Made by

Mehreen Kamran
World War II
World War II, also called Second World War,
conflict that involved virtually every part of
the world during the years 1939–45. The
principal belligerents were the Axis powers
—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies
—France, Great Britain, the United States, the
Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The
war was in many respects a continuation, after an
uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left
unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000–
50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make
it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war,
in history.
What caused the WWII?
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I
between Germany and the Allied Powers. Because
Germany had lost the war, the treaty was very
harsh against Germany. Germany was forced to
"accept the responsibility" of the war damages
suffered by the Allies. The treaty required that
Germany pay a huge sum of money called
reparations.
The problem with the treaty is that it left the
German economy in ruins. People were starving
and the government was in chaos.

Japanese Expansion
In the period before World War II, Japan was
growing rapidly. However, as an island nation they
did not have the land or the natural resources to
sustain their growth. Japan began to look to grow
their empire in order to gain new resources.
Fascism
With the economic turmoil left behind by World War 1,
some countries were taken over by dictators who formed
powerful fascist governments. The first fascist government
was Spain which was ruled by the dictator Franco. Then
Mussolini took control of Italy. These dictators wanted to
expand their empires and began to look for new lands to
conquer.
Francisco Franco of Spain

Hitler and the Nazi Party

In Germany, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power.
Hitler resented the restrictions put on Germany by the
Treaty of Versailles. While talking about peace, Hitler began
to rearm Germany. He allied Germany with Mussolini and
Italy. Then Hitler looked to restore Germany to power by
expanding his empire. He first took over Austria in 1938.
When the League of Nations did nothing to stop him, Hitler
became bolder and took over Czechoslovakia in 1939.
Adolf Hitler giving speech on
Treaty of Versailles
Appeasement
After World War 1, the nations of Europe were
weary and did not want another war. When
countries such as Italy and Germany became
aggressive and began to take over their neighbors
and build up their armies, countries such as Britain
and France hoped to keep peace through
"appeasement." This meant that they tried to make
Germany and Hitler happy rather than try to stop
him. They hoped that by meeting his demands he
would be satisfied and there wouldn't be any war.
Unfortunately, the policy of appeasement backfired.
It only made Hitler bolder. It also gave him time to
build up his army.

Great Depression
The period before World War II was a time of great
economic suffering throughout the world called the
Great Depression. Many people were out of work
and struggling to survive. This created unstable
governments and worldwide turmoil that helped
lead to World War II.
The Allied Powers
The Allies formed mostly as a defense against the
attacks of the Axis Powers. The original members of
the Allies included Great Britain, France and Poland.
When Germany invaded Poland, Great Britain and
France declared war on Germany.

Russia becomes an Ally

At the start of World War II, Russia and Germany
were friends. However, on 22 June 1941 Hitler, the The Allied Leaders
leader of Germany, ordered a surprise attack on
Russia. Russia then became an enemy of the Axis
Powers and joined the Allies.
The US Joins the Allied Powers
The United States had hoped to remain neutral
during World War II. However, the US was attacked
by surprise at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. This
attack united the country against the Axis Powers and
turned the tide of World War II in the favor of the
Allies.
 The Axis Powers
World War II was fought between two major groups of
nations. The major Axis Powers were Germany , Italy, and
Japan.

The Forming of the Axis Powers

The alliance began to form in 1936. First, on October 15,
1936 Germany and Italy signed a friendship treaty that
formed the Rome-German Axis. Shortly after this, on
November 25, 1936, Japan and Germany both signed the
Anti-Comintern Pact, which was a treaty against
communism.

An even stronger alliance was signed between Germany

and Italy on May 22, 1939 called the Pact of Steel. This
treaty would later be called the Tripartite Pact when
Japan signed it on September 27, 1940. Now the three
main Axis Powers were allies in the war.
 After The War
Many things changed once World War II was over.
Much of Europe and Eastern Asia had been destroyed
by the fighting and bombings that had taken place
over many years
Europe
Germany had occupied much of Europe during World
War II. Many of the countries in the west returned to The Allied Leaders discuss
Europe
the same governments and borders they had prior to
the war. However, Germany was divided up into Eastern
and Western Germany. The Eastern part was controlled
by the USSR (Russia) and the Western part by the Allies.
Europe was in much need of financial aid due to all the
roads, bridges, buildings and more that had been
destroyed in the fighting. The United States offered Aid
in the form of the Marshall Plan to help Europe recover.
Japan and Eastern Asia
The US and the Allies occupied Japan.
They maintained control as Japan
recovered from the war. Japan would
become an independent nation again
in 1952.
In Korea, the Allies and the USSR (Russia)
divided up the country into North
and South Korea. The plan was for
Russia to control the North and the
Allies the South until a free election could
be held for the entire country. This never Civil War in China
happened as Russia later refused and the
country is still split to this day with North
Korea controlled by communists.
In China, a civil war continued that had
started prior to World War II. It was
between the communists and the
nationalists. The communists won and the
nationalists fled to Taiwan.
United Nations
The Allies formed the United Nations in order to try
and prevent World War III from happening. The
United Nations was formed on October 24, 1945. There
were 51 original member nations including 5 permanent
Security Council members: China, France, the Soviet
Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Cold War Begins

Europe became divided into the Eastern Bloc of nations
and the West. The Eastern Bloc was led and controlled Clipart on Cold War
by the Soviet Union (Russia). These countries were between USSR and USA
run by communist governments and had their own
alliance called the Warsaw Pact. The Western countries,
including the United States, formed an alliance against
communism called NATO.

These two alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, would

take part in an arms race war called the Cold War. The
Cold War never escalated into full war due to the fear of
what would happen to the world if many countries
started dropping atomic bombs. The Cold War would
last for the next 45 years.
World War II facts
• It was the most widespread war thus
far.
• It lasted six years from 1939 to 1945.
• It involved more than 100 million
soldiers from 30 countries.
• It resulted in up to 75 million military
and civilian deaths
• The highest loss of life was in the
USSR—24 million.
• The cost of material loss and
destruction is immeasurable