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The Causes and Effects of World War II Essay

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World War II was fought between two main opposing forces, the Allies and the Axis forces. The Axis powers consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan being the most dominant. On the other hand, some of the countries in the Allied powers were Great Britain, the United States, France, Australia, New Zealand, India, the Soviet Union, Canada, and Greece. Adolph Hitler became head of Germany’s National Socialists Party in July of 1921. By 1933 the once unknown Hitler was given dictatorial power. As his power grew the new dictator grew more restrictive and power hungry. Books were burned, Jewish-owned businesses were boycotted, the Nazi Party was made the only party, and concentration camps were opened, all in the first year of Hitler’s …show more content…

In 1940 Italy declared war on France and Britain, the first air raids took place, and many countries were invaded and alliances were formed. The first gas chambers were used at Auschwitz, and 33,771 Jews were killed at Kiev in 1941(“World War II in Europe”). On December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and the next day the United States entered the war; Britain joined the U.S. in declaring war on Japan. By the 11th, Germany declared war on the United States. The Declaration of the United Nations was signed by the 26 Allied nations on the first day of 1942. Also in 1942, mass murder began happening at Auschwitz. In 1943 Germany was defeated at Stalingrad, and Italy surrendered during invasion, although Germany then took control of the battle. Throughout 1944 Germany began retreating and surrendering from many stands and battles. The Allies invaded France on June 6, 1944 and Paris was liberated by August. The last gas chambers at Auschwitz were used in late October. Hitler committed suicide on May 7, 1945 and German forces surrendered to the Allies. An atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, and a second was dropped on Nagasaki on the 9th. Japan agreed to surrender on August 14th. In October of 1945, the United Nations was officially created. Due the scale of World War II, each country that fought had a large amount of men who were in battle. This, of course, included the

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