from the Normandy to the streets of Stalingrad, to the mountains of Norway to the deserts of Libya, to the jungles of Burma to the islands of the pacific. On land, sea and in the air, Poles fought Germans, Italians fought Americans and Japanese fought Australians in a conflict which was finally settled with the use of nuclear weapons. World War 2 involved every major world power in a war for global domination and at its end, more than 60 million people had lost their lives and most of Europe and large parts of Asia lay in ruins.
There were many events leading to world war two. Some of these events include the Locarno treaties. Signed December 1925, this included treaty of Versailles and the Kellogg Briand Pact signed in 1928 witch stated there would be peace and war was not an effective way to deal with problems. But Germany got the worst deal and had to pay 33 billion dollars in war reparations to France. Germany could not pay it so France took over some of there factories in order to get there money. This event was led to Germany’s money to be useless. Then in October 1929 the stock market crashed and England’s as long as many others stability and integrity was hurt. This would ultimately lead to the great depression and an economic slow down. The pact was broken in 1931 when Japan attacked China and the League of Nations did nothing. People were raged by this wrong act and no punishment. Then on September 29 1938 the Munich pact was signed. It was signed by Edourad Daladier of France, Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain, Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of Germany.(2194 days of war 10)
Then just a day later on September 30 1938 Hitler and chamberlain signed a piece of paper that read
“We, the German Fuhrer and Chancellor and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for the two countries and for Europe.
We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.
We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe.”( https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/scrap_of_paper.htm)
World War II was a huge, colossal conflict between several powerful nations. What made World War II so destructive was that it was fought on land, in the air, and on the high seas (Begelow, 15). Everyone witnessed the horrors that World War II brought, and they didn’t want that to continue. Everything in its path was ravaged and destroyed. World War II was the single handedly the harshest battle the world had seen, and people will forever remember the toll it took on everyone and everything. Before it was declared world war two the British declaration of war against Nazi Germany came at 11.15 on September 3rd 1939. Neville Chamberlain spoke to the nation via radio. Britain had given Hitler an ultimatum to withdraw from Poland after the Germans invaded Poland on September 1st. In his speech he said (“I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10, Downing Street This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11.00 a.m. that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany. You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that my entire long
Struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different I could have done and that would have been more successful. Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honorable settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened; and although he now says he has put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement. The proposals were never shown to the Poles nor to us; and although they were announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to make comment on them, but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier.
His actions show convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force. We and France are today, in fulfilment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack on her people. We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace. The situation in which no word given to Germany’s ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe has become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will play your part with calmness and courage. At such a moment as this the assurances of support that we have received from the Empire are a source of profound encouragement to us. When I have finished speaking certain detailed announcements will be made on behalf of the Government. Give these your closest attention. The Government have made plans under which it will be possible to carry on
The work of the nation in the days of stress and strain that may be ahead. But these plans need your help. You may be taking part in the fighting Services or as a volunteer in one of the branches of civil defense. If so you will report for duty in accordance with the instructions you have received.
You may be engaged in work essential to the prosecution of war for the maintenance of the life of the people – in factories, in transport, in public utility concerns or in the supply of other necessaries of life. If so, it is of vital importance that you should carry on with your jobs.
Now may God bless you all? May He defend the right. It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against – brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution – and against them I am certain that the right will prevail.”) (https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/british_declaration_of_war.htm) But Germany did not listen and stayed in Poland.
It was declared World War II had started in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland but conflict had been boiling up for nearly twenty years. These conflicts were introduced because of Germany’s crushing defeat in World War I that left them devastated, seeking power, and looking for revenge. “By early 1930’s Germany, which had been left humiliated and impoverished by its defeat in World War I, had begun a stunning revitalization of its economics.
And military power under the guidance of Adolf Hitler. Hitler, supported by his Nazi party, used the tender condition of Germany to sweep through. He swept through with ferocity and Determination and soon controlled Germany through a dictatorship. Hitler was like a ventriloquist with the German people as his puppets. World War two was one of the most bloodiest and horrific wars in all of history. Millions upon millions of men, woman and children were killed. World War Two was a collective of many smaller wars with huge impacts.Europe had a huge impact on many of these wars and many of the wars were fought on Europe territory including European Theatre. European Theatre was an area of heavy fighting across Europe, during World War II. Allied forces fought the Axis powers in three theatres: the Eastern Front, the Western Front and the Mediterranean Theatre. By 1941, many of Britain’s cities were in ruins, and its population was seemingly demoralized. London was being bombed very frequently, although many British cities were bombed throughout the war. A notable example of this is the bombing of Coventry bombing, when in a single night German bombers destroyed over 100 acres of the city center, and killed over 500 people. In addition to coping with the effects of bombing, the population of Britain had to cope with the German threat of invasion. Also there was a Phony War going on. A Phony War (Twilight war, Sitzkerg) is the name given to the period of time in World War Two from September 1939 to April 1940 when, after the blitzkrieg attack on Poland in September 1939, nothing happened. But a lot was actually going on but most of it was behind the scenes some say. And many people were returning home to where they thought it was safe. This continued on into 1941 until December 7th when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor this lead to America and Britain declaring war on Japan on December 8th. And just a few days later Germany declared war on America on December 11th. Then on The last day in December Russia got much needed help when a total of 53 merchant ships had reached Russia and delivered 750 tanks, 800 fighter planes, 1,400 vehicles and 100,000 tons of general stores.(https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/1941.htm) A major battle that happened in 1942 The Battle of Stalingrad. This is considered by many historians to have been the turning point in World War Two in Europe. The battle at Stalingrad bled the German army dry in Russia and after this defeat, the Germany Army was in full retreat. One of the ironies of the war, is that the German Army did not have to get involved in Stalingrad. Army Groups were well on their way to the Caucasus in Russia, when Hitler ordered an attack on Stalingrad. From a strategic point of view it would have been unwise to have left a major city unconquered in your rear as you advanced. However, some historians believe that Hitler ordered the taking of Stalingrad simply because of the name of the city and Hitler’s hatred of Joseph Stalin. For the same reason Stalin ordered that the city had to be saved. 1944 is one of the most important years in the war because two major wars took place the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge.
On June 6th 1944 better know as D-Day saw the start of a massive invasion of occupied Western Europe with landings at five Normandy beaches – codenamed Gold, Juno, Omaha, Utah and Sword (https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/june_6th_1944.htm). This was the start of the battle of Normandy code name Operation Overload. !945 a sad year but yet a good one at the same time. This year brought the end of the war but also brought millions of deaths at the same time. This is the year that scared all people to the reasons not to have a war. On January 28th the battle of bulge ended and Germany was in full retreat and Hitler committed suicide. And as Germany was in full retreat
America was in full on attack on Japan. They went in dropping Agent Orange on Japan vegetation and people. Agent Orange is a jellified gas to destroy and burn anything in its path. In the middle of Americas attack , on April 12th a sad day was upon president Franklin Delano Roosevelt died, but America could not look back and they showed that in there actions soon to come. Then on August 6th America and the Enola Gay dropped the very 1st atomic bomb on Hiroshima sending Japan into pandemonium. Then just three days later they dropped another bomb on Japan in Nagasaki but this time the plane was named Bockscar. Though it was believed that there main target was Tokyo, they did not have enough fuel to get back safely. Japan was now forced to surrender after thousands of people were dead in matter of minutes after bomb was dropped. The war was now over and people could finally salvage what they had left if any thing at all.
World War Two was on of the saddest and the hardest times in world history a total 2194 days at war. Millions Of people lost there lives it was one of the most tragic times ever. At least 60 million people lost their lives in World War II according to many different sources. About 25 million soldiers and 35 million civilians, with estimates varying widely. This includes the estimated 10 million lives lost due to the Holocaust, consisting Jews and non-Jews made up of Poles, Roams, homosexuals, communists, dissidents, Afro-Germans, the disabled, Soviet prisoners, and many others.
Europe At the end of the war, millions of refugees were homeless, and the European economy had collapsed, and almost the entire European industrial infrastructure was destroyed. The Eastern victors demanded payment of war reparations from the defeated nations, and in the Paris Peace Treaty, the Soviet Union’s enemies, Hungary, Finland and Romania, were required to pay $300,000,000 each to the Soviet Union. Italy was required to pay $360,000,000, shared between Greece, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. (www.worldhistroy.com/ww2) Europe came out of the war weak and hurt but determined to succeed. And that’s what they would do and would continue to