World War II By Tony O’ Connor

Introduction World War II started when Germany invaded Poland on the 1st of September 1939 and ended on the 2nd of September 1945, with the official surrender of the last Axis nation, Japan. World War II was the most widespread war in history. The Nazis were led by Adolf Hitler, who was also known as the Fuhrer.

The Allies The Allies were made up of Great Britain, France, The Soviet Union, The United States, China, Poland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and many more.

The Big Three From left tom right: Josef Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

Hitler’s Childhood Hitler was born on the 20th of April 1889. Hitler was baptised a Catholic. Hitler’s father was a mid-level customs official and died of pleural haemorrhage in 1903. Hitler quit school when he was 16. In 1906 Hitler was given permission to visit Vienna, Austria but couldn’t get into the art school he wanted.

The Axis Powers The Axis were made up of Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

The Gestapo The Gestapo were German secret police. The organisation was created in 1933 and lasted until 1945. The Gestapo were infamously known for brutally interrogating and torturing event their own people especially if they found out someone was a Jew.

Interesting Facts 80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn’t survive WWII. Many Jews were subjects to gruesome human experiments, doctors would break bones repeatedly to see how many times they could do it before the bone would not heal. The Swastika was the symbol of the Nazis. Russia had around 21 million casualties during the war.

The Swastika

After The War After the war, millions of people were left homeless. Germany were forced to give back all the land they gained during the war. To prevent any more wars, there were many new peace treaties put in place. Most of the Axis nations were forced to pay massive sums of money for all the destruction and death caused.