Ellis - Key Figures of World War II

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First Edition

Britannica Educational Publishing

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Key figures of World War II/edited by Catherine Ellis.First edition.

pages cm.(Biographies of war)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-6804-8059-7 (eBook)

1. World War, 19391945BiographyJuvenile literature. 2. GeneralsBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Heads of stateBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Ellis, Catherine. II. Title: Key figures of World War Two.

D736.K435 2016

940.530922dc23

2014039056

Photo credits: Cover and p. 3 (MacArthur), pp. 50, 70 Hulton Archive/Getty Images; cover and p. 3 (background) The National Archives/SSPL/Getty Images; pp. 67 ITAR-TASS/Sovfoto; pp. 67 (background) Paul Whitfield/Dorling Kindersly/Getty Images; p. 13 Photos.com/Thinkstock; pp. 15, 4243, 73, 75 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.; pp. 1617 New Times Paris Bureau Collection/USIA/NARA; pp. 2021, 90 Hugo Jaeger/The Life Picture Collection/Getty Images; pp. 2223 Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images; pp. 2627 National Archives, Washington, D.C.; pp. 3031 From J.P. Mallmann Showell, U-Boats under the Swastika (1987); pp. 3233 Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Getty Images; p. 35 UPI/Bettmann Archive; pp. 3839 U.S. Air Force; pp. 4647 Mondadori/Getty Images; pp. 5253, 56 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; p. 59 U.S. Navy Photo; p. 61 U.S. Army Photo; p. 63 SSPL/Getty Images; p. 67 Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images; p. 77 Universal Images Group/Getty Images; p. 79 Tass/Sovfoto; p. 83 H. Roger-Viollet; p. 85 The Life Images Collection/Getty Images; pp. 87, 97 AFP/Getty Images; p. 94 Heinrich Hoffmann, Munich; interior pages background textures Eky Studio/Shutterstock.com, Sfio Cracho/Shutterstock.com, Attitude/Shutterstock.com, macknimal/Shutterstock.com, Valentin Agapov/Shutterstock.com; back cover Oleg Zabielin/Shutterstock.com.

S ome 20 years after the end of World War I, lingering disputes erupted in an even larger and bloodier conflictWorld War II. The war began in Europe in 1939, but by its end in 1945 it had involved nearly every part of the world. The opposing sides were the Axis Powersconsisting mainly of Germany, Italy, and Japanand the Alliesprimarily France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. Estimates of the number of casualties vary widely, but by any measure the wars human cost was enormous35 million to 60 million deaths, with millions more wounded or left homeless.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to discuss the final stages of the war.

The political consequences of World War II, like those of World War I, altered the course of 20th-century world history. The war resulted in the Soviet Unions dominance of the countries of eastern Europe and eventually enabled a communist movement to take power in China. It also marked a decisive shift of power away from the countries of western Europe and toward the United States and the Soviet Union. The tense rivalry between those two countries and their allies, known as the Cold War, would influence events throughout the world for the next 50 years.

As is the case with all wars, the political and military leaders of the countries involved helped determine the outcome of World War II. The first chapters of this book offer a year-by-year account of the major events in the war, while the following ones contain profiles of some of the most important figures from both sides of the war. However, it is worth remembering that the wars outcome also depended on the action of many less well-known leaders, as well as countless soldiers, politicians, and citizens.

T he outbreak of World War II followed a series of warlike acts between 1931 and 1939 by Japan, Italy, and Germany. The League of Nations proved ineffective in halting the aggression of Japan in China, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and the German takeover of Austria.

Britain and France agreed to let the German dictator Adolf Hitler and the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini take the territories they wanted. The British and French hoped this policy of appeasement would prevent another war.

On September 30, 1938, Britain and France agreed in Munich to let Germany have a part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. Hitler said this would be his last territorial demand in Europe. In March 1939 Hitler broke this pact, taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia. This ended the British and French policy of appeasement.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain and Premier douard Daladier of France promised aid to Poland in case of a Nazi attack. Hitler soon demanded the return of Danzig (Gdask) to Germany and a strip of territory linking East Prussia with the rest of Germany. Poland refused.

In May 1939 Germany and Italy signed a pact pledging to support each other in war. Hitler and other German leaders believed Germany lost World War I because it had to fight on two fronts. To prevent this in a new war Hitler and the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin signed a ten-year nonaggression pact on August 23, 1939. On September 1 Germany annexed Danzig and invaded Poland, and the war began.

On September 3, 1939, two days after the invasion of Poland, Britain and France demanded that Germany withdraw its troops. When Germany refused, Britain and France declared war on Germany.

The Poles were easily defeated by Germanys blitzkrieg, or lightning war. The first day the German Luftwaffe (air force) destroyed Polands airfields and bases. Within a week it had crippled the lines of communication. At the same time German panzer (armored and mechanized) divisions encircled the Polish armies.

The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on September 17. Poland was soon forced to surrender. Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland between them.

Some Polish government officials, soldiers, pilots, and naval units managed to escape the swift Nazi and Soviet advances. They fled to Britain, where they continued the fight against Germany with the Allies.