WWII: The Leaders of the Leaders
By Charlie Wang Period 8
"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." - Winston Churchill
Facts on the Leaders
- The leaders of the Allied Forces were FDR, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin. The leaders of the Axis Powers were Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito.
- Hitler married his wife two days after he and his wife committed suicide with the two consuming cyanide tablets while Hitler shot himself with his service pistol on April 30th, 1945. Benito Mussolini died around the same time which happened to be the day of the marriage of Hitler.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, was the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe appointed by FDR. Eisenhower was the one who commanded the invasion of D-Day (a.k.a. Operation Overlord.) The invasion began at 3 A.M. Eastern Time. Fun Fact: After Eisenhower's speech to his soldiers, he scribbled a note saying he would take full responsibility if the invasion failed. The note stayed crumpled up in his pocket the whole time.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas on October 14, 1890. He is an alumni of West Point, one of the most prestigious military academies in America.
- Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of Britain during the war. He gave several inspirational speeches to boost the morale of his people. Despite his effort, he was voted out of office before the war was over.
- Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union, signed a non-aggression agreement with Adolph Hitler in 1939. However, Hitler broke that promise and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Stalin then suffered from a nervous breakdown and he was incapacitated. When he recovered, he drove the Germans out of his country. The next step that Stalin took was to push into Berlin and force the surrender.
- Because Franklin Roosevelt didn't live to see the victory of the Allied Forces, Harry Truman had to take over when the war was almost over. Harry Truman played quite a significant role by deciding to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki when Japan refused to surrender after Germany's surrender.
- Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of Britain before Churchill. He tried to negotiate with Hitler before Hitler, as he did with Stalin, broke the agreements between him and Chamberlain. When Germany entered Poland, Chamberlain declared war on Germany. However, Chamberlain's popularity began to decline and then he resigned in 1940.
Social, Economical, and Political Effects
Social Effects: Some social effects were that women were more recognized in America for their efforts in the war. In Japan several civilians were killed because of the two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Economical Effects: Before the war, America was suffering from the Great Depression when the stock markets crashed and everybody was unemployed. The war pulled us out of the depression because there were more jobs available in factories or as soldiers.
Political Effects: Europe was no longer the super power it was. America and the Soviet Union took Europe's place. The rivalry between America and Russia became the Cold War.
How and Why
How did WWII start? The war started after Germany under Hitler's rule, invaded Poland. Poland's allies, France and Britain, naturally declared war on Germany. Germany allied itself with Italy and Japan. America was brought into the fray when Japan surprise attacked America at Pearl Harbor.
Why was America reluctant to join the war? America was never fond of being involved with foreign wars. Only when Pearl Harbor was attacked was when America decided to join in. However, America could have just fought with Japan, but Hitler ended up declaring war on America.