The most significant reasons as to why the Second World War started were mainly due to Appeasement, the Treaty of Versailles, Nationalism, as well as the rise of military leaders, such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Tojo. Because of allowing Hitler to do anything he pleased, the Nation of Nazi Germany soon became a powerhouse along almost everywhere in Europe, which caused many tensions to rise amongst leaders. After the Treaty of Versailles, many countries were frustrated with the outcome, which in return, those countries made up the Axis powers. Due to the strength in Nationalism, countries soon came to an agreement to stand up against the Axis, which from this, made up the Allies. Because of the rise of military leaders, countries all around Asia and Europe were targeted by these powers, causing countless of lives lost, and a war that would last a total of fourteen years. The first recorded act of war began with China invading Manchuria in 1931, which led to an even worse event known as the Massacre of Nanjing. These two events were then followed by a series of Blitzkrieg attacks on neighboring countries of Germany. The attack that affected the outcome of the war the most was that of the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor. To where airplanes of the Japanese Empire bombed the US Navy fleet, and so therefore, the US had no choice but to join the war.
|
WWII
Causes and Outcomes of HolocaustThe reason as to why the Holocaust occurred was due to the continued hatred over the Jewish population given to by the people of Germany. The Nazis truly believed that their Aryan race was far more superior to others, especially among the neighboring countries of Nazi Germany. Under the leadership of Hitler at the time, a set of ideas were expressed throughout the nation, to which they were called the Nuremberg Laws. These laws stripped Jewish people of their rights and introduced Anti-Semitism to many people in all quarters of Germany. Soon after, Jews were then sent off to Ghettos and Concentration Camps all around Poland, Ukraine, and other countries controlled by Germany. Ghettos were constructed to segregate/hold large amounts of Jews into poor sections of a city. Whereas, Concentration Camps were used to commit mass murder against large numbers of Jewish people. This all led to a staggering number of Eleven million people killed during the Holocaust, Six million of which were Jewish.
|
Major Turning PointsMajor turning points are considered to be notable victories that turned the war in favor of the Allies. Such as The Battle of Britain, in which Hitler suffered his first major loss. To where the British were on the total defense, defending their land from Nazi Germany. Whereas the goal of Hitler was to just show his dominance to the world by defeating a western power. Another significant win was that of Okinawa. It had been a turning point due to it being the last chance for the Japanese to fight off Americans attempting to get close enough to launch a mainland invasion. On the other-hand, the Americans needed to win if they wanted to gain control to release American bombers into Japan. The Battle of the Bulge was another important and crucial battle, as to whoever won, would in total be declared the victor of the Second World War. Both sides strived to win this battle, due to them knowing that this would be last act of war between the Allies and Nazi Germany.
|
Outcomes and Significance of WWIIAfter the victory over Nazi Germany, the US set their eyes to entirely finish the war by defeating the Empire of Japan. After countless times of thinking about the causes and effects of different possibilities, the US thought it would be best to release Atomic Bombs in order to reduce the amount of American casualties, and to ensure a quick victory. The outcome of this was indeed a quick victory, but at the cost of 200,000 casualties from the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Later on, when the war was officially declared over, the Nuremberg Trials took place, in which they were a series of trials against Nazi Party Officials. The different verdicts were that of eleven had been given the death penalty, three were acquitted, three were given life in prison, and four were to serve ten-twenty years in prison.This was the first real milestone toward the formation of an international court, mainly focusing on crimes against humanity.
|