Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan 1945
By the late 1930s, aggression by the totalitarian powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan startled the rest of the world into action. As the fascist powers formed the Axis alliance and began invading neighboring countries, nations in Europe and the United States responded with force in what would become World War II.
During the early years of the war, the Axis powers dominated the Allied powers and continued to expand their territories. The entrance of Russia on the side of the Allied powers and the D-Day invasion in France led to victories against the Axis powers. Meanwhile, the success of the island hopping campaign in the Pacific signaled that tide had turned against Japan.
The Big Three – Stalin, Churchill, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) – met several times during the war to discuss war strategies and their plans for a post-war world. Unfortunately, tensions built between Stalin and FDR over how to manage post-war Europe and continued even after the end of the war.
After the war ended, the extent of the Holocaust became apparent. The Holocaust was the Nazi campaign to exterminate the Jewish population and others that they considered “undesirable” in territories they controlled.
We will look at other examples of modern genocide including those that took place in Armenia, the Soviet Union, Cambodia, and Rwanda.
Pre-Assessment
Take this un-graded pre-assessment quiz and see how well you know the countries and major figures that were involved in World War II. Click the player to get started.
Key Vocabulary
To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.
Adolf Hitler | George C. Marshall | North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) |
appeasement | Harry Truman | pacifism |
Armenians | Hideki Tojo | Pol Pot |
Battle of Britain | Hirohito | Treaty of Versailles |
D-Day | Hutu | Tutsi |
Douglas MacArthur | Iron Curtain | United Nations |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | isolationism | Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
Final Solution | Joseph Stalin | War crimes trials |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | League of Nations | Warsaw Pact |
genocide | Marshall Plan | Winston Churchill |