LAWLzoR

Hold onto your helmets my friends as we plunge into World War II for a history lesson. I'm mainly going to talk about the European theater and the more famous offensives and defensives and such, none of the very specifics. So with that, lets get started!

Let's start with 1938 when Hitler makes is first big step into war with reinvading the territories Germany lost after WWI in 1918. Britain and France get understandably worried about his land snatching, so they send their respective prime ministers to have a word with him. Through appeasement, peace was guaranteed, and everyone lived in candy frost houses with gingerbread roofs!

But not for long, as Hitler invades Poland in September 1939. This pulls Britain into the war because the UK signed a treaty with Poland, promising to fight anyone who invades them. So Britain with France, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada go to war with Germany and Italy who allied with Germany a little bit before the invasion of Poland.

But the Allies knew what they were doing as they put all their soldiers behind a wall, the Maginot Line, and wait for Hitler to invade. Which was a pretty stupid move, because for 9 months nothing happened in France, because Germany set his eyes on Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands, then invade Belgium and take over Northern France (Southern France doesn't get taken over until around 1944).

It is now 1940, and Hitler spends his time invading Eastern Europe and starting to head into Russia, which broke a non-aggression treaty that Russia and Hitler had that said that they would split Poland between each other, and promise not to invade. Germany then sets its sights on Britain, deciding to attack the island rather than invade in the famous Battle of Britain, or just the Blitz if you're so inclined.

It's now 1941, and Hitler decides not to mess with Britain after getting beaten back by the strong Royal Air Force, though Hitler has Hungary and Romania now on its side. He then invades Greece, and more of Eastern Europe, and still goosesteps his way into Russia. While that's going on, Japan decided to attack the USA at Pearl Harbor, a Hawaiian island and a terrible movie, to try to keep the USA neutral. It was Japan's way of saying "Don't enter the war, or we'll do worse." which was a terrible move because the USA was already giving aid to Britain and France, and that the USA became a world power at the end of WWI, so the USA now enters WWII on the side of the Allies against the Axis powers.

We now enter 1942 and the Nazis start running into trouble, mainly the Russians, and Japan runs into some trouble, mainly the USA. I forgot to mention that Japan took over some territory, including a bit of Indonesia, China, and some Pacific islands. In 1942, starting in August lasting all the way until February of 1943 the Battle of Stalingrad takes place. This was important in that because of the Russian order No. 227 (the famous "Not One Step Back" order) the Russians beat back the Nazis, and ended their chances of entering even further into Russia. Then over in the Pacific, the Battle of Midway happens from June 4th to 7th, which ended Japan's chances of winning the war. The tactic the USA used for this was called "Islandhopping" because the military would hop from one island to the next, taking them over one by one.

1943 and even more trouble for the Axis powers as the USA continues to push into the Japanese empire, and the Allies (mainly British and American troops) start pushing the Nazis out of north Africa, stopping them from advancing any further south. The Russians also keep a strong front against the Germans, slowly but surely pushing them out of Russian territory and back into eastern Europe.

1944 and now the gig is up for the Nazis, as they're pushed back to around Poland, and the famous D-Day invasion during June occurs. A long and terrible battle takes place with troops from America, Britain, Canada, and Australia (and other nations that might not have been mentioned) take the French coast of Normandy, and by the end of 1944 push Germany out of France.

1945, the Germans are now pushed back to their original borders as Italy, France, and Poland are taken from them in the previous year, or early this year. The Germans however tried to mount a last-ditch offensive called the "Battle of the Bulge". It was Germany's way to try to reinvade France through the exact same means as they did in 1940, which is why it was a tremendous failure. The Russians push into Berlin, and the Allies push into western Germany. Mussolini was assassinated in April 1945, and Hitler committed suicide by the 30th. This means the war is finally over, right? Not exactly, because the USA and Japan are still fighting, until two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which forced Japan into a surrender.

By early to mid 1945, WWII ended, and in its wake, a destroyed and now split Germany (East and West), an economically dependent Europe and Japan, and the empire of England starts to break down as the countries they took over about a century earlier are fighting back. WWII really changed history, and lead to the Cold War between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

Please do ask for lessons you want to see happen, and I'd be more than glad to teach them. Thanks for reading!