World War II occurred during the years 1939

World War II occurred during the years 1939 – 1945. It was a war that involved virtually every part of the world and cost the most deaths ever. The origin of the war can be traced back to 1933 when Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany. He at once began secretly preparing the German army to be a military super power. Germany had suffered a humiliating defeat during World War I (1914 – 1918) and Hitler wished for revenge. His ambition was to advance German frontiers with the hop of restoring the once mighty German empire. In September 1939, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France came to Poland’s rescue and declared war against Germany two days later. Russia, then an ally of Germany, attacked Poland from the other side of the Polish border. Within a month, Poland fell into the hands of the Germans and the Russians. The leaders of Italy and Japan also wanted to expand their empires. The leaders of the two countries signed a treaty with Hitler promising to help one another with their expansion plans. the group called themselves the Axis. After the fall of Poland, Germany embarked on an attacking spree and defeated Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France. All these countries were conquered within a span of a few months. The threat of the vast combined German army, navy and air force, also enabled Hitler to occupy Austria and Czechoslovakia without any blood-bath. Adolf Hitler then became the supreme ruler of almost the whole of Central and Western Europe. Still hungering for more conquests, Hitler turned his attention to Britain. Land invasion of the nation was impossible because of the English Channel. So the German air force tried to bomb Britain into submission but was defeated by the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. In the meantime, some countries on the side of the British had joined hands to form the Allies. In June 1941, Hitler turned on Russia. this made the Russians join the Allies. In 1943, the Allied forces won a major victory over German troops in North Africa. The Russians too were able to force the Germans to retreat from Russia. Though weakened considerable, the German troops still persevered in fighting. The eventual occupation of Germany by the Allied troops between March – April 1945 finally brought the fighting in Europe to a stop. Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945. Eight days later, the German troops surrendered. But World war II was not over yet. the war had spread to South-Western Asia in 1941 when Japan attacked an American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This caused the Americans to team up with the Allies in the war in the Pacific region. the bombings of the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 by the Americans when tens of thousands of people were killed or maimed for life signaled the close of World War II. The Japanese signed the formal surrender on 2 September 1945.