World War II

Cord Mincher, Staff Writer

War is one of the most devastating things that can happen to a country’s people, economy, reputation, and views. One of the most devastating wars in history was World War two. World War two took place from the mid 1930’s to the mid 1940’s, and involved many countries.
In 1939, Adolf Hitler rose to power as dictator of Germany. Just 20 years earlier, Germany had suffered a devastating defeat to France, Russia, Britain, America, Japan, and others. Along with it fell the the Ottoman Empire and Austria Hungary. Germany was now split in two by a new country formed from the ashes of the Great War: Poland. Hitler, a soldier from The Great War (World War one) and a strong patriot, was angered by his defeat, and ready to blame someone. Hitler irrationally blamed the Jewish people, who also happened to have large numbers in Poland. The country splitting Germany into two. So, Hitler invaded Poland.
Hitler was cruel to his captives. Homosexuals, Jewish people, and disabled people were massacred. Other ethnic, religious, and political groups were also executed, along with other people that Adolf Hitler blamed. Britain and France, who were sworn enemies just a century earlier, teamed up against Germany and invaded from behind. Germany swiftly defeated France and forced British troops off of mainland Europe. France surrendered and Italy got the lower half of it, while Germany occupied the north half.
Meanwhile, Japan was hungry for power in the Pacific ocean. Germany saw them as good allies, and they became good allies, even though Japan had fought against Germany in the previous war. This also happened with Italy. Italy had been against Germany in The Great War, but sided with Germany in World War two, seeking to restore their long lost glory of the Roman Empire.
Russia was preparing for Germany. Afraid Germany would with Finland, Russia asked Finland for a favor. Russia asked for Finland to give Russia 20 miles of border and demilitarize it. Finland denied, and Russia invaded. Russia was embarrassingly held back by Finland. Russia ended up winning, but Finland held the upper hand defensively. Finland entirely used guerrilla war tactics. Russia won later in 1940, but the Germany invaded Russia all the way to Leningrad and slightly farther.
December 8th, 1942 is a date that was very important in the war. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii: American territory. America declared war against Japan, and Germany returned the favor to America. America was already selling weapons to the European allies, and had been allied with a lot of them. They planned to fight in Germany first, then Japan. They sent forces to the Pacific and started fighting Japan.
For most of 1940-1944, the war was focused with America, China, Thailand, and other pacific countries v.s. Japan in the pacific, European countries fighting in Africa, and Russia v.s Germany. Not much progress was made, but late in the quadrennium Germany’s army was weakened amazingly by the harsh Russian winter.
This long period was ended on June 6, 1944, when the allies invaded Normandy, France. The allies invaded on five beaches, codenamed Sword beach, Omaha beach, Utah beach, Gold beach, and Juno beach. America invaded Utah beach. They actually missed the beach, but started fighting anyway. They also invaded Omaha, which bared the most casualties. The British invaded Gold beach, the shortest battle, because the air force had cleared some defense beforehand. Canadians invaded Juno beach, which was the most confusing. They lacked tank support, but the Germans surrendered quickly, leaving the beach to the Canadians. Sword beach was invaded by a mix of allied countries’ troops, mostly British and Canadian.
Another iconic battle was the battle of Iwo Jima. The battle started on February 19th, 1945, and ended on March 26th. The battle was a key position for the allies. It was 575 miles from mainland Japan. It was a bloody and long battle. It is very iconic.
Then, on April 1st, 1945 a long lasting battle in the Pacific started. It finished with an allied victory. Japan lost 100,000 soldiers, twice that of the allies. Nicknamed “The Typhoon of Steel,” The battle lasted until June 22, 1945. It was followed by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki one and a half months later.
In the middle of this battle, Germany surrendered on May 7th. Hitler had commited suicide just 8 days earlier. This victory was widely celebrated. Later in September, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were nuked by America. Many believed this is what caused Japan’s surrender in September 1945, but it was actually only a part of it. Russia invaded Manchuria, under Japanese occupation, and Japan suffered heavy losses.
Some believe that when Hitler was alive, he ran secret operations to find aliens and uncover ancient secrets. While these are currently only theories, some evidence has been found. They also conspirize that Hitler conspired with aliens. Could this be true? (unlikely)
The losses in World War two will never be forgotten. The surviving veterans should be thanked. Had they not fought as hard, we may have ended up in a horrible world. Those lives lost will never be forgotten.