World War II
September 3rd, 1939 - August 15th, 1945
The war contained 61 countries and 1.7 billion soldiers
50,000,000 died and 100's of millions injured
The war had 2 sides, The Allies and The Axis Power
The leaders of the Allies were Neville Chamberlin (Prime minister of Britain before the war), Winston Churchill (Prime minister of Britain during the war), Joseph Stalin (Communist dictator of Russia), Franklin D. Roosevelt (President of the U.S.), Harry Truman (President of the U.S. at the end of the war), Charles de Gaulle (French General), William King (Prime minister of Canada), Robert Menzies (Prime minister of Australia), and Micheal Savage (Prime minister of New Zealand)
The leaders of the Axis Power were Adolf Hitler (German Dictator and killer of millions of people), Hideki Tojo (Prime minister of Japan), Emperor Hirohito (Emperor of Japan), and Benito Mussolini (Prime minister of Italy)
The war was started because of Germany cause in 1918 when WWI ended Germany had to give up land and was banned from having armed forces. In 1933 Adolf Hitler became Germany's leader and began to get Germany's power back and take back land. On September 1st, 1939, German forces stormed the Polish frontier. Over 125 million German soldiers swept Poland away. On September 3rd, 1939, WWII started in Europe when Neville Chamberlin declared war on Germany, it got many countries involved. Hitler refused to abort the mission on Poland so France declared war on Germany and informed Britain and the U.S.
Effects on Texas
Most Texans lived on farms or in small towns and had very few opportunities.
750,000 Texans served in the war and 22,000 Texans died. Admiral Chester Mimitz was the main leader of the Texas military but led the whole U.S. Military. Texas oil helped the war greatly. Texas played such a big role in the war that it started urbanization in Texas. Texans moved to large cities to get good jobs during the war. Cleto Rodriguez from San Antonio was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
How the war ended
In 1945 the Axis Power surrendered. On April 31st, 1945 Adolf Hitler committed suicide, then a week later on May 8th, the Allies accepted Germany's surrender. Even though the war was over, the fight still raged on in the Far East. The atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6th and 9th. After the bombs Japan surrenders on August 15th and the war ended all over the world.