World War II from 1939 to 1945

World War II from 1939 to 1945

It is said that World War II may be the single most complicated conflict in history and thus is difficult to explain its origin, however, many believe that is was simply a continuation of World War I (World pp). One fact remains true and that is that never have so many nations gone to war in so many different ways and by so many different means (World pp). The Treaty of Versailles may be the single most indirect cause of the war since it placed the blame solely on Germany (World pp). World War I had not solved any of the problems that had caused it, which leads many scholars to believe that World War I and II as World War Part I and Part II (World pp).

The Great Depression hit Germany second only to the United States, and the severe unemployment gave the Nazi part a surge in membership (World pp).

Japan, in desperate need of resources, invaded Manchuria in order to procure them, and with the intent to acquire more areas throughout the Asian mainland and western Pacific (World pp). For a number of reasons Japan and the U.S. were highly suspicious of each other during the mid-twentieth century, particularly after the end of World War I, in which both fought on the same side (World pp). Japan feared U.S. power in the region and the U.S. did not trust Japan, thus the two were often heated competitors economically in the region, with incremental advances by one side being viewed as a serious challenge to the other (World pp).

Opinions in the U.S. varied, yet the U.S. expansion in the Pacific had been quite significant between 1898 and the1930's, which many viewed as part of Manifest Destiny and the U.S. expansion westward, such as the annexation of Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines (World pp). Japan was particularly threatened by the construction of the Pearl Harbor base and the Panama Canal (World pp).

On December 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor, the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific, and the following day, the United States declared war on Japan (World pp). Japan also attacked U.S. air bases in the Philippines, and immediately invaded the Philippines and the British Colonies of Hong Kong, Malaya, Borneo and Burma in order to seize the oilfields of the Dutch East Indies (World pp).