World War II

Overview

It has been over 80 years since the end of WWII with the defeat of Hitler’s Germany on May 8th (V-E Day) and the defeat of Hirohito’s Japan on August 14th (V-J Day). Join Active Minds as we explore the origins, the progression and the conclusion of a war that defined the 20th Century. We will also examine its lasting legacy a generation later.

Key Lecture Points

  • World War II began in 1939 as a result of unresolved tensions from World War I, particularly the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which fostered resentment in Germany. The global economic depression further destabilized nations, leading to the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini), and Japan (militarist leaders). These Axis powers pursued aggressive expansion—Japan in Asia, Italy in Africa, and Germany in Europe. The war officially began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, prompting Britain and France to declare war.
  • In the early years of the war, the Axis powers achieved rapid victories. Germany used Blitzkrieg tactics to conquer Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France by mid-1940. Italy joined the conflict alongside Germany, and Japan expanded into China and Southeast Asia. Hitler’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) opened a brutal Eastern Front. Meanwhile, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought the United States into the war, transforming it into a truly global conflict.
  • The Allies, led by the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union, coordinated efforts to defeat the Axis on multiple fronts. After US entry into the war, the tide began to turn against in 1942-1943, with crucial victories at Midway in the Pacific and El Alamein in North Africa. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet forces withstood German attack and began to battle back after victory in Stalingrad. Italy surrendered in 1943, and the Allied invasion of Normandy (D-Day) on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe. The Soviets  advanced steadily from the east, pushing German forces back toward Berlin.
  • In April 1945, as Soviet troops entered Berlin, Adolf Hitler committed suicide, and Germany surrendered shortly after on May 7–8, ending the war in Europe (V-E Day). In the Pacific, the United States pushed closer to Japan through fierce island battles like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Japan refused to surrender until the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, marking the end of World War II.
  • World War II caused over 70 million deaths and immense destruction worldwide. Ittled to the collapse of old empires and triggered a wave of decolonization in Asia and Africa. The war also gave rise to two superpowers—the United States and the Soviet Union—ushering in the Cold War. The United Nations was established in 1945 to promote international peace and prevent future conflicts. The war's legacy includes the Nuremberg Trials, the beginning of the Atomic Age, the birth of Israel, and a reshaped global order that continues to influence international relations today.

Discussion Questions

  • What were the ideological differences that led to World War II?
  • Did you grow up knowing anyone who had been or who had relatives in WWII? What stories did they tell?
  • Have you ever traveled to the battlefields of WWII? What were your impressions?

More to Explore

Books for Further Reading

  • Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: Two-Volume Set. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1999. 1102 pages. Known as a definitive and comprehensive account of Hitler's life, from his obscure beginnings to his final days.
  • Mundy, Liza Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II. Legacy Lit, 2017. 433 pages. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them.
  • Ryan, Cornelius. The Longest Day. Simon & Schuster, 1959. 352 pages. It details the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops, which captured the Caen canal and Orne River bridges before the main assault on the Normandy beaches
  • Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45. Modern Library, 1971. 978 pages. This Pulitzer Prize–winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki told from the Japanese perspective.