World War II is still the deadliest war that has ever occured. However, without the many contributions and roles played by multiple individuals, the war would have had an extremely different outcome. These people were brought into World War II in several different ways and were all chasing different outcomes supporting their countries. The ten figures going to be discussed believed contrasting claims and are all now known for their heroism or poor choices.
One person who greatly impacted the war was Winston Churchill. He was the prime minister of Britain in 1940. On May 10, 1940- the same day Churchill became prime minister- Germany invaded Luxembourg, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Churchill was a smart man and had warned everyone about Hitler and his Nazis before the start of the war; therefore, was not surprised when the invasions began. Churchill rallied the nation against Hitler and became one of the main driving forces that inspired the U.K. to keep fighting against Hitler.
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Winston Churchill also played a key role in the forming of the “Big Three” Alliance. This alliance was between the U.S., Britain, and the Soviets. Winston is known for leading his country to victory in the Battle of Britain. After leading his country in times of fighting, Churchill became famous for his speeches and courage to not surrender to Hitler and the Nazis. He also built a close relationship with Franklin Roosevelt through their political places in World War II. To summarize, Churchill was one of the main fighting forces against Hitler and helped the Allied Powers win the war. He encouraged civilians to participate in the war and to not back down when faced with threats. Winston Churchill also showed nations that anyone could stand up and fight with the inspiring speeches he gave.
Roosevelt was an important leader in World War II who helped the United States in defeating Germany. Franklin Roosevelt was the United States’ thirty-second president, facing him with two major problems in leading the Americans. The Great Depression hit America in 1929 and staying neutral in World War II was becoming harder and harder. Roosevelt maintained neutrality even though he indirectly supported Winston Churchill and the Allies.
However, the United States’ neutral decision ended the day Japan launched a surprise attack on Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor naval base. Roosevelt soon began building allies and started partnerships with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin to help him fight Nazi Germany. Franklin was and is still the only president who was elected four times allowing him to lead America through the hard times. During the war, America supplied billions of dollars to the Allied Forces for weapons and equipment needed. Roosevelt, being president, was also the over the American army and U.S. Navy.
Although he struggled with Polio, Franklin was a strong leader who paved the way for the following leaders to come like Harry Truman. He worked hard to build a powerful, united country and fought to lead the United States to victory with the Allies against Germany. In 1945, Roosevelt died in Georgia while serving his fourth term as president. Harry Truman then had to take control and lead America to victory against Japan.
As a result, Truman was now president and was in control of America. Therefore, Truman was also Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces during the last two months fighting Japan. Under Truman, America accomplished major things in history. Under his command, the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Although Truman had only been vice president for a short time before Roosevelt died, he had experience in politics and war strategies. Harry Truman was a senator under Franklin Roosevelt and was responsible for creating sections of the New Deal. He then became vice president only to become president 82 days later. However, Harry Truman was an extremely successful man. All in all, Truman commanded the first dropping of the atomic bombs, achieved Germany’s surrender, and signed a charter with the United Nations. On the other hand, Truman’s decisions to end the war are viewed as controversial. Atomic bombs had never been used before in warfare, and the effects they would have worldwide were unknown.
Along with strong American leaders, Truman and Roosevelt, was Douglas MacArthur. He was one of the main generals who helped lead the American forces. MacArthur was called to rejoin the fight against Japan in 1941. He launched several successful attacks, but his force was being destroyed by the Japanese in the Philippine Islands. Roosevelt, president at the time, did not want his leading general to die; therefore, he ordered Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philippines. The last thing MacArthur wanted to do was leave his troops, but he escaped safely to Australia.
MacAurthur’s worst nightmare came true when the Japanese took control of the Philippines. He promised he would return and help the Americans defeat Japan. MacArthur spent the next two and a half years commanding an island-hopping campaign in the Pacific and returned to America ready to win. Four years after being recalled to active duty, MacArthur was given control of all Army forces in the Pacific.
After years of continuous fighting, on September 2, 1945, MacArthur officially accepted the surrender of the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri. His brave war efforts earned him the Medal of Honor award. Over the next six years from 1945-1951, MacArthur oversaw Japan’s military forces being pushed out and the drafting of a new constitution for the United States. To sum up, Douglas MacArthur was a strong general for the American army who helped the United States win essential battles and defeat the Japanese.
Throughout the war, more nations got involved. Japan was one of the main countries. The leaders behind the Japanese attacks were Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. With Tojo pushing for an alliance with Germany and Italy, Emperor Hirohito signed the Tripartite Pact forming the Axis Powers. Together, Hirohito and Tojo decided to try and form a dictatorship like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The United States had remained neutral until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, authorized by Tojo and Hirohito. On December, 8 the United States declared war and the Japanese never realized they were in over their heads.
Although Hideki Tojo worked hard and climbed the rankings, it was not enough to defeat the Americans. Emperor Hirohito was the one who announced Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945. Tojo strongly supported the fascist idea of Mussolini and believed Japan would fit that specific form of government well. However, these methods were not enough to defeat America with Harry Truman and Franklin Roosevelt. Emperor Hirohito and Hideki Tojo were both disappointed and unhappy with the results of the fighting with the United States. All in all, Tojo and Hirohito had brilliant ideas for Japan, but they did not carry out their plans correctly. They did not realize how strong the Americans were going to be with the help of Russia and Great Britain.
The main person known for World War II is Adolf Hitler. Known as one of the most powerful dictators, Hitler was feared worldwide and is considered to be the primary cause of the war. At a young age, Hitler tried to pursue Germany and take control. His plan failed and was named the Beer Hall Putsch. This landed Hitler in prison for five years, where he wrote Mein Kampf. In his book, he explained his strategy for Germany and his nationalism and anti-Semitic beliefs.
When Hitler finally gained power, he began taking over nearby countries and formed the Nazi Party. Leading this party, Hitler created the Nazi symbol called the swastika. He used propaganda to his advantage and gained an alliance with Japan, led by Hirohito and Tojo, and Italy, led by Benito Mussolini. Originally, Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 caused World War II to begin. Britain and France both declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland. Germany forced France to sign an armistice and hoped Britain would do the same. However, when Great Britain refused to surrender to Germany, Hitler and Mussolini continued to invade.
The United States was neutral up until December 7, 1941, when Japan bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor. This then caused Germany to declare war on the United States due to its alliance with Japan. Hitler’s focus then moved to breaking the alliance between the United States (Roosevelt), Great Britain (Churchill), and the Soviets (Stalin). Hitler thought the Nazis would be unbeatable with his war strategy. Hitler used blitzkrieg “lightning war”, which uses armored columns supported by airplanes. However, Hitler did not realize how strong the Allied Powers were. Finally, Hitler is the most well-known figure associated with the war and was the person who killed the most. He was the powerful dictator of Germany and the Nazi soldiers. Adolf Hitler would do anything for power and would listen to no one who went against him. This eventually cost him the war as Germany surrendered to the United States.
Fighting against Hitler was Dwight Eisenhower with the United States. Eisenhower attended West Point military school and was trained to fight there. Eisenhower went up and up in the rankings due to his strong leadership qualities. During his duty, Eisenhower was promoted to lieutenant. When the United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor’s bombing, George Marshall called Dwight to Washington D.C. to serve as a war planning officer. He served under General Douglas MacArthur and was an assistant military advisor in the Philippines.
Eisenhower was sure he wanted to punish Germany for the things “she” had done. He became a major general and commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa and led Operation Torch. When Eisenhower became chief of staff for the Third Army, he began spending more time with his front-line soldiers. He believed the front-line soldier needed to know that their commanding officer cared about their safety and fighting conditions. If the soldiers in the most danger kept a high morale, battle efficiency could be maintained and the troops would win.
Dwight Eisenhower is known for commanding the Allied Forces in the Normandy invasion on D-Day. The invasion of Normandy against Germany is known as the turning point in World War II as the Allies gained a victory. When the Germans finally surrendered to the Allied Powers in 1945, Eisenhower was made military governor of the United States’ occupied zone. He became the 34th President of the United States after Harry Truman. His ideas about how to handle the government were going to pick up where the concepts of Roosevelt and Truman left off. Eisenhower also signed an armistice with South Korea and served a second term as president. Overall, Dwight Eisenhower helped the United States win the war as a brave fighter and leader. He led the nation as President of the United States and created a strong government for the country to lean on.
One of the people on Adolf Hitler’s side was Benito Mussolini. Mussolini poured hate onto the government of Italy for its weakness in the Treaty of Versailles. Mussolini decided Italy needed a change and thought he was the only person that could make it. In 1922 Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy, and in 1925 he declared himself dictator. He went by the title “II Duce” which means the leader.
Mussolini wanted total control, and Adolf Hitler began seeing how powerful Mussolini was becoming. However, Mussolini could see how dominant Hitler was and did not want Italy to be taken by Germany. As Germany was moving more and more to the west, Mussolini hoped Germany would be slowed down by France. As France surrendered, Mussolini knew he needed to do something or his country would be next.
Italy and Germany then signed an alliance known as the “Pact of Steel.” Hitler began to influence Mussolini and changed his views on the Jewish race. Establishing the Axis Powers with Japan, Italy, and Germany thought they could easily defeat the Allied Powers. What they did not know was Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were building a plan to take the Axis Powers down. Realizing he was not going to achieve what he had planned, Mussolini was overthrown and forced to resign in 1943. He was then captured and eventually murdered by Italians who thought Mussolini did not do their country justice. In the end, Mussolini did not succeed in his goals and lost the war for his country.
However, Mussolini introduced ideas to the European world. He proved that the League of Nations was weak when he tried to form his Italian government. This attempt to build an empire also showed Hitler the League could not stop him from taking over more countries and becoming the leader. Mussolini brought Fascism into the world and it quickly spread across Europe.
The last person is Joseph Stalin, who I have already mentioned with previous people. Stalin was associated with the Soviets and was part of the Allied Powers. Stalin first rose to Power as General Secretary of the Communist Party in Russia. Vladimir Lenin was the leader at the time, but after his death, Stalin saw his opportunity to have power. Following Lenin’s death, Stalin “outmaneuvered” his opponents and became dictator in the late 1920s. Stalin had several different opinions that changed from the start of the war to the end. In the beginning, Stalin signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Hitler. This means that Stalin and Hitler had originally been allies in World War II. However, Hitler, wanting all the power possible, broke the alliance with Russia and invaded. However, Stalin and his Red Army defeated the Germans at the Battle of Stalingrad and drove Hitler out of the USSR.
After his alignment with Hitler and the Nazis failed, he decided to ally with Great Britain and the United States. Russia then became the missing piece to the Allied Powers. Stalin ruled the Soviet Union with a totalitarian grip and made people fear him. He also developed a plan for Russia called the Five-Year Plan. His plan was centered around collectivization and was supposed to change Russia. In addition, Joseph Stalin the powerful leader of Russia changed sides in the middle of World War II. He was betrayed by Hitler and helped the Allied Powers defeat him and the Nazis.
All things considered, if these ten figures had made one choice differently, the entire outcome of the war would have been affected. World War II was fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. The Allied Powers were Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. Russia was led by Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill had the power in Great Britain. The United States had multiple leaders due to presidency changes and army positions. The Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan. Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Emperor Hirohito, and Hideki Tojo were the four who thought they could win it all. The Allied Powers were not suspected to win the war with how powerful Hitler and his Nazis were. However, with the leadership the United States had, the Axis Powers were not ready for the battles to come.
The Allied Powers were underestimated. Winston Churchill was a brilliant man who inspired Great Britain to fight Germany and not surrender to the Nazis. He gave speeches and made the best decision when signing the alliance with the United States. Franklin Roosevelt was president during most of World War II and the Great Depression. America had been at an all-time low, but Roosevelt kept the morale high and led the country to victory with his allies. Harry Truman became president after Roosevelt and received the official call that Japan had surrendered. He is known for making the war-ending choice- dropping the first atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Generals Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower also led the Americans to major victories that encouraged the nation to keep fighting. Eisenhower went on to become president and continued the ideas of Roosevelt and Truman. Joseph Stalin switched sides when Hitler betrayed him. The Soviet Union leader helped the Allied Powers defeat Germany and succeed.
The Axis Powers were led by the all-mighty Adolf Hitler. German dictator who thought he could lead the world with no one else. He was a ruthless leader who created the Nazi soldiers. Mussolini was the leader of Italy who did not want to be taken over by Hitler. Hideki Tojo and Emperor Hirohito thought they had the Americans defeated. The Axis Powers were extremely powerful and could have won World War II. However, the leaders wanted power for themselves and did not listen to anyone other than them. The Axis Powers did not believe that the Allies had a chance at the war, and that was their mistake. Therefore, although the Axis Powers had strong leaders and powerful armies, the choices made by Mussolini, Hitler, Tojo, and Hirohito changed the result of the war.
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