Existing comment:
The Road to War:
World War II began in Asia. During the 1930s Japan undertook a campaign of aggressive military expansion. It occupied Manchuria in 1931, and in 1937 began a long and brutal war in China. In 1940 it pushed into French Indo-China.
On the other side of the globe, two other nations pursued expansionist policies during the 1930s. In 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia. In Europe, Adolf Hitler began intimidating neighboring states and expanding Germany's borders. In 1938 he annexed Austria. He then demanded German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia. The democracies of Europe, anxious to avoid war, bowed to Hitler's wishes. But this only led to new demands on Czechoslovakia. Germany also forged a military union with Italy.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France, Poland's allies, declared war on Germany. At first the war went well for Germany and its Italian ally. Poland capitulated. France was defeated. British troops were driven from the Continent. There were military successes in Scandinavia and the Balkans. Then Hitler made a strategic error. In June 1941 he invaded the Soviet Union. His offensive soon bogged down. Germany now faced enemies on two fronts.
On December 7, 1941, the war took another dramatic turn. Japan attacked American, British, and Dutch territories in the Pacific. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. America now joined a conflict that mushroomed into a global war--the largest in world history. |