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Wwii-worksheetWorld War II took place 1939-1945. The Allies, led by the Soviet Union, United States, Great Britain, France, and China, defeated the Axis Powers, led by Germany, Italy, and Japan. World War II caused more death and destruction than any other war in history. LeadersAllied
Axis
BackgroundSee also: Causes of World War II Following World War I, Adolf Hitler, a Nazi, became fascist dictator of Germany and began to rearm. Leading his country on a campaign of world conquest, he sent the German military into the Rhineland and Austria. Great Britain and France attempted to appease him with the Munich Agreement, which gave him a slice of Czechoslovakia in return for peace, but scarely six months later Hitler broke his word and invaded Prague and the rest of Czechoslovakia. Great Britain and France guaranteed the independence and territorial integrity of Poland. Germany invaded on September 1, 1939, causing them to declare war. In southern Europe, Italy under dictator Benito Mussolini attempted to carve out a new Roman Empire. Imperial adventures in Abyssinia and Albania were launched, alienating the rest of the world and pushing Italy into an alliance with Germany. In Asia, Japan invaded Manchuria and set up a puppet state, then in 1937 launched an invasion even further into China. Large-scale massacres of civilians engendered sympathy for the Chinese in the United States, which covertly sent air support in the form of the Flying Tigers? and an economic embargo. In 1941, Japan made near-simultanous attacks on Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, and British and Dutch colonies, attempting to secure access to oil and other raw materials in the Dutch East Indies. Major battles
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