Adolf Hitler successfully preyed upon the dissatisfaction of the German people. His message and charisma allowed him to not only rise to power, but eventually assume the role of a totalitarian leader. He used Germany’s rising nativist sentiment and anger over the results of World War I to help fuel his rise.

Stalin’s official title was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. However, Stalin successfully consolidated power by both increasing his position’s power and eliminating those who opposed him in the government and beyond. For all intents and purposes, Stalin would reign over the Soviet Union as a full-blown dictator for decades.

Congress passed a series of acts in the 1930s designed to keep America neutral in emerging world conflicts. World War I had left America holding a lot of unpaid debts from foreign nations; as a result, in the 1930s Congress was extremely hesitant to offer foreign assistance financially or militarily.

England and France were not eager to engage in another European war. By adopting a strategy of nonviolent appeasement, both nations mistakenly thought Hitler’s thirst for expansion would be satiated. Less than a year after the Munich Conference, Hitler would take the rest of Czechoslovakia by force.

Hitler and Stalin were long-time enemies; however, they came together in 1939 to formalize their agreement to avoid military action against each other. Hitler had been eyeing an invasion of Poland, but feared Stalin would be upset by the attack on a nation bordering his Soviet Union. By seeking out the non-aggression agreement ahead of time, Hitler cleared the way to invade Poland and had the assurance that Stalin would be kept at bay.

The blitzkrieg was unleashed upon Poland in September of 1939. By the end of the month, Poland had fallen. Following the successful invasion, Germany and the Soviet Union would divide up the newly conquered country between their two empires. Within a year, the blitzkrieg strategy led to the near total domination of Europe by Nazi Germany.

The three nations were not a truly coordinated alliance in the strategic sense, but they stood together to promote their agendas of expansion and conquest. Although Germany would work with the Soviet Union early on in the war, one of the key goals of the Axis alliance was to neutralize and eliminate Soviet Communism.

Britain’s successful defense against the Nazi blitzkrieg was largely due to the strength of Britain’s Royal Air Force and the strong resolve of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Hitler was forced to give up the attack to prevent further losses to his air force.

Roosevelt recognized the public’s desire to remain out of the European conflict and kept up a forward-facing message of neutrality. Meanwhile, steps were taken to bolster the American navy, to lay the legal groundwork for a potential draft, and to begin building up the military-industrial complex as a means of earning much needed revenue from the sale of arms to allies.

The Lend-Lease Act was another step in Roosevelt’s move towards supporting and eventually entering the war. The funds and arms were desperately needed by the British in their continued efforts to fend off the Nazis.

Roosevelt cut off Japan from any of their assets held in American banks and put a stop to trade deals that were supplying Japan with fuel and resources to continue their aggressions.

The December 7, 1941 attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii galvanized public support for entering the war. The surprise attack cost America over 2,000 soldiers, hundreds of grounded aircraft, and over a dozen warships. Within days, Congress had declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.

The war effort was a crucial factor in the recovery of the American economy still reeling from the Great Depression and the subsequent recession. While many Americans felt the pains of resource rationing in their own homes, the American economy saw huge gains on the whole.

The war provided numerous ways for American women to support the war cause. Women took on active roles in jobs and positions that had typically been thought of as only suitable for men.

Japanese internment remains one of America’s greatest shames. The prisoners were forced to live in harsh, cramped conditions away from their homes and possessions for no other reason than public paranoia surrounding their ethnicity. It would take America until 1988 to formally apologize for the injustice.

Both FDR and Churchill agreed that an attack across the English Channel into the heart of the German empire would be a fool’s errand in 1942. Instead, the Allies focused on Northern Africa as a way to gain control over the land, the Mediterranean Sea, and the all-important Suez Canal. From there, Italy would be within reach.

While the Allies would eventually take Italy, the occupying German forces proved to be relentless opponents. The Italian invasion set the tone for what was sure to be an arduous fight.

Germany’s failed sieges of Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad would prove to be a crucial inflection point in the war. Hitler’s army faced steep losses in both numbers and morale. Perhaps more importantly, Hitler’s split focus between the Eastern and Western fronts opened the door for the rest of the Allied forces to finally plan and implement an invasion of France.

The daring attack on the coast of Normandy, France would be one of the largest and boldest military assaults ever attempted by a modern military force. There were enormous casualty numbers on both sides, but the Allies would ultimately succeed and gained a crucial staging ground for the final pushes into the German-controlled European mainland.

The Battle of the Bulge would be the last major offensive mounted by the German army. Following the key victory, the Allied forces were able to reverse the momentum of the European campaign and push the Germans back to Berlin.

The Nazi campaign of hatred and persecution targeted specific cultures and groups including the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals. The Nazi holocaust stands as one of the most devastating examples of genocide in human history.

While the Soviet Union was part of the Allies, Roosevelt and Churchill were wary of Stalin’s post-war aims. The Yalta agreement gave the American and British leaders hope that the alliance between the three nations could be tenable moving forward. Regardless, the fear of the spread of Communism still loomed large.

MacArthur and Nimitz leapfrogged from island to island throughout the Pacific working towards capturing the Philippines and Japanese mainland. Each captured Island provided the opportunity for the Allies to create new bases for future operations.

Guam would be the launching point for the Battle of Leyte Gulf that sank the majority of the Japanese fleet. The island was also a key strategic base for conducting bombing raids on Japan’s main islands.

The decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a difficult one to make and justify. The Potsdam Declaration warned Japan that a refusal to surrender would lead to the “prompt and utter destruction” of Japan. When Japan refused to surrender, Truman made the decision to follow through with the declaration’s threat.

The atomic bombs resulted in both immediate and long-lasting effects. While the bombings would successfully convince the Japanese to surrender, ending the war, the devastation to both the population and the environment would last for generations.

Despite the triumph of the Allies over the Axis forces, the final casualty counts for World War II were staggering. Over 40 million soldiers and civilians died over the course of the conflict.

Trials were held in both Tokyo, Japan and Nuremburg, Germany to prosecute the Axis leaders for war crimes. While some of the leaders were able to flee to sympathetic nations willing to harbor them, the vast majority were forced to face grave consequences for their involvement in one of the most horrific wars in world history.