Questions and Answers
When did World War II begin?
1939
Which countries formed the Axis powers?
Germany, Italy, and Japan
What was the primary goal of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union?
To eliminate it as a military power
What was the Atlantic Charter?
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When was D-Day?
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What was the outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad?
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What was the result of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor?
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When was the total and unconditional surrender in Europe signed?
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Study Notes
- World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, involving the majority of the world's countries in two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.
- The war resulted in an estimated 70 to 85 million fatalities, including genocides, starvation, massacres, and disease, making it the deadliest conflict in history.
- The causes of the war are debated, but contributing factors included European tensions after World War I, the rise of fascism in Europe, and Japan's aim to dominate Asia and the Pacific.
- The war began in Europe with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and in Asia with Japan's invasion of China in 1937.
- The war saw significant advancements in aircraft technology, enabling strategic bombing and the use of nuclear weapons.
- The war ended with the liberation of German-occupied territories and the surrender of Germany in May 1945, and the surrender of Japan in September 1945 after the use of atomic bombs by the United States.
- The war changed the political alignment of the world, with the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers and the founding of the United Nations.
- The war also resulted in the decolonization of Africa and Asia, and political and economic integration in Europe.
- The exact date of the war's beginning and end is debated, with various events and treaties serving as possible starting and ending points.
- Pre-war events such as the Italian invasion of Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War, as well as Japan's invasion of China, contributed to the outbreak of the war.- In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japan had sporadic border clashes with the Soviet Union and Mongolia.
- Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive, with Germany annexing Austria and pressing claims on the Sudetenland.
- Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, prompting declarations of war from the UK and France.
- France fell to Germany in June 1940, and Italy joined the war on Germany's side.
- The US amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies.
- Germany, Italy, and Japan formed the Axis powers in September 1940.
- Italy attacked and besieged Malta, while German forces prepared to invade the Balkans.
- Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, leading to a brutal conflict that lasted until 1945.
- Japan planned to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European colonies in Southeast Asia.
- The US provided military and humanitarian aid to the Allies through Lend-Lease programmes.- Germany signed a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union in April 1941, but Hitler planned to invade the Soviet Union to eliminate it as a military power and generate Lebensraum by dispossessing the native population.
- Germany, Italy, Romania, Finland, and Hungary invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941.
- The primary targets were the Baltic region, Moscow, and Ukraine, with the ultimate goal of ending the 1941 campaign near the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line.
- The Soviet Union adopted a strategic defense and suffered significant losses, but the German Army High Command suspended the offensive in mid-August and diverted troops towards central Ukraine and Leningrad.
- The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union formed a military alliance against Germany in July, and the United Kingdom and the United States issued the Atlantic Charter in August.
- Japan invaded northern Indochina in September 1940 and sent troops to southern Indochina in July 1941, threatening British and Dutch possessions in the Far East.
- The United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western governments reacted with a total oil embargo, and Japan planned to seize European colonies in Asia to create a large defensive perimeter.
- Japan attacked British and American holdings on December 7, 1941, leading the United States, United Kingdom, China, Australia, and several other states to declare war on Japan.
- Germany and the other Axis states declared war on the United States in solidarity with Japan.
- The Allies agreed to continue to press the initiative in the Mediterranean by invading Sicily and to invade France in 1944. The Americans extracted a British commitment to limit Allied operations in the Mediterranean to an invasion of the Italian mainland.- Germans split Army Group South into two groups: Army Group A advanced to the lower Don River and Army Group B headed towards the Volga River
- Soviets made their stand at Stalingrad on the Volga
- Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad but were defeated by Soviet counter-offensive
- Allies launched counter-offensive Operation Crusader in North Africa
- In August 1942, Allies succeeded in repelling a second attack against El Alamein
- Allies launched an attack of their own in Egypt and Anglo-American landings in French North Africa
- Allies began a strategic bombing campaign against Germany
- Western Allies invaded northern France on D-Day and liberated Paris on 25 August
- Soviet Union gained initiative on the Eastern Front after victory at Kursk
- Total and unconditional surrender in Europe was signed on 7 and 8 May 1945.
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