World War ll was one of the most major events in the world. It started with the tyrant Adolf Hitler.

He believed in a world with only Germans and no Jewish people. He also believed in a blond haired and blue eyed race even though he was not blond haired and blue eyed himself. He went on a rampage for about 12 years.

Along the way he set up death/concentration camps such as Auschwitz. In camps such as these, they would starve you half to death. You would also contract lice and many other diseases. If they thought you were not fit to work they would send you to the “showers” AKA the gas chambers. Thousands of people died in those chambers. After you died in the chambers, you were burned, then your clothes would be given to another person. Imagine living in someone else’s clothing. Sometimes, they never even knew what they were wearing other people’s clothing. Hitler marched across Europe conquering first Poland, then Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and finally Greece. He called this “The Fatherland.” On June 4, 1944 the allies invaded Normandy, France’s beaches. The Germans were prepared with guns all in the cliffs. They were MG-42s AKA “Hitler’s Buzz Saw” ready to cut troops down right after the ramp on the Higgins boat went down. 2,501 American lives were lost. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 after Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin. He did this because Soviet Union forces were nearing his strong point.

Hitler was not the only one.  Japan’s Emperor Hirohito was also a leader. He also signed the Tripartite Pact that aligned Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japan. He was the leader of the country that bombed Pearl Harbor where 2,471 people died. 19 ships were destroyed. But, Japan and America had been allies just decades earlier so why turn now. Well, Japan depended on oil. Without it their nation would fall. When America cut of the oil supply to sail their ships across the Atlantic to the U.K. Japan declared war. Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945. They were the last to surrender after 2 atomic bombs had been dropped on their main cities.

Mussolini was the leader of Italy. They joined the Axis Powers in 1940.As the French Third Republic surrendered, with a plan to concentrate Italian forces on a major offensive against the British Empire in Africa and the Middle East, AKA the “parallel war,” while expecting the collapse of British forces in the European theater. On October 13, 1943 Italy joined the Allied Powers and turned on its former partners. Italy, after an excruciatingly long battle, surrendered on May 2, 1945. They surrendered two days after Berlin’s fall.

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