VIII America in the Second World War

World War II was a global military conflict which involved more than two hundred countries all over the world. The great powers were organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. The war fought in the Soviet Union, North Africa and the Mediterranean, Western Europe and the Far East. It was the most widespread and devastating war in human history in terms of lives lost and material destruction.

Causes of the War

●The Failure of Peace Efforts

During the 1920s, attempts were made to achieve a stable peace. The establishment of the League of Nations in 1920 was the first action intended for this goal. But it turned out to be a failure.

During the 1930s, Britain and France followed the Appeasement policy（绥靖政策）.They were not ready to help the League take decisive measures to prevent the expansion of Germany and Italy. And the League failed to foster a sense of co-operation among the member states. After France and Britain adopted the policy of appeasement, Germany and Italy became more aggressive. They defied（蔑视）the League.

●The Rise of Fascism

During the first twenty years of the twentieth century, there were frequent riots and strikes in Italy. The Italian government of the time was unable to maintain order and control these upheavals. The state of affairs gave Benito Mussolini the opportunity to rise to power. In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the fascist Party in Milan, Italy. After the Fascists had marched on Rome in October 1922, King Victor Emmanuel III named Mussolini prime minister. In the following four years, Mussolini established the first Fascist dictatorship by destroying civil liberties, outlawing all other political parties, and imposing a totalitarian regime on the country by means of terror.

●Hitler as a Dictator

Throughout the early 1920's, Germany was trapped in a series of troubles, such as high unemployment, inflation, and political turmoil. Many Germans were not satisfied with the German government especially because it had agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Extremist groups and political parties often used violent actions to compete for the control of the country. One of these groups was Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' party, or Nazi party founded in 1918. Hitler joined the party in 1919 and soon became prominent by his eloquent emotion-arousing oration. He designed the Nazi program, which held that only true Germans were a“master race.”

In 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor and soon demanded and received absolute power from the legislature. He became the dictator of Germany. Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations immediately after he gained the power. He also undertook large-scale rearmament and began to demand more territory. He annexed Austria in March 1938 with the support of Mussolini and benefited from the appeasement policy of Britain and France. The United States at that time took the neutral position, refusing to provide any material assistance to all parties in foreign conflicts.

●Formation of the Axis Coalition

In October, 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. The world denounced Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. However, Germany fully supported it. In 1936 the two countries signed a political and commercial agreement that signified the formation of German-Italian Alliance.

Totalitarianism（极权主义）also emerged in Japan because the armed forces occupied a powerful position in the government. They proclaimed the puppet state of Manchukuo in northeast China in 1932 and occupied the main Chinese ports in 1937—1938.

Treaties between Germany, Italy, and Japan from 1936 to 1940 brought about the formation of Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. The Axis thereafter became the collective term for those countries and their allies.

On 1 September,1939, Hitler invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. World War II broke out.

The United States at War

At the beginning of World War II, the United States was determined not to be involved in the war. However, with the fall of France and the air war against Britain in 1940, public sentiment increasingly favored the Allied powers that opposed German expansion.

On the morning of December 7, Japanese carrier-based planes launched a devastating, surprise attack to the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Nineteen ships, including five battleships, and about 150 U.S. planes were destroyed; more than 2,300 soldiers, sailors and civilians were killed. On December 8, U.S. Congress declared a state of war with Japan; three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

Countries and organizations that opposed to the Axis powers formed the Allies of World War II. The leaders of the United Kingdom, Soviet Union and the United States were known as“The Big Three.”On November 28 at Tehran（德黑兰，伊朗首都和最大城市）, Roosevelt, Churchill and Joseph Stalin agreed to establish a new international organization, the United Nations.

The Normandy Landing

Under the command of General Eisenhower, the first contingents（队伍）of Allied Expeditionary Force（AEF）, including U.S., British and Canadian troops, landed on the beaches of Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944. The day was named D-Day, the term used for the day of actual landing. The landing took place along a 80-kilometer stretch of the Normandy coast.

The landing was the largest amphibious operation（两栖作战）in history, involving 175,000 troops landing on D-Day, 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships. The subsequent battle of Normandy involved over a million men from America, Canada, Britain, France, Poland, and Germany. The Allied armies continued to move across France toward Germany and helped seal the fate of Hitler's. On August 25 Paris was liberated.

Japan Surrender

In the central Pacific Ocean, the Battle of Midway became the turning point for the Allies, resulting in the first major defeat of the Japanese navy, ending the Japanese advance across the central Pacific.

From July 17, to August 2, 1945, the heads of the U.S., Britain and Soviet Union met at Potsdam, a suburb outside Berlin, to discuss operations against Japan, the peace settlement in Europe, and a policy for the future of Germany. They issued the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, in which Japan was urged to surrender immediately. On August 6, U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima（广岛，日本本州岛西南部一城市）, Japan. A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki（长崎，日本九州岛西岸港市）on August 8. Japan formally surrendered on September 2,1945.

On April 25, 1945, Representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco, California, to discuss the framework of the United Nations. It was also a signal that the United States intended to play a major role in international affairs.

Effect of World War II

Lasting six years, World War II involved a majority of countries all over the world and caused millions of people to suffer, costing 55 million lives and material damage of some 3 billion dollars. It was a war that was more cruel, bitter and extensive than any other war in history.

After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union became the two leading world powers. They set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years.

The economy of the United States benefits greatly from World War II. The depression was brought to an end, and new industrial complexes were built all over the United States. After 4 years of military buildup, the U.S. had also become the leading military power in the world.