World War II

World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a vast majority of the world's nations, including all of the great powers that would eventually form two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Various advanced weapons were made during the war, and the Axis conquered many countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
== History ==
=== Leading up to World War II/The Gathering Storm ===
==== Hitler's Rise to Power ====
The devastation of the Great War (as World War I was known at the time) had greatly destabilized Europe, and in many respects World War II grew out of issues left unresolved by that earlier conflict. In particular, political and economic instability in Germany, and lingering resentment over the harsh terms imposed by the Versailles Treaty, fueled the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi) Party.
==== The Third Reich ====
In the mid-1930s, Hitler began the rearmament of Germany, secretly and in violation of the Versailles Treaty. After signing alliances with Italy and Japan against the Soviet Union, Hitler sent troops to occupy Austria in 1938 and the following year annexed Czechoslovakia. Hitler's open aggression went unchecked, as the United States and Soviet Union were concentrated on internal politics at the time, and neither France nor the United Kingdom (the two other nations most devastated by the Great War) were eager for confrontation.
==== The Spanish Civil War ====
In 1936, a civil war broke out in Spain between the left-leaning Republicans and the right-wing Nationalists. Other world powers lent varying degrees of support to both sides. For example, the Soviet Union supported the Republicans, while the Nazis supported the Nationalists. To ensure a Nationalist victory, Hitler ordered various armed units of his government to provide military support to them. The battles that were fought here were to be a proving ground for the newly-rearmed German military, who would apply what they learned when war broke out in 1939.
== External Links ==
* World War II on Wikipedia
Category:Under Construction
Category:Wars
Category:Events
Category:Fictionalized