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The Great Depression The Great Depression was the most severe economic collapse ever to hit the western world. In began on October 29, 1929, when the stock market crashed and Wall Street exploded in confusion, spending and investing dropped, and unemployment skyrocketed. 1933 was when the Great Depression hit its highest point when 13-15 million Americans were without jobs. Through reform by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the economy would finally be able to turn around in 1939, when WWII boomed American Industry.

The American economy entered an ordinary recession in the summer of 1929, as spending dropped and goods began to pile up, slowing downing production. On October 24, the stock market bubible burst, as investors began dumping massive shares. 12.9 million shares were traded that day, known as "Black Thursday." Five days later, on October 29, the stock market crashed and panic swept over Wall Street. Millions of shares ended up worthless.

As consumer confidence vanished, factories and other businesses had to begin to fire their workers many Americans fell into debt, and the amount of foreclosures and repossessions peaked. For those who were lucky enough to have jobs, wages dropped. The Great Depression quickly spread around the world, especially in Europe.

President Herbet Hoover promised that the Great Depression would run its course, but matters would only get worse. Breadlines, soup kitchens and homeless people became more and more common in America's towns and cities. Banking panics began, as large numbers of investors lost confidence in their banks and demanded deposits in cash, forcing banks to liquidate loans in order to pay the sufficient funds. By early 1933 thousands of banks had close send down.

Hoover believed a government should not intervene in the economy. The people were mad at the job Hoover was doing and in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president. Roosevelt knew things were bad but he had optimism, declaring,"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!" He took immediate action to address to economy he implemented the New Deal, which were public work projects, in which many American landmarks were built. He had employed 8.5 million people from 1935 to 1943. By 1939, the United States was back on track, and the Great Depression had finally ended. (1) media type="youtube" key="KfeHWnaK7rY" width="350" height="199" The Rise of Dictators With democratic governments not being able to solve, or ease, the economic and social problems caused by the Great Depression, their flawed way of governing was exposed. With the league of nations u able to enforce any treaty, and the Allied powers not wanting to, dictatorships were free to grow and expand.The four major dictatorships of this era were Germany, Italy, The USSR and Japan. All four of these countries have similar reasons for turning to dictators.

The Great Depression and postwar rebuilding had thrown Italy into a state of debt and poverty. During this period there was a strong rise in nationalism in Italy and the feeling they had been wronged. Even though Italy was on the winning side of the war none of their claims were accepted at the Paris Peace Confrence in 1919. Italy was looking for a strong leader to get them out of poverty and into a new golden age, they found this Bennito Mussolini. Mussolini promised that he would bring Italy into a new Roman Empire, and after dragging Italy out of debt most Italians were supportive of him and his fascist regime. The Treaty of Versailles left Germany in shambles, they had been humiliated, impoverished, and their territory had been slashed. Young Germans had a strong sense of hatred towards the Allies and the democratic government, whom they blamed for Germany's current state. As the Weimar Republic lost popularity, fascist, socialist and communist parties began to rise to power, until the Nazi party took hold. The Nazis, National Socialist German Workers party, led by Adolfo Hitler, gained popularity after dragging Germany out of debt and rebuilding much of its cities and towns. They also, however, secretly built stockpiles of weapons and other war machines. Hitler skillfully directed the hate the German people felt on specific groups of people, like the Jews or the Allies. (2) Post World War I Russia was hectic with multiple skirmishes leading to revoloution and civil war. Eventually the Bolsheviks came to power appointing Vladmir Lenin their first leader, and ruling with Communism. After Lenin's death in 1924 there was a small power struggle before Joseph Stalin became leader of the communist USSR, United Soviet Socialist Republics. By the early 1920's Stalin had become the dictator of the Soveit Union. He then initiated a five year plan that turned the Soviet Union from a peasant farming society into a Industrial Superpower. He collectivized Soviet agriculture and ruled with an Iron fist killing any who oppossed him. (3) Although Japan was oj the winning side of World War I and they were not in ruins, Japan still thought that they were wronged. Japan was ambitious and craved more land and power and blamed westerners for not getting that power. After Japan's industrialization they became they dominate military force in Asia and the Pacific, with the exception of the US. Japan lived under the rule of an emperor, although during and around World War II he became a figure head. The real leader was Tojo Hideki, Japan's Minister of War and Prime Minister. Tojo had a stellar career in the military which allowed him to climb the ranks to Minister of War. The Emperor promised prosperity and the spirit of the samurai was reignited in the hearts of many Japanese men and women. (4)

Beginnings of World War II The beginnings of World War II is an interesting topic. Many believe it was a continuous war after World War I. Others believe it was after Germany invaded Poland. Some say it was when Italy invaded Ethiopia. Others say it was when Japan invaded China. Everybody has their opinions, but these are the events that started World War II.

Many believe the Great Depression and post World War I embarrassment led to World War II. After World War I, the Germans had to pay billions of dollars of reparations, which landed the country in financial debt. There also was a sense of hatred towards the Allied Powers. After the Great Depression left Germany in even more financial ruin, the Germans needed a new leader. Adolf Hitler would turn out to be that leader. Also, Italy, even though aligned with the allies in World War I, felt cheated out of land. The Italians needed a new ruler, and Benito Mussolini would turn out to be the new ruler of Italy. Also, in Japan, emperor Hirohito and Hideki Tojo would take total control of Japan. (5)

In 1937, Japan said they were being fired at from the Marco Polo bridge. Using this as an excuse, they invaded Manchuria, and within days, the entirety of China. The Japanese came up against little resistance. Shanghai, China's most important port, and Nanking fell within days. The rape of Nanking has become one of the most shocking incidents in modern history. The senior officers of the Japanese army let their men destroy everything in their path, killing tens of thousands of people. The final death toll was roughly 250,000. The Japanese were relentless, and within 5 months, 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. By the end of 1937, all the major cities of China were captured by the Japanese as well as the major communication systems of the nation. (5)

Italy, in 1935, invaded Ethiopia. In the 1890's, Italy had once tried to conquer Ethiopia, but failed. A border dispute between Ethiopia and Italian controlled Somaliland gave Benito Mussolini an excuse to intervene. Rejecting all arbitration offers, Italy invaded Ethiopia on October 3, 1935. Under Generals Rodolfo Graziani and Pietro Badoglio, the invading forces pushed back the poorly trained Ethiopian army. They won a major victory near lake Ashangi on April 9, 1936, and taking the capital, Addis Ababa, on May 5. Emperor Haile Selassie went into exile. In Rome, Mussolini proclaimed Italy's king Victor Emmanuel III Emperor of Ethiopia and made Badoglio viceroy. The League of Nations condemned the Italian invasion and voted to impose economic sanctions on the aggressor. However, the sanctions were ineffective due to lack of support. Although they disagreed with what Mussolini did, Britain had no real interest in stopping him. This war demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations. (1)

Some believe the war started when Adolf Hitler and Germany invaded the Sudetenland, which was a part of Czechoslovakia that was majority German speaking. Czechoslovakia, which was made in 1919 after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire, had a lot of nationalities in their country. Hitler wanted the German speaking Sudetenland, a part he believed belonged to Germany. Hitler met little resistance from the Czech government or Britain and France, who just let him take it. Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of Britain, signed a treaty with Hitler, which Hitler would later call "a scrap of paper." Other countries soon followed to Germany, including Austria, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Some believed this started the war because it showed Germany was starting to conquer territories and creating tension. (1)

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. This is the event that many believe started World War II as this is the event that broke the world tension and that tension exploded for six years. Germany invaded Poland because they lost Poland after World War I and Hitler believed Poland was rightfully his. He told Britain and France it was a defensive action, but they weren't convinced. Two days later, they declared war on Germany. Before the invasion, Hitler and Stalin had signed a nonaggression pact. Germany came from the left side of Poland as the Soviets came in from the right. The Germans initiated the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war" in German. It means exactly what it sounds like, as Germany did a very quick and sudden attack before Poland could even blink. Poland couldn't withstand Germany and the Soviet Union coming at them at the same time and had to surrender. Hitler believed Germany was racially superior to Poland. Germany took over Poland and set up many concentration camps there, including the infamous Auschwitz camp. (1) Major Battles of World War II These battles proved to be major turning points in World War II. Although they were fought all over the world, they are all major battles that are, for the most part lesser known. These are, The Battle of Stalingrad, The Battle of Leyte Gulf and The Battle of Sicily.

Beginning in September 1942, Stalingrad is though to be a major turning point in the war. Although it wasn't smart to leave a major city unconquered, it was not necessary to attack Stalingrad and it is believed Hitler went after it simply because it neared Stalin's name. The Luftwaffe, holding aerial superiority. Bombarded the city every night for weeks, allowing the Nazis to take roughly 90 percent of the city. Fighting on the ground became horrendously bloody with hand to hand combat for individual streets, it is said that an area taken by Nazis by day would be lost to Soviets by night. Although all seemed lost for the Soviets, they did not give up, especially after Stalin declared,"Not a step backwards!" When winter set in Marshall Zhukov used the opportunity to launch a counter attack, surrounding the Germans with over a million men. As Nazis ran out of supplies Generals begged Hitler to retreat, but he would not. After surrendering, the Soviets smashed through Ussia and Poland, and the captured Nazi soldiers were usually never heard from again. After the battle of Stalingrad Hitler issued a national day of mourning, for their failure and was quoted saying,"The god of war has turned to the other side. (5) media type="custom" key="27574590" The Battle of Leyte Gulf, beginning in October 1944, was a series of Naval battles sprawling across southeast Asia, mainly the Philippines, that were won by the Americans. Having been expelled from their in 1941-42, General Macarthur vowed to liberate the Philippines for more than just tactical reasons, but to regain his honor. The Battle for Leyte Gulf could be split into four different parts, the Sibuyan Sea, the Surigao Strait, Cape Enagño and Samar. Knowing of the American's intentions to take the area the combined Japanese Fleet separate into Four Forces to cover all the area, the largest being the center force which contained three battleships, two super battleships and ten heavy cruisers. In the Sibuyan Sea the center force was attacked by US Submarines and aircraft, after losing a battle ship, two cruisers, one was the flagship, and having several others damaged the admiral transferred his flag to the Yamato and retreated. As the southern fleet entered Surigao Strait they were attack on three sides by 7 aircraft carriers and six battleships, manned mostly by Pearl Harbor survivors, the remainder of the souther fleet retreated. The American fleet, led by Amdiral Hasely, were lured into Cape Engaño by a feigned retreat, by the end of the day, all four of the northern fleets carriers had been destroyed. As Admiral Hayes was attacking the northern fleet he received news that it was a trick and that the center fleet were attacking the landings, which were guarded by only one carrier group. As Hasley was steaming towards Kurita's Fleet, Kurita encountered the battleships and destroyers of the 7th division who valiantly fought him off. After this battle the Japanese Navy was crippled and couldn't launch anymore major Naval missions which allowed the Americans to comllete their island hopping campaign easier.(6) media type="custom" key="27574598" The Battle, or invasion, of Sicily began July 10, 1943. Although not originaly planned the allies went from North Africa into Italy, mainly because Churchill did not want the Soviets to gain control of the area. Before this battle the allies dressed a corpse up like one of their generals and gave him "classified documents" about attacking Sardinia and also love letters to his wife. They dumped the body of the Spanish coast, who gave it to Hitler, who ordered for the move,ent of troops despite Mussolini thinking that the allies who would attack Sicily. Before landing paratroopers experienced heavy winds making it hard for them to land in the target area, they were still successful in cutting off communications however. After a week of fierce combat the allies won, mainly due to their 2:1 air superiority. The Italians lost many men at Sicily dispiriting them, and after a few days of allied expansion into Italy, they booted Mussolini, and immediatly contacted the Allies for a surrender. media type="custom" key="27574604" Japan's Involvement in WWII

Japan was on the side of the Allies in World War I, but felt cheated after World War I. There was racial discrimination against Japan by the Allies which didn't help relations. Japan's economy would get worse. The great Kanto earthquake in 1923 and the Great Depression didn't help Japan. Japan and China had increasingly tense relations. Japan broke away from the League of Nations in 1933.

Japan invaded China in 1937 and would commit a number of war atrocities towards the Chinese people, especially in Nanking. After joining Germany and Italy to form the Axis Powers, they created conflict with Britain and the United States. The United States would soon cut off their oil supply to Japan. Japan retaliated with their attack at Pearl Harbor and several other points throughout the Pacific. The Japanese would have the upper hand in the Pacific War until the tide was turned at the battle of Midway. From then on, the Allies turned the tide on the Japanese. After two atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese were forced to surrender. (1)

American Involvement Although it is widely believed that US involvement in the war began after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. was involved long before that. The US Lend-Lease Act gave military supplies for the promise of later payment to its allies. The U.S. military involvement, however, began on December 7, 1941, or Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a Japanese plan to cripple the US Pacific Fleet before they could begin to fight. This attack, however, was made even more devastating due to poor planning by US military officials who knew an attack was imminent. Thankfully not all of the Pacific Fleet was destroyed. The Japanese plan had backfired, the US united together in one goal, destroy whoever did this to them. The largest change in the US wartime life was on the homefront. WWII dragged the US out of the great deprsession and into a industrial age. A draft was put into place, recycle scrap and rubber was told at schools for children to do and women took over many factory jobs usually manned by men. The economic juggernaut had been awoken and was producing at record highs. (7)

The Holocaust The Holocaust was the extermination of the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled, and other "undesirables" that were put into concentration camps in which they were literally worked to death and there was little to no food provided for them. To the anti-Semitic Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Jews were an inferior race, a threat to the racial purity of the Germans. Hitler's final solution, now known as the idea for the Holocaust, led to the construction of concentration camps in occupied Poland.

There are theories to why Hitler hated the Jews, but none have ever been found as true. While in prison for his Nazi revolution, he wrote Mein Kampf, in which he predicted a war that would result in "the extermination of the Jewish race in Germany." Hitler was obsessed with the idea of the superiority of the "pure" German race, which he called Aryan. After being released, he brought up the Nazi party, made the swastika its symbol, and would rise to power. After the German chancellor died, Hitler took power, becoming the Fuhrer of Germany.

The first concentration camp was opened in Dachau (near Munich) in March 1933, and many of the first prisoners sent there were Communists. Dachau was under the control of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, the elite Nazi guard. Huge Nazi rallies and acts such as burning books written by Jews, Communists, liberals, and foreigners helped drive home the message of the party. During the next six years, Nazis undertook an "Aryanization" of Germany, dismissing non-Aryans of civil service, liquidating Jewish owned businesses, and stripping Jewish lawyers and doctors of their clients. Under the Nuremberg laws of 1935, anybody with three or four Jewish grandparents were considered a Jew, while those with two Jewish grandparents were called half-breeds. This culminated in Kristallnacht, when synagogues were burned and Jewish shops were destroyed. 100 Jews were killed or arrested. Hundreds of thousands of Jews left Germany, while others were less lucky.

When the Germans occupied Poland, police soon forced thousands of Polish Jews from their homes and into ghettos, and gave their property to Polish Germans, Germans from the Reich, or Polish Gentiles. The ghettoes in Poland were unbearable and disease was rampant, especially typhus. German religious leaders protested when Hitler started gassing disabled people, so Hitler said he put an end to the program. He continued it in secrecy.

Hitler would soon make every German Jew wear a yellow star, making them an open target. Near Kraków, a new camp had opened, the infamous Auschwitz camp. 500 officials gassed 500 Soviet POW's to death with the pesticide Zyklon-B. The Germans began mass transports to the concentration camps, starting with those viewed as the least useful. The first mass gassings began at the camp of Belzec. As the German army gained more and more territory, more and more camps opened. However, as D-Day and the Soviet offensive turned the tide, the camps would only get worse. A huge proportion of Hungary's Jewish population were sent to Auschwitz, and as many as 12,000 Jews were killed each day.

As the war came to an end, Hitler killed himself in his bunker. This ended Nazi rule. The Soviet soldiers liberated many camps in the east, while the British and Americans liberated France. The three then liberated camps in the west. After the war had ended, the Allies forced the German people, even those who opposed Hitler, to see what the Nazis had done. The German people were confused and in disarray. All in all, the Holocaust claimed 12 million people, but some say it was a larger number. 6 million Jews were killed. (1) The Allied Victory The end of World War II, and the war itself, can be split into two parts, the European Theatre and the Pacific Theatre. Both were fought on two ends of the world never apilling over into eachother, even though they were some of the same people fighting. Each of this wars ended on differant days and for differant reasons.

By 1944 the allies had major aerial superiority due to the continuos stream of losses the Germans faced. Due to this the allies were able to devastate German cities on unprecedented scales. They were able to land in Northern and Southern France due to no air resitance. After weeks of fierce fighting in France the allies smashed through the rest of France and Belgium. At the same time the Soviets were coming in from the Baltic States and were beginning to take Germany. Amid the rubble and conquest of Germany, Hitler killed himself which lead to the unconditional surrender of the Germans in May 7 in Reims France. (8)

The Allies were gobbling up islands quickly and moving closer to Japan, the USSR pledged its aid to attack Japan. With most of its navy sunk Japan was helpless to stop the expansion. They continued to fight on valiantly however. The US realized that so many lives would be lost if they were to invade Japan as even the civilians would attack soldiers with sharp sticks. So they decided to drop two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the same time the Osviets were invading Manchuria. The Japanese, out of fear that the US had more atomic bombs, surrendered aboard the USS Missourc in Tokyo Bay.

Europe and Japan in Ruins The cost and amount of casualties of World War II brought many nations to all time lows. Some cities and towns were nothing but bricks and ash. Allied fire bombings had ravaged not just the towns but the ground and farms. The french people, although grateful to be liberated, had a bit of disdain towards the Americans who destroyed their homes and farms. In a war of this scale there are no winners.

The total cost was great it was huge and it launched many nations into debt. The exact cost is unknown to this day but it can estimated. The estimate for the war financialy was 1.01 Trillion dollars. When adjusted for inflation the cost of the war today would be roughly, 11,292,682,166.46 US dollars. The cost of human life was extremely high, and is normaly split into two groups. The military and civilian loss of life is about 55 million people. (11)The amount of Jews killed is roughly 12 million, and those are just the deaths we know of. (12) New Technology of WWII The V-2, invented by Wernher von Braun, was the first ever Ballistic missile to be made. It was invented at the end of the war by Nazis. It was produced in labor camps, mainly manned by Jews. Although it was extremely effective it was made to late and in to little supply to make a major difference int the war. The missiles were highly sought after by Soviet and American forces who captured the remaining missiles for their own supposes. The US even captured von Braun and his team who helped them test it back in the US.

The V-2 rocket was 46 feet long and launched from mobile launchers, to make it easier to bring in case of retreat. It weighed 28,850 pounds and had a load of 2,290 pounds of Amatol. It's deadliness can be seen in the attack of London were it kill 2,857 people and wounded 6,000. The deadliest point it was at however, was its construction, over 20,000 people died making V-2 rockets. (10) media type="youtube" key="Skq5gy5RHgo" width="420" height="315"

Works Cited

(1) History.com (2) pinkmonkey.com (3) History.com (4) axispowersofww2.weebly.com (5) historylearningsite.co.uk (6) militaryhistory.about.com (7) nationalww2mueseum.org (8) infoplease.com (9) infoplease.com (10) militaryhistory.about.com (11) caseagainstbush.blogspot.com (12) Wikipedia.com