The European Theater

German Aggression
The war in Europe began in September 1939, when Germany, under Chancellor Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland.
Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany but took little action over the following months. In
1940, Germany launched its next initiative by attacking Denmark and Norway, followed shortly thereafter by
attacks on Belgium, The Netherlands, and France. All of these nations were conquered rapidly.

The Battle of Britain

Later in the summer of 1940, Germany launched a further attack on Britain, this time exclusively from the air.
The Battle of Britain was Germany’s first military failure, as the German air force, the Luftwaffe, was never
able to overcome Britain’s Royal Air Force.

Greece and North Africa

As Hitler plotted his next steps, Italy, an ally of Germany, expanded the war even further by
invading Greece and North Africa. The Greek campaign was a failure, and Germany was forced to come to
Italy’s assistance in early 1941.

The USSR
Later in 1941, Germany began its most ambitious action yet, by invading the Soviet Union. Although the
Germans initially made swift progress and advanced deep into the Russian heartland, the invasion of the USSR
would prove to be the downfall of Germany’s war effort. The country was just too big, and although Russia’s
initial resistance was weak, the nation’s strength and determination, combined with its brutal winters, would
eventually be more than the German army could overcome. In 1943, after the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk,
Germany was forced into a full-scale retreat. During the course of 1944, the Germans were slowly but steadily
forced completely out of Soviet territory, after which the Russians pursued them across Eastern Europe and into
Germany itself in 1945.

The Normandy Invasion

In June 1944, British and American forces launched the D-Day Invasion, landing in German-occupied France
via the coast of Normandy. Soon the German army was forced into retreat from that side as well. Thus, by
early 1945, Allied forces were closing in on Germany from both east and west. The Soviets were the first to
reach the German capital of Berlin, and Germany surrendered in May 1945, shortly after the suicide of Adolf
Hitler.
The Pacific Theater
Pearl Harbor
The war in the Pacific began on December 7, 1941, when warplanes from Japan launched a surprise attack on
the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By this time, Japan had already been at war with China for
several years and had seized the Chinese territory of Manchuria. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan began a
massive campaign of expansion throughout the Southeast Asia–Pacific region.

The U.S. Entrance and Battle of Midway

Although the Pearl Harbor attack provoked a declaration of war by the United States on Japan the very next
day, it would be several months before U.S. forces would get seriously involved militarily. In late spring of
1942, the United States and Japan engaged in a series of naval battles, climaxing in the Battle Of Midway on
June 3–6, 1942, in which Japan suffered a catastrophic defeat.

The Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal

For the next year, the United States engaged Japan in a protracted struggle for the Solomon Islands, which lay
near vital Allied shipping routes. Between August 1942 and February 1943, Allied forces carried out an
invasion on the island of Guadalcanal—the beginning of a long series of Allied offensives that would
eventually force the Japanese out of the Solomon’s and then pursue them from various other Pacific island
chains that the Japanese had earlier seized. In the meantime, British and Indian forces were combating Japanese
troops in Burma.

The Approach to Japan

Fighting continued throughout the Pacific in 1944 and early 1945, including major battles at Leyte, Iwo Jima,
and Okinawa. By the late spring of 1945, most of Japan’s conquests had been liberated, and Allied forces were
closing in on the Japanese home islands. As they neared Japan proper, the Allies began heavy bombing
campaigns against major Japanese cities, including Tokyo. This process continued through the summer of 1945
until finally, in early August, the United States dropped two Atomic Bombs on the cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Stunned by the unexpected devastation, Japan surrendered a few days later.

World War II effectively stopped the world between 1939 and 1945. To this day, it remains the most
geographically widespread military conflict the world has ever seen. Although the fighting reached
across many parts of the globe, most countries involved shared a united effort aimed at ending the
aggression of the Axis Powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan. Despite the fact that Germany and Japan
were technically allies, however, they had vastly different motives and objectives, and their level of
cooperation was primarily one of distracting the attention of each other’s enemies rather than of
attaining any specific common goals. Therefore, most studies of the war cover the conflicts with
Germany and Japan separately, dividing treatment of the war between the European and Pacific
theaters of operation.
The rise of Nazi Germany and its aggression can be traced directly back to World War I. Following
that war, Germany was economically devastated. The Treaty of Versailles unfairly placed the full
blame for the war on Germany and demanded heavy reparations payments in return. Although
Germany never paid the bulk of these reparations, the treaty humiliated the German people and
obstructed the nation’s efforts to rebuild itself and move forward economically and technologically.
Then, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the worldwide Great Depression took a further heavy toll on
the country.
As resentment and desperation in Germany grew, radical political parties gained in popularity. They ranged
from Communists to right-wing nationalists. Among the more extreme activists of the latter category was Adolf
Hitler, who had founded the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (more commonly known as the Nazi
Party) in 1920–1921. By the time of the depression in Germany, Hitler’s party had more than 100,000 members
and was growing rapidly, and it began participating in parliamentary elections with increasing success. In 1933,
Hitler pressured the German president, Paul von Hindenburg, into appointing him chancellor—a position from
which he was quickly able to consolidate his power.

By 1935, Germany had ceased to recognize the Treaty of Versailles and all the restrictions that accompanied it.
In particular, Hitler announced his intention to fully rebuild Germany’s military forces. In 1938, Germany
began annexing the territories of neighboring countries, including all of Austria and most of Czechoslovakia.
When Germany attacked Poland in September 1939, Britain and France aligned against Germany, and the war
began.

Like Germany, Japan was severely affected by the Great Depression. Japan relied heavily upon imported
resources and desperately needed more land for its expanding population. Japanese military leaders, who at the
time had a strong influence over the civilian government, saw territorial expansion as the best solution. As a
result, beginning in 1931, Japanese forces began occupying territory in the Chinese region of Manchuria. By
1937, Japan and China were officially at war. In 1940, the Japanese government announced its intention to
establish a “new order in East Asia,” under which the region would be freed of Western influence and guided by
Japan. In 1940, Japan signed a formal alliance with Germany and Italy, setting the country on a clear course to
enter World War II.

In the meantime, the United States, disapproving of Japan’s actions, placed a heavy trade embargo on Japan,
severely restricting its ability to import oil, scrap metal, and other resources vital to its war effort. Japan saw
itself facing an impossible crisis, and without prompt and decisive action, total collapse was inevitable. The
action Japan chose was a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
This action brought the United States into World War II in both theaters, Europe and the Pacific.

Events
March13, 1938Germany annexes Austria
October 7–10Germany takes Czech region of Sudetenland
August 23, 1939German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
September1Germany invades Poland
September3Britain and France declare war on Germany
September17USSR invades Poland from the east
September19German and Soviet forces meet in central Poland
September28Warsaw falls to Germany
November30Soviet forces invade Finland

Key People
Adolf Hitler - Chancellor of Germany; pursued aggressive territorial expansion in the late 1930s
Neville Chamberlain - British prime minister; adhered to policy of appeasement that allowed German
territorial annexations in 1938
Joachim Von Ribbentrop - German foreign minister; signed German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
Vyacheslav Molotov - Soviet foreign minister; signed German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Germany Under Hitler

In 1938, Germany was a total dictatorship under the Nazi Party and Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Although
the 1919Treaty Of Versailles that ended World War I had imposed strict disarmament terms on Germany, by
the late 1930s, Hitler had dropped all pretense of observing the terms of the treaty. He began not only to rebuild
his military rapidly, but also to speak openly of Germany’s need for Lebensraum, or “living space.”
Anschluss  and Appeasement
In March 1938, offering little in the way of justification, Nazi troops took control Austria, which put up no
resistance. Hitler claimed that the annexation was supported by his doctrine of Anschluss, or natural political
unification of Germany and Austria. Though gravely disturbed, Britain and France took no action. Shortly
thereafter, Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia cede to Germany the Sudetenland, a territory along the
German-Czech border. Hitler accused the Czechs of repressing the large German population there and asserted
that the territory rightly belonged to Germany.
The September 1938 Munich Conference was called to address the situation; ironically, Czechoslovakia was
not present. After several rounds of negotiation, and despite their own treaties with Czechoslovakia, Britain and
France agreed to give in to Hitler’s demand, as long as he agreed not to seize any further European territory.
Hitler did sign an agreement to that effect, promising no further invasions.
After taking the Sudetenland, however, Hitler ignored the agreement and proceeded to occupy most of western
Czechoslovakia, along with several other territories in Eastern Europe. Britain and France again took no action.
This policy of Appeasement of Hitler’s demands, which was advocated primarily by British Prime
minister Neville Chamberlain, has been much criticized as paving the road to World War II.

The Consequences of Appeasement

The decisions made by the Allied nations leading up to World War II, as well as those of the first six months or
so after the war began, have dumbfounded historians ever since. The appeasement of Hitler, in particular, has
been so often held up as an example of how not to deal with a rising dictator that it has become a stereotype.
However, although it may be obvious in hindsight that Hitler should not have been appeased, the actions of
Prime Minister Chamberlain must be considered within the context of the time. Europe was still recovering
from World War I: many of the countries of Europe were adjusting to new parliamentary governments, and the
newly created League of Nations was a new force in international affairs. Few European leaders understood the
full scope of Hitler’s intentions, and a decision to go to war would have been hugely unpopular in countries,
such as Britain and France, that had been so devastated in World War I. Indeed, many sincerely believed that
the very concept of war had become obsolete.
The German Invasion of Poland
Germany’s invasion of Poland came quickly and with overwhelming force. The attack began on
September 1, 1939, with heavy air strikes followed by a rapidly advancing ground invasion. Hitler referred to
the strategy as Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” The object of the blitzkrieg strategy was to shock the opponent so
severely that there would be little resistance, allowing the country to be overrun quickly, with minimal German
losses.
The primary obstacle to the German invasion force proved to be the Polish capital of Warsaw, which did not
surrender until September 27, after a prolonged siege. By this time, all of western Poland was firmly under
German control.
Atrocities Against the Polish People
Although Germany’s invasion of Poland is often cited as the definitive example of the blitzkrieg tactic, not all
historians share this view. Rather than rush straight to Warsaw and topple the government, Germany’s forces
moved relatively slowly, focusing much of their energy on targets that were neither military nor political in
nature. They sought not just to destroy the Polish government but also to obliterate the Polish people. In the first
days and weeks of the war, both Jewish and non-Jewish civilians were killed regardless of whether they
resisted. Villages and towns were burned, and fleeing survivors were ruthlessly chased down and shot.

It was in this invasion that the real nature of Hitler’s plan began to reveal itself. Although the regular German
army, the Wehrmacht, defeated the Polish military within days of the initial invasion, a more sinister set of
squadrons followed—the Totenkopf, or “Death’s Head,” part of the soon-to-be-infamous S.S. These squadrons
immediately began rounding up and killing Polish civilians. Larger groups of Jews were singled out and herded
into the central Warsaw Ghetto where they were slowly starved for the next two years. Smaller groups
encountered along the way were shot on the spot. Although Jews were particularly singled out, the non-Jewish
Polish peasantry was treated little better. Though these atrocities would pale in comparison with what was to
come, the initial weeks of Hitler’s invasion were a gruesome demonstration of the German war machine’s
capabilities and intentions.
The Soviet Invasion of Poland
Just two weeks after the German invasion began, Soviet troops invaded Poland from the east, on
September 17, 1939. It took them only two days to push far enough to meet German troops
advancing from the west. By this time, Germany had already taken most of Poland except for
Warsaw, which was under siege. Upon meeting the Russian troops, the Germans handed over large
numbers of prisoners and promptly pulled back to the line agreed upon in the German-Soviet
Nonaggression Pact. Retreating Polish armies, unaware that the USSR was part of Germany’s
occupation plan, fled directly into Russian hands.

Allied Declarations of War and the “Sitzkrieg”

Britain and France—which were soon labeled the Allied Powers, just as they had been in World War I—both

declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, just two days after Germany began its invasion of Poland.

However, aside from basic defensive preparations, neither country took significant action for several months.

Rather, Britain initiated a propaganda effort against Hitler by using its bombers to drop millions of anti-Nazi

leaflets over Germany. Among the British public, this effort soon came to be known as the “Confetti War.”
Germany likewise took little action after the invasion of Poland was complete, aside from several
small naval attacks on Allied shipping vessels. This period of relative calm has been sarcastically
labeled the “Sitzkrieg,” or sitting war—a play on blitzkrieg. Rather than make an offensive move of
their own, the Allies waited for the expected German attack on Belgium and France. It would not come
for many months, until the late spring of 1940.
The Russo-Finnish War
The one active hot spot during this “Sitzkrieg” was Finland, which the USSR invaded on
November 30, 1939, with the goal of seizing the eastern Finnish territory of Karelia. Though vastly
outnumbered and outgunned, the Finns fought back with determination and innovation, even
employing troops on bicycles and skis. The invasion, which was expected to end quickly, instead
lasted until March 13, 1940, when Finland finally capitulated, ceding Karelia to the Soviet Union,
along with the major port of Viipuri (present-day Vyborg). Although Finland lost territory, the

victory cost the USSR more than 200,000 lives, more than twice the number that it cost the Finns.
Denmark and Norway
After months of inaction, the first sign that Hitler was again on the move came in early April 1940. On
April 9, German troops simultaneously took Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, and landed on the
coast of Norway. Denmark gave in almost immediately. In Norway, although the capital at Oslo was
quickly taken and a puppet government set up, a strong resistance movement supported by Britain
and France continued to fight the Germans for two months. The combat was generally limited to the
less densely populated areas in the north of the country.