The End of World War II

On December 7, 1941, in an unexpected and sudden move, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the United States into the world war that the US had insofar remained neutral. On December 8, just hours after the attack, the United States of America declared war on the Empire of Japan.

Germany and Italy next declared war on America, but the US also had its allies in Great Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and tentatively China. When the US entered World War II, the Allies were at a serious disadvantage with France under German control, Great Britain under siege, and the USSR trying to repel the invading Germans. Northern Africa was under German and Italian control. The initial strategy of the Allies was to win the war in Europe first, then work on North Africa and the South Pacific. America wanted to attack Germany first, and try to take out the root of the problem directly. In late December on 1941, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill and their chief advisors met in Washington, D.C. The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was created which was a top-level British-American military committee that was based in Washington. Its goal was to create, develop, and execute common strategies. General George C. Marshall of the US Army wanted to build up troops and munitions in England and then cross the English Channel in to Northwest Europe, taking back control from the Nazis. The problem was that the United States couldn’t take very much action in Europe in early 1942 because it had no troops stationed there, and was still in the process of building up the army/navy and converting American industry to a developed war machine. The American and British strategists disagreed, but eventually, President R...

... middle of paper ...

...vertheless, German resistance was strong. The Allies held their position, and around one million troops were in France one month later in July. In August, Paris was freed from Nazi Germany control. France was retaken completely by the Allies in September. In one major, famous battle, the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans launched a surprise counter-attack, creating a bulge in Allied lines. After months of hard fighting, the Allies pushed back the bulge, resulting in heavy losses and casualties for the Axis Powers.

On May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered when Berlin was taken by Soviet forces and Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. After two atomic bombs and the threat of another, Japan officially and unconditionally surrendered September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in the Tokyo harbor. World War II was over. The strategy of the Allies had worked.